[BakerAunt]

On Wednesday, I baked Spiced Pumpkin Bread/Kurbisgewurzbrot (Germany). [Umlauts should be over the two “u”s], a recipe from Stanley Greenberg’s blog at The Rye Baker (posted Nov. 1, 2016). I used my own pumpkin puree, as he recommends after having tried canned and his own. I was able to grind the caraway and anise seed in a Kuhn Rikon ceramic grater that I have but had not yet used. [Note: although the instructions state that grinding coarse salt will take away the odor afterwards, it still has the faint odor. I’ll leave it open and hope it fades.] My only change was to use active rather than instant yeast and to proof it w/ just a pinch of sugar before starting. I also held back about ½ cup of the wheat flour mixed with the salt to add after mixing all the other ingredients, and I put the oil in last. It is a sticky dough, and I resisted the urge to add more flour. My Cuisinart 7-qt. stand mixer does better with a larger amount of dough. I had to keep stopping during the kneading and move the dough around. It’s about 66F in our house, and a little colder in the kitchen, so I put the covered dough bowl on top of a wine rack that I have on its shortest side (8 compartments or 4x2) that holds my collection of rolling pins at the end of the counter. That puts it under a warm air vent with a temperature of 70-71F.

The first rise takes 60-75 min. at 70F, according to the recipe. I decided after 60 minutes to move the dough to the dining room table, and I gave it about 40 minutes longer. To shape it, I used white rye flour on my Silpat mat. The shaping was surprisingly easy. Given the issues with temperature, I put the shaped dough on a parchment covered baking sheet and set it on top of the range, covered with a long plastic cover I had. I then preheated the oven, so that a bit of that warmth would help the second rise, which is supposed to be 15-20 minutes. However, the oven is too well insulated, so after 20 minutes, I put it back on the dining room table for another 15 minutes.

I didn’t see “cracks” or broken bubbles, which the recipe states show that the bread has risen, but I did see the changes in the flour coating, and it had risen. The recipe does not specify slashing, but I made some slashes anyway—some of the best slashing I’ve ever done!—and put it into the oven on the rack right below center, which is where I bake my breads. The recipe states to bake about one hour, but I checked at 55 min., and it registered at 202F, so I took it out. The smell is enticing. Also, while there was a blowout along one side end, the loaf, my husband pronounced, looks as an artisan loaf should look. I’ve never achieved that before with a freeform loaf, and this one is all wholegrain, except for the white rye I used to dust the work surface. I will include it on the Thanksgiving table tomorrow, along with the rolls.

[BakerAunt]

Those bread sticks look great, Mike!

I'm in the midst of trying Stanley Ginsberg's Spiced Pumpkin Bread from a Nov. 1, 2016 post at The Rye Baker. It's on the first rise.

• This reply was modified 6 years ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Hickory trees are abundant in the Midwest and the southeast part of the country, in part because the deer don't eat them. So, we can have push-back against the tyranny of the northeast Thanksgiving menu! 🙂

Currently, the problem here is with Butternut canker.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks for your ideas, Italian Cook and Skeptic. After Thanksgiving, I will give this a try, using the crust recipe I've posted here. I've also considered putting it into a tart pan.

I had created a lovely part buckwheat galette crust the summer before I had to greatly limit butter. Sigh.

[BakerAunt]

Yes! I deduced the correct answer.

[BakerAunt]

Ok, I tried and chose the wrong answer.

[BakerAunt]

I'm roasting one of my five pie pumpkins. This one isn't slated for pie, as I have peanut pumpkin puree from last year that I will use for pie tomorrow.

[BakerAunt]

I am not even going to attempt it.

[BakerAunt]

I also know this one.

[BakerAunt]

Just a note to say that the maple-apple cake is delicious. I will never understand, however, how the recipe authors think that an 8x8 pan can serve sixteen people. Get real.

[BakerAunt]

For Sunday dinner, I cooked One-Pot Tarragon Chicken, Mushrooms & Rice, a recipe by John Whaite that appeared in an email newsletter from The Splendid Table. I’ve made it a couple of times before (and gave the link at that time), but since, I am using brown rather than basmati rice, I’ve had issues with the rice cooking thoroughly before the chicken is done. This time, I used a mixture of half brown rice and half wild rice mix (1 cup of each) and made sure that I had 4 cups combined chicken broth and white wine, I used my 5-qt. Calphalon sauté pan so that there would be enough room for 8 chicken thighs. However, instead of putting the thighs in after bringing the liquid to a boil and adding the rice, mushrooms, and seasonings, I covered the pan and put it in the oven for 20 minutes. I then removed it, took off the cover, added just a bit more broth, and arranged the chicken thighs on top and drizzled with olive oil. I returned the uncovered pan to the oven for 50 minutes. It came out very well with the liquid absorbed and the rice perfectly cooked.
I did not have fresh tarragon, so I used 2 tsp. in place of 2 Tbs. I also did not have a banana shallot or any shallot. My husband has asked that I not use onion for a while, as it seems to be upsetting his digestive system, but he does ok with dried onion, so I added 1 tsp. dried onion.

[BakerAunt]

I actually found the thread on mincemeat muffins and Kid Pizza (Cass)'s comments. As it turns out, I had it saved to this site:

Too Much Baking Powder in Mincemeat Muffins? Thread

[BakerAunt]

I have two baking project this Sunday morning. I used the bread machine to knead dough for a single loaf of a Five-Grain Buttermilk-Wheat-Rye Bread, which I hope will get us through Thanksgiving, when there will be rolls. I don’t want to bake two, since freezer space is a bit limited at the moment. I tried adding 2 Tbs. oat bran just to see what happens, along with the usual 2 tbs. flax meal.

While the bread was rising, I baked a new recipe, “Apple-Maple Snack Cake,” from Better Homes & Gardens Fall Baking (p. 29). I made a few changes in that I replaced ¼ cup melted butter with 3 Tbs. canola oil, and I cut the vanilla from 2 tsp to 1 tsp. I used two Jonathan (they say Braeburn or other cooking apples) and did not peel them. I probably had about 2 cups rather than 1 ½ cups diced apple. I added 1 Tbs. milk powder and 2 tsp. flax meal to increase nutrition. We will have it for dessert tonight.

• This reply was modified 6 years ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I narrowed it to two and chose the wrong one, but now I know a lot more about cheeses.

[BakerAunt]

Chocomouse--a lot of companies are changing their packaging because there are new nutritional guidelines about what should be listed as of January 2020. Vitamins A and C are out, but Vitamin D and potassium are in. The thinking is that few people have a deficiency of A and C, but a lot of people are low on D and potassium. New packaging will also list "added sugars" as separate from naturally occurring sugars. The other change has something to do about how fats are listed, since we now know that some fats are good for us.

I think that the Deli Rye Rolls might have been ok if the recipe had not specified 3 Tbs. dried mixed onion and 2 tsp. onion powder. In looking at the Autumn Sift magazine, there seems to be a shift toward putting in onion powder in recipes that would have specified deli rye flavor. Maybe that was because the magazine was supposed to be aimed at people who might not have the specialty ingredients? However, onion powder will never be deli rye flavor. I like your idea of using pickle juice. If I make it again, I'll use that rather than buttermilk.

• This reply was modified 6 years ago by BakerAunt.

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