[BakerAunt]

On Wednesday, I baked my lower-saturated fat, whole wheat, sourdough cheese crackers from dough I made up last week.

[BakerAunt]

Wednesday’s dinner was panko coated chicken breast, accompanied by spinach noodles that I mixed with some leftover frozen broccoli from the freezer, along with some olive oil, a little milk, and Parmesan cheese.

[BakerAunt]

Skeptic--It might be that the bread needed more yeast and/or more water. A few weeks ago, I tried some changes to a bread I'd not made in a long time, and it came out dense after both rises took longer, and it too did not have the oven spring it should have had. I recalled this bread having a good rise previously. I realized that I'd cut the yeast too much, and that with some additional whole grains, it needed more water.

I'm also finding, now that the weather has cooled down, that my kitchen is not the best place for dough rising. The kitchen countertops are cold, so it does help to put a pad under the dough bucket, so heat is not lost there. The adjacent dining area is warmer when our wood stove is in use.

[BakerAunt]

I had no idea.

[BakerAunt]

On Tuesday morning, I cooked a package of Bob’s Red Mill black beans, which I had soaked overnight. I used most of the beans (3 lbs.) to make Black Bean Pumpkin Soup, a recipe from Deb Perelman’s Smitten Kitchen. I made some minor changes, using onion rather than shallots, which I don’t have, and substituting 1 cup crushed tomatoes left over from another recipe for 1 cup drained canned tomatoes that get pureed with the beans. I deleted the salt and reduced the cumin to 1 ½ tsp., since I know my limits. I replaced butter with olive oil, and a 16 oz. can pumpkin with about 3 cups of my puree from the freezer. I had a bit of chopped ham, which I added, but I didn’t have 8 oz. I deleted toe 3-4 Tbs. of sherry vinegar, as I don’t have it, but I did add the ½ cup sherry. In place of the 4 cups beef broth, I used 2 cups boiling water with a heaping tablespoon of Penzey’s beef base, and I added 2 cups of the black bean liquid, because why waste it? It makes a lot of soup, and I had to change over to my 5 ½ quart Dutch oven from a 4 quart. I’ll be eating it this week for lunch (and may freeze a couple of servings) by myself, since my husband does not care for black beans or cumin.

I also made applesauce with some “seconds” apples that have been in the refrigerator for a while and looked it. The applesauce came out well, and I froze it for Thanksgiving, since my husband does not care for cranberries.

For Tuesday dinner, I made a stir-fry using leftover rotisserie chicken, soba noodles, green onion, celery, carrots, red bell pepper, mushrooms, and broccoli.

[BakerAunt]

Len--I'll post it in the next day or so.

I had dreams of doing the kind of bread variety showcase that Chocomouse did and Mike plans to do, but my husband's cousins seem to prefer the bread that one cousin brings from a bakery. The bread is ok, but it isn't wholegrain and not what I am wild about eating. So, this year I focused on cinnamon rolls, and those went over very well.

[BakerAunt]

Sigh. I always miss a carb question.

[BakerAunt]

Len, I don't think that I've ever posted it, but if you are interested, I will--along with the oil crust that I now use.

[BakerAunt]

Chocomouse--Did you hear back from anyone about Paddy?

[BakerAunt]

I narrowed it down to two, then selected the wrong one.

[BakerAunt]

We will be hosting three friends for Thanksgiving dinner. They came to our rescue last year when we were in the midst of moving into our apt. before the start of renovation and didn't have the energy to mount a regular Thanksgiving dinner. This year, their chief cook and baker, is dealing with a continuing leg injury and cannot stand for long periods of time, so I invited her, her husband, and their son to celebrate Thanksgiving in our re-done house.

She will bring a special cranberry-apple relish she makes, as well as canned cranberries for their son. My husband will roast the turkey (probably using the apt. oven). I'll do the blue bag Pepperidge farm dressing, and since there will be five of us, I will add mashed potatoes and gravy. I'm not sure what to do for a green vegetable. I will bake two different kinds of rolls--probably Ellen's (Moomie's) and maybe Stella Parks' maple pumpkin rolls again (she gives directions for converting it from a bread). I'll bake my adaptation of my mother's pumpkin pie, which probably started its life on the back of a Libby's or an evaporated milk can. Apple cider would be nice, as well, perhaps hot with spices.

[BakerAunt]

I also use an overnight method for my steel-cut oats. I bring a cup of water to boil in a sauce pan, add 1/4 cup steel-cut oats (Bob's Red Mill, of course), cover, and turn off the heat. The next morning, I add 1/4 cup milk and 1 Tbs. dates. I then bring it to a low boil and cook until it's the thickness I like. I cover it and allow it to sit while I make my French press coffee. Then I put it in a bowl and add 1/4 tsp. maple sugar and some chopped walnuts on top.

[BakerAunt]

Mike--I saw a recipe for Peppery Cheese Breadsticks in the latest issue of Sift. It's also on the KAF website:

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/peppery-cheese-breadsticks-recipe

I'd like to try it, but the yield is 9 dozen, which is a lot for two people. I wish KAF would give storage or freezing information.

I would have mixed feelings about watching a neat homemade treat be used as an ingredient in a recipe that could easily get by with the store stuff. Sigh.

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

[BakerAunt]

On Sunday evening, I pulled out my pumpkin oat bran muffin recipe, but instead of pumpkin, I used 1 cup of butternut squash that I found in the freezer. I used cinnamon and nutmeg and ginger, but I decided not to use the cloves this time. I baked these as six large muffins. I will freeze most of them. They make a good alternative to oatmeal for those mornings when I need a quicker breakfast.

[BakerAunt]

To accompany a rotisserie chicken for Sunday dinner, I made a stir-fry with leftover mixed rice and some bulgur. The vegetables were green onion, celery, the last red bell pepper from our garden, an eggplant, sliced mushrooms, and the rest of the bag of broccoli, carrots, and snow peas, and some kale. I sautéed the vegetables in some grapeseed oil, added the chicken drippings (about 1 Tbs.) and a little bit of water.

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

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