[BakerAunt]

Thanks for clarifying Aaron. Clearly I was muddled.

We made a quick trip to our local grocery today. I actually found organic long grain brown rice at a reasonable price. There was a fair amount of brown rice on the shelves. I think people don't know how to cook it, or in this area are unfamiliar with whole grains. I was also pleased to find frozen turkeys at 99-cents a pound. We bought the smallest, which is still over 14 pounds. My thought is that some restaurants are not buying food now, so the retailers are turning to the grocery stores. I stowed the turkey in the freezer of the apt. refrigerator.

Our grocery store sent out a request for egg cartons, since the only eggs they could find (originally destined for restaurants) were not in cartons. They were able to find some used cardboard holders.

I'm low on wheat germ, which I use in my granola. There was none at the store, so the next batch of granola will use only what I have.

It's good that I wasn't looking for flour, as that section was bare, although the tiny health section had some small bags of Bob's Red Mill wholegrain rye. I read a story about a cook and her boyfriend, who is a cook, who are both laid off due to restaurant closings, and she mentioned a flour shortage, so it is hitting nationwide.

Of course, we were commenting on some flour scarcity BEFORE all of this started.

[BakerAunt]

Nice pizza, Len!

We are all going to get very good at using the variety of flours we have on hand during this challenging time.

[BakerAunt]

Aaron--I thought Sir Lancelot was the bread flour. Wasn't there a Sir Galahad as well? And yes, I may start mixing it in with other flour.

Mike--Thanks for the response. I pulled out my copy of Peter Reinhart's book and told my husband that bagels will be making an appearance, perhaps within the next two weeks.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 10 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Aaron--The only 100% whole wheat bread that I've ever made was the Stella Parks recipe that uses a food processor. It's a mess to clean the food processor, but it is a very good bread. There should be a link somewhere here on Nebraska Kitchen, as both Mike and I have made it. I just checked, and she used regular whole wheat. However, maybe the technique would work for you.

I've not used white whole wheat in most of my breads; I've kept it for cookies. I really liked the white whole wheat (ivory flour) that Bob's Red Mill had, but they don't produce it any more. I thought that it had a better taste than the KAF white whole wheat.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 10 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I got it. I think I've seen it referenced in some cooking articles or maybe a weird Bon Appetit recipe.

[BakerAunt]

Could it be used in the recipe you used in the Bagel thread?

[BakerAunt]

BRM's website keeps crashing whenever I go there. It was not great to begin with, and I suspect that traffic dealt it the final blow. I looked at the KAF website, but they still show as being out of most flours.

My sister mentioned seeing a 25lb. bag of BRM at Smart and Final in California. She doesn't bake, so passed by what I would have grabbed--even BEFORE the current challenge was upon us. We are planning to sit tight in our small town for a while, and the one grocery store never had much by way of specialty flours.

I found that I have some bags of KAF high gluten flour in the back of my pantry, so I need to figure out the best way to use it. I've found a KAF recipe that calls for it (naturally), so that will likely be the next loaf of bread.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 10 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Rice is one of the staples everyone is grabbing off the shelves.

Saturday night’s dinner was pea soup, made with the last of the green split peas and some ham pieces from the freezer. I add chopped carrot and celery, and since my husband was eating it, 2 Tbs. dried onion rather than fresh. I season with ½ tsp. thyme and ¼ tsp. marjoram. We ate it with the Limpa rye bread. We should get another two meals from it.

[BakerAunt]

I was able to narrow it down to the correct answer.

[BakerAunt]

Len, the order that I placed on March 15 shipped on March 19, so be of good hope.

I opened my last ten pounds of Bob's Red Mill's bread flour today. The BRM site has either crashed or been taken down amid the current insanity. I was hoping that they would at least send out an email to let us know what is going on, as KAF finally did, but so far, nothing. Patience is the order of the day.

For now, I have a good variety of flours, although I'm a little low on whole wheat.

[BakerAunt]

Len--I agree with Skeptic that the small amount of almond flour should not require additional water in the recipe.

Skeptic--Your meat pie sounds divine. Was it a 2-crust pie?

I look forward to Mike's report on the rolls, since my frustration with that recipe is that it is hard not to burn the bottom of those rolls.

[BakerAunt]

I began Friday by making pancakes, using some of the free sample of pancake mix I had received from Bob’s Red Mill (1 cup), increasing the water to ¾ cup, and adding ¾ cup quick oats. It made six pancakes. I had four, and my husband had two after eating his oatmeal.

Friday was also a day to experiment with my Swedish Limpa Bread recipe. I had considered trying the one in The Rye Baker, but I did not have coriander seed. I also had bought two organic oranges for their peels, and the recipe I’ve made for years requires orange peel and the Ginsberg recipe does not. Decision made.

I’ve looked for the original recipe (from McCall’s Cooking School) as I have made changes over the years, and I wanted to go back to basics. However, I could not find it. I did have notes, so I was able to re-think the recipe. I wanted more dark rye, so I increased it to 3 1/2 cups (still short of the 5 cups I noted in the first recipe). I replaced a cup of bread flour with a cup of first clear flour, and I used either 2 or 3 cups more bread flour. (I was keeping notes, but the husband came in and distracted me.) I reduced the molasses to 3 Tbs. from 4, and the salt from 1 tbs. to 2 tsp. I used half special gold yeast and half active dry yeast, for a total of 4 tsp. (The original recipe was 4 1/2 tsp.) I replaced 1 1/2 cups of water with buttermilk, and 4 Tbs. butter with 3 Tbs. canola oil. I've never been satisfied with the spice (2 tsp. anise seed), as I wanted to replicate a bread I recall from a bakery/restaurant called Griswald's in southern California that I recall from my high school days. I looked at Ginsberg's recipe and decided to toast 1 tsp. fennel and 1/2 tsp. anise in a skillet but not grind them as he did.

I baked them in the hearth pans I got from KAF a long time ago, but the dough was such that I probably could have just done them on a cookie sheet; I think that they would have held their shape, and the bottoms were a bit too dark, which happens with these pans. (If they ever offer them again as USA pans, I'd buy them.)

I slashed each loaf twice--and it was some of my best slashing. The loaves baked beautifully, except for the slightly overdone, but not burned bottoms. I look forward to slicing one tomorrow and checking out the taste and texture.

[BakerAunt]

Jimmy Kimmel is posting "minilogues, which he does from his home, with opening pictures done by his daughter, and his wife holding the camera. On a recent one, he showed off a focaccia that he had baked, using a Bon Appetit recipe. He said that he enjoys baking. Who knew? He will have time to practice his skills.

Note: I've looked at that Bon Appetit recipe before, and I'd go with another one, but I've been baking longer than he. At least he is baking. We should send him a link to Nebraska Kitchen.

[BakerAunt]

I got it because my husband has talked about it in another context.

[BakerAunt]

I'll be over with the cream cheese....

Thanks for posting the pictures, Mike. I am working up my courage to try making bagels.

[Author]

Posts