[BakerAunt]

Skeptic--I didn't microwave the kale. I just put it on top of the hot butternut squash, covered it, and let it sit. Kale wilts pretty quickly, and I didn't want to overcook it before it went into the oven.

[BakerAunt]

We could get cable but are unsure whether a streaming services, which my elder stepson thinks is the wave of the future, would be the better choice. One of the issues with Cable is that the company bundles the choices, and we often find ourselves with channels we will never watch, and not necessarily getting the ones we want to watch. I think that satellite dish companies are the same way. Curiously, we are in an "ABC" desert, even a digital antenna will not pick that station up here. We did figure out how to stream the PBS News Hour and the Democratic Primary Debates on the computer.

My husband's wish list is the Weather Channel (although it has gone downhill since its glory days), and whatever channel shows Formula 1 racing. I wouldn't mind the SciFi Channel, classic film, and the BBC, and whatever channel shows bicycle racing--at least Le Tour de France. It might be nice to pick up the Chicago PBS. My husband would like to be able to watch the occasional football game that isn't on NBC or CBS.

We will also need to figure out what television to buy, which is confusing as figuring out cable vs. streaming.

[BakerAunt]

The pie does look delicious Mike.

On Thursday, I adapted a recipe from The Splendid Table, "Butternut Squash Galette with Gruyere," that I first posted about last November. The details are in the thread "Would an Oil Crust Work for a Galette?"

The old thread was easy for me to find, thanks to Mike's new search tool. 🙂 I posted the details on that original thread. Suffice to say that it made a tasty late lunch.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

When I first posted about this recipe on Nov. 23, 2019, I didn't think that it would take me until February 27, 2020 to get around to trying it. I decided that today (Thursday) was the day. It resulted in a rather late but tasty lunch.

I made the oil crust that I have posted here, except that I made only 75% of the recipe, and I used 3/4 c plus 2 Tbs. AP and 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (cut down on the Tbs. measuring, and I a bit more whole wheat is not a problem). After mixing up the dough, I rolled it out to 1/8th thickness and decided that it would not fold over like a galette after being refrigerated before it is filled, so I eased it into an 8 1/2 inch Emile Henry ceramic tart dish, folding over the sides to make it thicker around the inner rim. I refrigerated it for an hour, then blind baked it for 11 minutes.

While the crust was chilling, I made the filling. I had two small butternut squash. One was a pound and the other was 12 oz. I decided just to use both. After cutting them up, I microwaved them for 8 minutes--or so I tried to do. This microwave seems to do its own thing sometimes, and when I looked over at it, expecting it to be done soon, and saw 7 minutes, I knew something was amiss. Thankfully the squash did not overcook. I put the torn kale leaves on top of it, recovered it, and let it sit. I cooked the red onion, then stirred in the squash and kale and a heaping 1/8th tsp dried oregano. (My oregano did not have a lot of odor; it's quite old, since my husband does not care for the spice. I only got a hint of the flavor, but that is ok.) I didn't have crème fraiche, so I mixed together 1 Tbs. whole yogurt and 1 Tbs. 1% milk. I don't have sherry vinegar, so I used 1 tsp. sherry. I ground just a bit of salt over it, as well as some pepper. I replaced 3 oz. gruyere, which I'm sure is lovely in its saturated fat glory, with 28g (about 1/4 cup) pre-grated 2% cheese (only way I can get 2% around here), which I stirred in last.

I put the filling into the crust, hot from the oven, pressing it down. I used a coarse grater to top it with some Parmesan cheese. I then baked it for 40 minutes, let it cool for 10, and cut a slice for myself. It's tasty, and I think that it should warm up well. The seasonings blend quite nicely. I will keep my version of the recipe to make for lunches during the fall and winter when butternut squash is abundant.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I chose the correct answer also, based on what I know about the word in a non-cooking context.

We still don't have television in the house. Because of the density of houses in the area, a digital antenna won't pick up signals. We can get antenna TV--and blessedly, PBS--in the apt., but that leaves out all the cable shows, and when it snows, we are not so eager to cross the yard to the apt. We're waiting for the elder son to visit in the spring and get us up to speed on technology for the house.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Chocomouse--These are a thick cookie, and I recall their being so when I made them with the butter, although the butter ones might have spread a little more. I think that the espresso and Kahlua highlight the chocolate rather than calling attention to themselves--which is why I have had no complaints from my husband who hates the taste of coffee.

[BakerAunt]

If you want a slightly healthier version of this recipe (it will never be health food), I've found that white whole wheat flour can replace the AP flour, which gives the cookies some wholegrain fiber.

The chocolate chips can be deleted if you choose.

I also found that 1/3 cup canola oil can replace the 1/2 cup of melted butter. Go ahead and put the oil in a measuring cup, add the chocolate and carefully microwave and stir. If you use this oil option, I suggest scooping the dough immediately onto parchment-lined baking sheets, flattening the balls slightly, then refrigerating the pans for 30 minutes before baking. I haven't run a test, but my oil-based pie crust recommended refrigerating the pie dough in the pan for an hour to "relax the gluten," and my oil-based cookies seem to bake with better texture when I do a short refrigeration.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

The oil version can be an emergency "I'm out of butter!" option. It's also non-dairy, which might be necessary for some people.

I've told my husband that we each are limited to one per day. (The man has no self-control when it comes to chocolate, unless I issue a fiat.) As they are large, substantial cookies, they are nice for slow nibbling with a glass of milk or cup of coffee.

[BakerAunt]

I chose the correct answer but for the wrong reason. I've learned a new food fact today.

[BakerAunt]

CWC Design--we have not heard from her for a long time--liked the spray that KAF offers.

I've also tried to get away from spray cans. I do keep an olive oil spray can, which I use for pizza (a light spray before drizzling olive oil on the pan) and for casseroles or roasting racks. It takes a long time for us to go through these sprays. I attempted to buy a pump spray, and the mechanism broke when I opened it, so it was back to the can.

With the baking sprays, I felt that the cans did not last all that long and had a tendency to clog and become useless. It also seemed to result in a darker crust. So far, the Grease has worked well for me and saved money I would have spent on the baking spray cans, as well as decreased my non-recyclable trash. I've used it on large muffins, but I do not particularly like to do standard muffins (takes a long time to prepare the pans so I often just use Crisco), and I'd be very unhappy if I had to coat a large quantity of mini-muffin pans.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

On Tuesday afternoon, I baked the Espresso and Kahlua Brownie Chip Cookies (the recipe is here at Nebraska Kitchen), substituting 1/3 cup of oil for the butter, using white whole wheat flour, and omitting the chocolate chips. For further details, see the "A Chocolate Question" thread. Yum!

[BakerAunt]

Drum Roll: Here are the results:

On Tuesday, I tried an experiment, using the recipe for Espresso & Kahlua Brownie Chip Cookies, which was first posted by Lorraine on the Old Baking Circle, then re-posted onto the next version of the Baking Circle. When KAF dismantled the BC, this is one of the recipes that I saved and re-posted at Nebraska Kitchen. My experiment was to replace the AP flour with white whole wheat, replace the ½ cup butter with 1/3 cup canola oil, and eliminate the chocolate chips. My goal is a cookie with less saturated fat and a bit of a health benefit, although most of that will be wiped out by the saturated fat.

I was able to melt the chocolate with the oil. (Note: I used 2 oz. Bakers German Chocolate and 4 oz. Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate, as that is what I had on hand and needed to use up.) After mixing the dough, I used a ¼ cup scoop (Zeroll 13) to scoop not too full amounts onto two parchment-lined baking sheets, with seven on one sheet and eight on the other. I refrigerated these for 30 minutes. I baked each sheet at 325F for 19 minutes. To try to equalize the chill times, as I only bake one tray at a time, I took the second one out of the refrigerator after 40 minutes and let is sit at room temperature while the first tray finished baking.

Results: The taste is excellent, they have the same crinkles on top, and the texture reminds me of when I baked them with butter. Even with my changes, the saturated fat is not trivial; it’s 45g total (4g of it are from the eggs and 5g from the canola oil), which means 3g per cookie (I got 15 from the recipe). With the white whole wheat flour, it is wholegrain, so there is fiber, but I have no illusions that I’m eating health food. I cut the saturated fat by 51g by substituting canola oil for butter, and I cut it further by eliminating the chocolate chips. I would bake the recipe again.

[BakerAunt]

I never tried making onion soup at home, but I do recall eating some wonderful ones in restaurants. I would always order it if I had the chance.

On Tuesday, we have had a heavy wet snow of about an inch. It seems to be alleviating. We had a cozy dinner with a chicken roasted atop cut-up red potatoes and small carrots, tossed with olive oil and rosemary sprinkled on top. I rubbed the chicken with olive oil and sprinkled with poultry seasoning and sweet curry. It’s the same technique I used a few weeks ago. This time, after the chicken was finished, I let the vegetables roast for an additional 15 minutes, which caramelized them nicely. It’s not a recipe to use for a crispy skin, but we’re not eating the skin these days. We had microwaved fresh broccoli as well.

[BakerAunt]

I had the German chocolate leftover from another recipe, so I wanted to use it up. Other than the bittersweet chocolate, I had only unsweetened in the refrigerator. I still have some high quality bittersweet chocolate chips, but I wasn't going to "waste" them in a cookie recipe. They were awesome in the Bischofsbrot that I baked in January where they nicely set off the maraschino cherries and the dark and golden raisins and walnuts.

I bought some Callebaut to make a wondrous KAF chocolate tart. Those days are over. Sigh.

I'll probably be baking my husband's favorite chocolate cake when his birthday rolls around next month, so I need to check my store of Ghirardelli and Guittard dark chocolate chips. I also need to see exactly what chocolate ingredients I have in the apartment refrigerator. I moved it all out there when I started the low-saturated fat diet. I have some confidence now that I can keep a balance, but I still don't want to keep it in the house refrigerator.

[BakerAunt]

Both of the bars I'm using have cocoa butter, but as Mike notes, there is no mention of how much.

German chocolate ingredients: sweet chocolate (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, soy lecithin--emulsifier

Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate (60% cacao): unsweetened chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, milk fat, soy lecithin--an emulsifier, vanilla

I just took the first tray out of the oven, and they look good. I'll post more details later this evening after we have one for dessert.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by BakerAunt.

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