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Lots of great baking experimentation is going on this week at Nebraska Kitchen!
On Wednesday, I took the “Steel-Cut Oat Crackers” recipe in King Arthur’s Whole Grain Baking (p. 162), which I have never baked, and made some adaptations to replace the 4 Tbs. of butter. I used 2 ½ Tbs. canola oil, which I whisked with ¼ cup buttermilk rather than water. I found that I needed an additional 4 Tbs. of water to get the dough to come together. The recipe assumes that one has left over steel-cut oats, which I never do. I ended up cooking 2 Tbs. steel-cut oats in 3 oz. of water. That probably made about 1/3 cup rather than the ½ cup, but the recipe still worked. After I combined the dry ingredients (and cut the salt to ¾ tsp. and added 1 Tbs. Bob’s Red Mill milk powder), I distributed the cooked and cooled steel-cut oats, using my fingers to break them apart. I then added the buttermilk-oil mixture, before adding the water, one tablespoon at a time, and bringing it together first with a pastry fork and then with a bowl scraper. I divided it in half and wrapped one half in saran before rolling the first one out. The next time I bake these, I would wrap both halves and let them rest 15 minutes, as the second half was much easier to roll out after resting while I worked with the first half. I baked at the stated temperature, but I used the convection setting on my oven and baked on the third rack up (slightly above center) for 15 minutes, turning halfway. We had them with pea soup tonight, and they are excellent and nicely crisp. I will bake these again, as we like the flavor, and they are fast to make, especially if cut into 2-inch squares with a pizza wheel. I am delighted now to have a third cracker recipe.
February 17, 2021 at 6:24 pm in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of February 14, 2021? #28672I made split pea soup with ham for Wednesday night’s dinner.
Wednesday morning it was -9F when my husband did a temperature check outside.
West Texas, where I used to live, and the panhandle of the state are somewhat better prepared for cold weather and occasional snow than the rest of the state. We could always tell which university students came from other parts of Texas when the first cold hit, and they did not have the coats, hats, etc. for it.
We had about 7 inches of snow overnight. Highs were in the mid-teens. So far, there are no power grid issues here. Generally we do ok unless there is an ice storm, or as this summer, a windstorm that brings down trees.
There is no way I could ever talk my husband into pancakes for dinner. When I was growing up, my Mom would do pancake dinners occasionally but only when my father was not home for dinner, as he was also not a pancakes for dinner fan.
I'm glad to hear that weather did not prevent your getting the shot, Chocomouse. I am making a note to bring my own pen when I go to get my shot. As for hand sanitizer, I never leave home without it anymore.
Hurrah! Another baker is born!
That's great that you are mentoring her, Italian Cook. Lots of baking knowledge used to be passed on as people were baking together. That's one reason I love our site here, since there is so much baking experience, and so many people willing to help each other.
One news story I read suggested waiting three months after recovering from Covid-19 before getting the vaccine. I probably read it at either NY Times, Washington Post, or PBS News Hour science weekly email letter.
It's good to hear that your wrist is continuing to heal, CWCdesign. Coming back from an injury always seems to take so long.
I agree about kneading in the bread machine; it really helps with multi-tasking in the kitchen.
February 15, 2021 at 10:41 pm in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of February 14, 2021? #28637Georgia Rolls--sounds like you have an award-winning recipe, Joan!
On Monday, I made the dough for another batch of my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers (aka Baker Aunt’s crackers). I will bake them at the end of the week,
When we went to Kroger two weeks ago, I was able to buy blood oranges. I used three to bake Chocolate Olive Oil Cake with Blood Orange Glaze on Monday evening. I made this recipe last year and raved about it at Nebraska Kitchen. I again substituted half white whole wheat flour. This time, I dared to use the olive oil. As I did last year, I reduced the oil from 1 1/3 cup to 1 cup and used buttermilk which I increased from 1/3 to 2/3 cup. I baked the recipe in two six-cup Bundt pans, one the traditional and the other a swirl. I will freeze the traditional one, along with some of the blood orange juice to glaze it. The other cake I will glaze for dinner tomorrow. It makes the most beautiful pink glaze. My husband suggested that since he will be shoveling snow most of tomorrow morning (it has been coming down since late afternoon and is supposed to continue until around 2 a.m. tomorrow), maybe we should consider slicing the cake at lunchtime, as he will have earned it.
February 14, 2021 at 5:18 pm in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of February 14, 2021? #28621For Valentine’s Day dinner, I made Tarragon Chicken, Mushrooms, and Rice, which we had with microwaved frozen mixed vegetables.
We have had snow on and off all afternoon, with temperatures around 14F. Our area has a winter storm warning, which means my husband has brought extra wood into the house just in case we lose power.
I began Saturday by baking a double recipe of the maple cookie recipe that I developed (no butter and low in saturated fat). My husband has pronounced them his favorite cookie.
I also baked two loaves of my Buttermilk Whole Wheat Grape Nuts bread, a favorite of my husband. I tweaked it slightly by increasing the special old yeast to 1 ½ tsp., which I combine with 2 tsp. regular yeast. I also increased the buttermilk from 1 2/3 to 1 ¾ cup. I started it in a 380F oven, then dropped the temperature to the usual 350F to see if I could get greater oven spring in this more whole wheat version, but the difference was marginal.
On Saturday I made another batch of yogurt.
Saturday dinner was a stir-fry with farro, carrots, celery, dried onion, parsley, some pork drippings I had frozen, and the rest of the pork roast I cooked earlier this week.
We had another inch of snow last night.
Lebkuchen and Leckerli appear to be interchangeable as names. I've actually made Leckerli from a McCall's Cooking School magazine (at the moment, I cannot find those) about 30 years ago. The recipe called for cutting them out as hearts, and oh, it was hard to work with that dough, but the results were stunning. I took them to a book group I belonged to at the time, and people were very impressed.
I have considered making Dorie's recipe (same one that is in her book), as it is one of the few non-butter recipes. I was deterred by not having the Grand Marnier--and not wanting to spend $20 for a small bottle of it. It could probably be left out.
I thought that I had seen Dorie's recipe in an email, so I looked. Here it is:
https://food52.com/recipes/65857-leckerli
Here is her complete discussion:
https://food52.com/blog/18541-the-15th-century-christmas-cookie-patisseries-make-all-year
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