[BakerAunt]

I made my Sourdough Pan Pizza for Monday night’s dinner. I replaced the ¾ cup King Arthur AP flour with KAF’s White Whole Wheat Flour but left the semolina, durum, and dark rye flour alone. The crust was slightly dense. I’ll add an additional 1 Tbs. of water next time.

I topped it with cherry tomatoes, cut in half, cooked ground turkey, Penzey's Tuscan Sunset, Garlic Powder, and Roasted Onion Powder, mushrooms, 4 oz. cubed lower fat mozzarella, coarsely grated Parmesan cheese, and red bell pepper, which I only remembered at the end.

[BakerAunt]

I look forward to seeing those pictures, Mike.

On Monday, I baked a new recipe from the online Bon Appetit February newsletter for Earl Grey Yogurt Cake:

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/earl-grey-yogurt-cake:

I had waited to bake it until there were some reviews, as I thought the amount of oil in the recipe excessive. There were about ten reviews, and about half of them stated that the bread was oily, and a number commented on how long it took to bake and that the center did not bake well and also fell.

I proceeded to change around the recipe. I used a Kaiser loaf pan that is 10 x 4 ½", measured at the top, and 8 ½ x 3 ½", measured at the bottom; it’s 3” deep. I used the Grease and did not do the parchment sling, of which the magazine staff is perhaps excessively fond, considering that the original recipe also called for oiling the pan.

I used half AP flour and half whole wheat pastry flour. I replaced the kosher salt (not a good idea for baking, people!) with ½ tsp. sea salt and added 2 Tbs. Bob’s Red Mill milk powder. I ground the Earl Grey with my mortar and pestle, but some larger pieces did remain. I reduced the vanilla by 25% to 1 ½ tsp. (People in test kitchens with access to expensive ingredients can go wild. The rest of us like to determine if it is necessary.) I switched to my cake whisk when incorporating the flour. I baked it on the third rack up in my Wolf oven, and it tested done after an hour. I let it rest for 15 minutes in the pan, then turned it out onto a rack to cool. The batter nicely filled the pan, and I didn’t have the center sinking that some reviewers reported. I’m not planning to sample it until tomorrow, at which time I’ll comment on taste and texture.

[BakerAunt]

Happy belated birthday, Joan!

[BakerAunt]

I missed it because I don't usually remove the shells until I use the eggs. It's good to know I can do so if I have a big cooking project.

[BakerAunt]

I guessed correctly.

[BakerAunt]

On Saturday, I made another batch of yogurt. This time I used 900ml of milk, which should fill the jars evenly. I discovered that if, after heating the milk and holding it at 190F for 10 minutes on the stove, I pour it out into a large measuring cup (covered with a double-folded dishcloth, to cool, the pan in which I heated the milk is much easier to clean. The milk will also cool down to 112F more quickly.

For dinner on Saturday, I roasted chicken thighs, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with Penzey’s poultry seasoning and sweet curry powder, on a rack in the main oven. I used my countertop, small convection oven to roast cut-up, unskinned red potatoes, tossed in olive oil, and sprinkled with a bit of salt and Penzey’s Bavarian seasoning. The Bavarian Seasoning was either a free sample or in a gift box I received, and I’m experimenting with the miscellaneous spices I have on hand,. We like it on the roasted potatoes, so I’ll be using it again.

By the way, Penzey's is having a 15% off sale with the code "Don't". I was low on some key spices, and I had a gift card, so I replenished those.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I can testify to the deliciousness of the Morello cherries. It takes three jars to fill my cherry pie, and is so worth it.

[BakerAunt]

I narrowed it to two and chose the wrong answer.

[BakerAunt]

Well, it's a good sign, Mike, that there will be a next time for the recipe.

We were out of bread, so I baked two loaves of Buttermilk Harvest Grains Whole Wheat Bread, using the proportions I used last time. However, I added ½ cup of a mix of oat bran and Scottish Oatmeal as well. (It’s a long story, but the two got mixed, and I need to use up that mistake.) The dough was a bit dry, so I added 1 Tbs. of water near the end and kneaded it in. The first rise took 90 minutes. The second rise took about an hour, and the bread baked in 40 minutes. I look forward to slicing it tomorrow.

[BakerAunt]

I made chicken broth on Friday from the remains of the chicken I roasted earlier this week.

[BakerAunt]

I worked out the correct answer, but I had not known this cooking fact. I shall try it.

[BakerAunt]

The apple had pies sound delicious, Joan.

Thursday’s dinner was stir-fry, made with leftover roast chicken (and a 6 oz. can of chicken), carrots, celery, red bell pepper, mushrooms, broccoli, parsley, and soba noodles. There is enough for a re-run tomorrow night.

[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 6 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.

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