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Kimbob--For Pfeffernusse, you need high quality candied citron, which is difficult to find. King Arthur carried an excellent European one a long time ago, but of course they stopped carrying it, as they have done many specialty items. The citron I used is special ordered from a place I cannot recall. At least it keeps well refrigerated (five years old). The other critical ingredient is anise extract, which is not always easy to find. I have been using the King Arthur non-melting sugar to coat them, but after reading the ingredients, I think that I shall return to regular powdered sugar, even if it does sometimes get soaked into the cookies. The King Arthur non-melting sugar also seems not as white as in the past, which makes me wonder if it has been re-formulated.
If you would like the recipe, I will post it. There are a great many varieties of Pfeffernusse--I have a small cookbook that is only Peppernut recipes, each one different. I wanted one that was like the cookies someone mailed to us when I was a child. After a couple of disappointments, I found a recipe in the Los Angeles Times that hit the memory taste and texture exactly. These cookies keep well, which is good, as my husband does not care for them.
I find it amazing, CWCdesign, how many recipes leave out all those vital details. (And they wonder why some people give up on cooking and baking after having a failure because they did not have that background knowledge, and the recipe did not give it.) Thank you for adding your notes.
I had already begun holiday baking back on December 13, when I made my Lucia Buns. I made Pfeffernusse (and forgot the pepper!) later that week. Pumpkin pie for Christmas dinner is my husband's tradition, so I will bake one on Christmas Eve.
I'm still thinking about other cookies. I splurged on the Pfeffernusse and used butter, so I need to confine myself to oil-based ones.
I do not have any Breville appliances. I do have a countertop oven and a toaster oven in other brands. The two serve different purposes, and for me, are not interchangeable.
I have a Cuisinart countertop oven. It is 16 inches long, with interior 12 x 10 1/2 inches. I bought it at Tuesday Morning five or six years ago when my kitchen oven was down for repair for about a month. I probably paid $99. It's convection, as are most small countertop ovens. I was able to bake some cookies and breads, although not a high-rising bread, as it might hit the overhead heating element. It did not get used much after that, but I brought it here and decided to give it precious kitchen space, and it has earned its spot. I've roasted halved acorn squash and small butternut squash. I particularly like roasting potato or sweet potato pieces in it. It came with a pan and a rack. The pan is deeper than most, so it takes advantage of the oven's inner dimensions.
It is handy for when the big oven is being used for another project, and it heats up faster, being smaller, and cools down faster.
I am not in love with how the time gets set, as for minutes I have to keep punching the minute button, which is a hassle when I want 50 minutes. When I set it for an hour, it always sets for 1 hour 5 minutes for some reason.
I'm glad that I have it, and it has performed well. I leave it unplugged when not in use.
I also have a Krups toaster oven, which I bought at Tuesday Morning back when I bought my first house in 2001 and did not yet have an oven. It does not do well for baking, even though it has an oven setting. The door does not seal well, which is typical for most toaster ovens. I like it for toasting cheese on bread and for warming up leftover pizza. It does not get counter space; I pull it out of one of the utility closets when I need it.
I find that the toaster oven and the countertop oven are not interchangeable.
December 19, 2020 at 6:07 pm in reply to: What are you Cooking the week of December 13, 2020? #27884I made another batch of yogurt on Saturday.
To go with leftover Turkey-Zucchini Loaf for Saturday's dinner, I cooked 1 cup of farro in 3 ½ cups of chicken broth from the freezer. I find it works best to bring the broth to a boil, then add the rinsed farro, return to a boil, then set the burner to medium boil for 30 minutes, leaving the pot uncovered. After the farro was done, I let it rest while I sautéed chopped red bell pepper in olive oil, then added 8 oz. of sliced mushrooms. I added the farro and ½ tsp. reconstituted dried onion (my husband cannot tolerate the fresh, sigh), then added 1 cup frozen peas that I had microwaved. It was delicious, and the red and green colors made it festive. It made enough to go with the rest of the meatloaf tomorrow.
On Saturday, I adapted a Nordic Ware recipe, “Pumpkin Chocolate Harvest Cake,” and baked it in a Nordic Ware Christmas Wreath Bundt pan. I used my own pumpkin puree, so I deleted the water they use with canned pumpkin. I replaced 1 cup of the flour with 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour. I replaced 2/3 cup butter with ½ cup oil, I used 2 whole eggs instead of one egg and two egg whites. I added ¼ cup BRM milk powder and 1 Tbs. flax meal. I accidentally put in an extra ¼ tsp. cinnamon and twice as much nutmeg. I tried a different method of preparing the pan and clearly missed a section, as it stuck and broke as I turned it out of the pan. I managed to get the stuck part off and stuck it back on the cake. When we cut it, we will eat that part first.
I keep both on hand, and I use the baker's powdered milk in yeast breads and the regular powdered milk in yogurt and other baking, such as quick breads, muffins, cakes, and now cookies. The price is about the same for King Arthur's dried milk for baking and Bob's Red Mill milk powder.
Someone asked, in a roundabout way under the questions under the Bob's Red Mill product, about whether it was treated for high heat--and clearly that person was thinking about the special dry milk King ARthur produces (an no one else?) but not naming it. The answer from the company seemed to hedge. I'm not sure how much of that was not identifying their process or trying to avoid getting in trouble with another company.
I do not care for the granular powdered milk, although before I found BRM, which is a powder, the granular was what I bought. I would usually grind it to powder, which was a bit of a mess. Of course, the granular dried milk is easily reconstituted. Perhaps that is a clue? The BRM milk powder also can be reconstituted, but the King Arthur special dry milk cannot be reconstituted and must be mixed in with dry ingredients.
Does powdered milk have to be reconstituted and scalded to use? I thought that the heat used to dehydrate it would take care of any problem.
I made up another batch of my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers on Friday evening. I divided the dough into fourths, wrapped each in saran, and refrigerated. I will bake the crackers sometime next week. I am irritated that I have somehow misplaced the nice ruler that I use; it is about 16 inches long, but it has centimeters on the other side, and it was perfect for measuring to cut the crackers into 3x3cm squares. My husband found another ruler that has cm markings that I can use until I find the first one, but this one is not as long.
December 18, 2020 at 6:11 pm in reply to: What are you Cooking the week of December 13, 2020? #27876For Friday dinner, I made my Turkey-Zucchini Meat Loaf with Peach-Dijon Mustard Glaze. We had it with the leftover mashed potatoes and frozen mixed vegetables.
December 18, 2020 at 2:04 pm in reply to: What are you Cooking the week of December 13, 2020? #27873I agree, Navlys! I always use the meaty bones for broth.
Maybe it is due to this time of pandemic, which began for all of us in earnest nine months ago, but I am really missing all the special Christmas baking I used to do before I cut almost all butter from my diet, so on Thursday, I baked Pfeffernusse. Yesterday, I decorated the tree. Today I strung lights on the dining room railing. With the spicy fragrance of these special German Christmas cookies, the Christmas decorations, and the light snow outside, I now feel part of the season.
December 17, 2020 at 10:15 pm in reply to: What are you Baking the week of December 13, 2020? #27867On Thursday, I baked a half recipe of Pfeffernusse. I just realized that I forgot the pepper! (Too much activity in the kitchen around me.) They will still taste good with the spices.
December 16, 2020 at 6:04 pm in reply to: What are you Cooking the week of December 13, 2020? #27851Happy Birthday to Mike's wife. Continue to enjoy your cherry pie!
On Wednesday, I made mashed potatoes and used the drippings from the roast chicken to make gravy. We had it with leftover roast chicken and microwaved frozen peas. I had some of Cranberry-Cherry-Cardamom sauce as well.
North central Indiana, where we live got about an inch and a half of snow overnight and into this morning. The grass is still peaking about it. Our dog was quite surprised by it this morning.
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