[BakerAunt]

I knew this one due to all those homemade burritos that I used to make.

[BakerAunt]

We had rotisserie chicken, the last of the spinach noodles, and a salad of mixed greens and carrots.

[BakerAunt]

I baked that recipe last year and liked it, but I did not heed his point about baking them in the upper part of the oven, so I burned them on the bottom. I need to try this recipe again.

[BakerAunt]

Did you get your power back, Chocomouse?

Our lake froze over about two or three weeks ago, but the ice was far too thin for any of the usual activities. Warmer temperature and some wind have opened it up, although the shore line across the lake has some ice build-up, just as there is some to the south. We've had about four inches of snow over the last four or five days, so it is a mild winter for us.

[BakerAunt]

The Lemon Crispbread with Kamut and Olive oil came out as ore of a focaccia than a crisp bread. I now think that instead of following the direction to divide the dough in half and roll out each on a piece of parchment, I should have divided it into thirds. There was too much dough on the large cookie sheet, which is the largest that will fit in my Wolf oven. I wondered if it should be rolled thinner, as it was more than 1/16th thick, but I went ahead with it. And so I ended up with Lemon Focaccia with Kamut and Olive Oil. Looking at the picture, I also think that I should have used my Knackebrod rolling pin to indent it as well, but again, no instruction to do so was given.

I didn't find that the Baker's Ammonia smelled up the house during baking. I certainly smelled it after I added it to the dough before the second rising, but only when I sniffed it. The flavor is interesting enough that I may try the recipe again, although I'll need to buy some more Kamut flour. However, I'm not sure that the anise seed works for me in these crispbread. It's the smell that my husband noticed as they were baking, and while he will eat them, he may not consume them at the speed he did the first crispbread. For me, the anise seed is almost a distraction and covers other flavors. It's hard to judge the flavor of this "crispbread" because if they had been rolled thinner, the taste would likely be different.

One more note: The recipe says zest of two lemons or 10g. Well, the zest of two lemons is 1.0 grams.

[BakerAunt]

Dinner on Friday night was a grain bowl. I cooked bulgur in turkey broth from the freezer. I sautéed green onion, celery, carrots; I added some kale towards the end, along with leftover ground turkey from the pizza we had earlier in the week. I cooked some frozen peas and added them. Then I added the cooked bulgur. It’s a one-dish meal, based on what was in the refrigerator and freezer. There is enough for leftovers tonight.

[BakerAunt]

I narrowed it to two and chose the incorrect answer.

That soup looks good, but my husband is not a fan of lamb, so I won't be experimenting with it.

That site looks interesting. I'm going to bookmark it and look at it more later.

[BakerAunt]

I also realized on Friday that we were running out of bread. I decided to repeat the bread that I last baked but use KAF Harvest Grains instead of old fashioned oats. The Harvest Grains do not absorb as much of the buttermilk that I pour over them as the old-fashioned oats do. I added 2 Tbs. oat bran to the mixture. I later needed to add 2 Tbs. more of bread flour during the kneading process. The dough took almost two hours on the first rise, probably because the house was cold. Once my husband started a fire in the wood stove, after the first hour, it did fine. The second rise took an hour. The bread had excellent oven spring. I baked it for 43 minutes, spritzing it once I put it in the oven, and covering it for the last 10 minutes to prevent overbrowning. I look forward to slicing it for lunch tomorrow.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I also knew it.

[BakerAunt]

On Friday morning, I made another batch of Maple Granola, using the recipe on the KAF site, which is a revision of the one in their wholegrain baking book. I halve the amount of salt and coconut flakes, delete the vanilla, and add 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds. It makes a big batch, which is good, as my husband uses it as a snacking food. I like a bit on top of my jar of yogurt in the morning, and sometimes I eat it with milk.

[BakerAunt]

I use marjoram in my Swedish pea soup. I need to branch out.

[BakerAunt]

On Thursday, I also tried a new recipe, “Lemon Crispbread with Kamut Flour and Olive Oil, from Jan Hedh’s Swedish Breads and Pastry (pp. 140-141). Instead of cracker-like breads, what I got resembles the thickness of pan pizza. If I were to bake this recipe again, I would divide the dough into three pieces before rolling it out in order to get it as thin as possible. I rolled each half as large as my cookie sheet, which is as large as my oven would take. Perhaps Hedh was using much larger baking pans (a half sheet would be too small) and a larger oven. I did cut the salt from 20g to 12g, but I don’t think that is the issue. I won’t taste them until tomorrow, at which time I’ll know if I think the recipe is worth another try. I

[BakerAunt]

It's never too early in February to invoke Valentine’s Day. On Thursday morning I baked my Wholegrain Fresh Apple Cake, but instead of a 13x9-inch pan, I used a large, red heart-shaped pan that I bought from King Arthur a long time ago. It holds the same batter as a 13x9 pan, although the cake is thicker. I’ve used it for coffee cakes in the past. The recipe baked well, although I had to add an additional five minutes, since the cake is thicker. I accidentally used 2/3 cup barley flour instead of ½ cup, but I don’t think that will make a difference.

[BakerAunt]

I can remember--a long time ago before I baked my own bread--seeing small squares of yeast in the grocery store dairy case that were fresh yeast. I wonder if people were indeed using it, even though dry yeast was available.

I won't be jumping on the fresh yeast bandwagon since there are other hard to find ingredients that I already need to order.

It's unfortunate that this cookbook, from a leading Swedish baker, did not get the kind of review before publication that would have made it far more useful. The photography is excellent. I see the breads and want to bake them. Then I look at the recipe and the information is hard to interpret. Perhaps the intended niche was coffee table book, but it could have been so much more.

Google revealed a couple of people who had baked one or two of the recipes, but the issues arise. One person was wondering why her bran bread didn't look like the picture in the book. I checked, and apparently the picture for that bread is on the following page, but no note indicates it. At least for the Barley Crispbread I baked, I was able to find the picture of it on the following page.

The book was translated from Swedish with no effort to consider what an English speaking audience in another country would need to follow it. Cloudberry Salt is a good example. One person in England wondered if a "kneading machine" is a stand mixer and whether the bread could be made without one. I'm not even sure a Swedish audience would know what kinds of flour to use, and certainly not indicating whether a particular recipe uses fresh or dry yeast (and the problem arises with more than one recipe) would be a problem for a baker in any country.

I understand that the book is aimed at experienced bakers, but more information and context is needed. I still hope to try baking some of the breads. We'll see how the new crispbread recipe goes.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I'd like to see Len's bread in the favorite recipes section.

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