[BakerAunt]

I had to make a wild guess, and I got it wrong.

[BakerAunt]

Barley appears to be a somewhat soft flour. I like substituting some into cakes and quick breads. I think it makes for a finer, softer texture.

[BakerAunt]

CI said it contacted the recipe's author, who states that the time (35 min!) and temperature (250F) is correct. The recipe is a braise, as the browned roast sits in 4 cups of chicken broth, with 1 cup of barley. The covered heavy Dutch oven--in my case a 5 1/2 qt. Le Creuset--sits on the bottom rack of the oven. I think it's supposed to be a slow cooker approach. I let the roast sit out a bit before I began browning it. I boiled the broth before adding it, then brought it and the barley to a boil before adding the roast. I even put the piece of foil between the lid and the pan. After 45 minutes, I had a reading of only around 109. I was looking for 135F, as it will rise to 145 while sitting on a platter covered for 15 minutes.

I agree that the roasting temperature is just too low. When I make it again (the taste is wonderful), I will set the oven to 325F. I'd like to get the timing figured out, so that I can use it as a company dish with confidence that it will be done around the expected time.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

For dessert on Valentine’s day, I baked a Chocolate Heart Cake, using a La Forme pan from Kaiser Backform (Heart Flan Pan) that I bought some years ago and had only used once before. The beauty of being retired is that I have time to celebrate the holidays. One of the recipes that came with the pan is “Chocolate Strawberry Heart.” I was delighted that it did not use butter, only ¼ cup oil and ½ cup buttermilk. It also uses coffee liquor, and I still have a partial bottle of Kahlua. I used the Grease on the pan. At first, I was unsure if it was going to release, but I rapped the rack with the inverted pan on top on the counter, and it came out beautifully. The plan was to make a filling with fresh strawberries and glaze. However, dinner took so long, I didn’t get that done, so I came up with a Plan B. I mixed up 1 ½ recipes of the glaze I used earlier this week. I spread it in the center of the heart, pushing it up along the sides. I felt it needed something, so I rummaged through my stash and found some large crystal red sugar, which I sprinkled on it. The cake is more like a kind of brownie, which worked well with the glaze. We both liked it, and of course my husband had a second piece, oblivious to the Kahlua.

I have a heart-shaped platter--from King Arthur years ago--and the Kaiser heart fits on it perfectly.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Mike--You and your wife got dinner a lot more quickly than we did here!

Valentine’s dinner on Friday was “Pork Loin Roast with Barley, Butternut Squash, and Swiss Chard,” from Cook’s Illustrated. I’m still trying to figure out the correct timing, as I can’t get the 2.5 lb. roast to cook at 250F for 45 minutes. I finally raised the temperature to 300, cooked it another 15 minutes, then turned it over and cooked another 1-, and that did it. Cook’s Illustrated really needs to figure out this recipe, as it tastes wonderful—after it finally gets cooked through. Four of us have reviewed it, and we agree that the cooking time/temperature does not work. It was a nice dinner for a day with snow on the ground. It was -3F this morning and only got to 15F.

[BakerAunt]

I have limes from my lime tree in the refrigerator. A recipe that I miss is Lime Pecan Cookies; the amount of butter is prohibitive. On Thursday, I decided to take a recipe that I have for Lemon Walnut Biscotti (from Bon Appetit April 2005, p. 119), replace the lemon with lime, and replace the butter with a mixture of oil and buttermilk. I added 3 tbs. Bob’s Red Mill Milk powder and used pecans rather than walnuts. I also used half AP flour and half white whole wheat. I refrigerated the shaped rolls for an hour before baking. I decided not to use an egg wash; instead I spritzed with water and sprinkled with demerara sugar. I had a taste of one this morning, and I do taste the lime. While they will never be the same as the recipe with 10 Tbs. butter, these will be nice to have with tea or coffee.

[BakerAunt]

I missed it.

[BakerAunt]

This winter, the deer raided the bird feeder. We initially blamed a squirrel, when one feeder had crashed to the ground last year, and this year we found the feeder hanging from only one wire. Tracks in the snow are one hint, but we have two deer that come by the front of the house and were quite surprised to find that we had moved the feeder to the side, in part to give the birds a more sheltered spot, as the neighbor has some large shrubs on that side, and there are eagles and merlens around. To deter the deer, my husband puts most of the feed out during the birds' favorite feeding times. However, with the snow coming in yesterday, he put it out in the evening, and the feeder did booming business.

[BakerAunt]

My educated guess was correct, no doubt inspired by having known a lady who raised them.

[BakerAunt]

I knew this. I'm a dedicated coffee drinker in the morning.

[BakerAunt]

I can’t make my wonderful Valentine’s sugar cookies, since the amount of butter is prohibitive when I don’t have other people around who can help eat them. I pulled out a Nordic Ware heart Bundtlette pan. I was delighted to find the recipe from the original packaging was “Hazelnut Heart Cakelets with Vanilla Glaze,” and that it uses oil and not butter. I substituted 1/3 barley flour for that much AP, added 1 Tbs. Bob’s Red Mill milk powder, and replaced 1/3 of the canola oil with that much buttermilk. (That means ½ cup oil and ¼ cup buttermilk.) I made a half recipe of the glaze, as the amount seemed too much, and the half recipe was perfect. I put the glaze in the center and let a bit drip down the sides. These are lovely and delicious.

[BakerAunt]

Dinner on Tuesday night was “Tomato and Gigante Bean Bake/Pizza Beans,” a recipe from Smitten Kitchen Every Day, which is also on the Smitten Kitchen website. It’s a favorite of ours. My only changes are to add browned ground turkey and to halve the mozzarella. I make it in a 13x9 inch lasagna pan.

[BakerAunt]

I look forward to hearing more about this experiment.

[BakerAunt]

Indiana has not.

When Michigan did, there were articles in the South Bend Tribune reminding people not to bring it back. The state border is very close up in South Bend and Mishawaka, with some people commuting daily.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Skeptic--I was curious about how the bread browns in a slow cooker, as there is no heat on top.

I've wondered if the issues that I have with cooking roasts is that I prefer the way the oven browns them.

When my rice cooker decides to bite the dust, I may explore multi-cookers and see if they do rice and grains well. That way, I would know that I have at least one use for it, without multiplying appliances.

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