BakerAunt
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Oh, Navlys--what an ordeal!
For lunch on Saturday, and into next week, I made the Penzey’s recipe for Chickpea and Spinach Stew, using tomato sauce I froze at the end of last summer. I cut the cumin to ¼ tsp. and the cayenne to a dash. I also added ½ tsp. baking soda to reduce acidity. I cooked ½ cup bulgur, then combined it with the stew at the end. Between the tomatoes, the spices, and the chickpeas, it is not a recipe my husband can eat, hence I have it for lunches.
I made broth this afternoon from the bones from the chicken we had earlier this week.
Dinner tonight is more leftover roast chicken, the rest of the sweet potatoes roasted (won't keep in this weather), and a salad of mixed greens, carrot, and mushrooms.
It was 86F today.
I roasted more sweet potato pieces to go with leftover chicken. We also microwaved fresh broccoli.
For dinner on Thursday, I roasted a chicken, and I roasted sweet potatoes tossed in olive oil in my countertop oven. We had a mixed greens and mushroom salad. Dessert was the chocolate blood orange cake that I froze in February, with icing made from blood orange juice I had frozen. Just a tablespoon of the juice makes a lovely pink icing.
I also made another batch of yogurt.
An Excellent, loaf, Mike!
On Wednesday, I baked my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from dough that I made up last week.
To go with leftover pea soup on Monday, I again baked my adaptation of the KABC Dutch Oven Dinner Rolls. I adapted the recipe further by making it 2/3 whole wheat and increasing the water slightly. Although they are a bit less light in texture, we both like them.
Twice I have had a reaction to cream that was produced with a CO2 foamer and put atop a coffee drink--once at a coffee shop and once at Olive Garden. It did not happen all the time, but I nixed the whipped cream after the second experience.
My husband has been working hard sanding and applying polyurethane coats to bookcases that we had built for the study, since we could not find any bookcases that fit the need and were solid wood. Our contractor will install them next week. To thank my husband, I baked a cherry pie on Saturday night. I used my oil-buttermilk crust, the filling recipe from Baking Illustrated (from Cooks Illustrated), my adaptation of the streusel topping from Carol Walter’s pie book, as well as my adaptation of her technique from her Blueberry Streusel pie. I used three jars of Dark Morella cherries that we found at Aldi’s earlier this year. (I have another three jars in the pantry). These are equivalent to those I used to get at Trader Joe’s whenever I was near one. For the streusel, I replaced 1/3 cup melted butter with 1 Tbs. melted butter and 3 Tbs. avocado oil. We will cut into the pie for dessert tomorrow.
On Saturday I made a large pot (1 ½ times my usual recipe) of split pea soup with ham, carrots, celery, and dehydrated onion (the last in deference to my husband). I seasoned it with thyme and marjoram. It as a good meal for a cool, overcast day with a few dribbles of rain. We have plenty to eat throughout the next week.
I seem to recall that Skeptic does not have a stand mixer. The member whose mixer is out for repairs is Italian Cook.
Mike--are these the tomato plants that had the iron deficiency earlier?
We have lettuce coming up in the garden. The snow peas have also started to come up. We had a week of temperature getting into the frost/freeze zone at night, so the tomato and pepper plants are still in the house.
My husband saved some seed from the honeynut butternut squash that I bought at the farmers' market last year. We will try planting some and see what happens.
We were out of bread, so I baked two loaves of Len’s Semolina Rye on Friday afternoon. The loaves have better rise if I preheat the oven to 400F, then drop the temperature to 375F after I put in the loaves. As the bread was baking, my husband came down the stairs and exclaimed, "Those smell so good!"
I made another batch of yogurt on Friday. In a moment of absentmindedness, I used the Baker’s Special Dry Milk instead of the Bob’s Red Mill milk powder. I add the milk powder before I heat the milk. My first thought was that I would not be able to get it mixed in, but it whisked to a smooth consistency. When I heated the mixture, I noted that I did not have as much residue as usual sticking to the sides of the pan. The yogurt is now incubating. I hope that there will be no off taste when I eat a jar at breakfast tomorrow. I will add a note to this post tomorrow.
On Thursday, I baked my version of the KABC Dutch Oven Dinner Rolls in my Emile Henry ceramic crock. I cut the salt further, so it is now ¾ tsp. rather than 1 ¼ tsp., and I increased the water to 1//3 cup and the buttermilk by another tablespoon. We had some at dinner with leftover soup.
I tried a new recipe for dinner on Wednesday, “Skillet Chicken Thighs with Broccoli and Orzo,” from The New York Times. I had read the comments, so I deleted the lemon, as many people said it overwhelmed the dish. I increased the recipe as I wanted to cook six rather than four chicken thighs. I ended up doubling the other ingredients, except for the broccoli, as I was 8 oz. short of what I would have used. I also followed the suggestion by commentators not to let it finish cooking covered on the stove but to put it uncovered in a 425F oven for 15 minutes. I used ½ tsp. dried thyme in place of 2 tsp. fresh. If I were to make it again, I would increase the dried thyme to 1 tsp. We like the recipe well enough that I will likely make it again. The downside is browning the chicken in the pan at the start, as that sends grease everywhere. I now need to clean the stove top.
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