[BakerAunt]

I have an English Muffin splitter that I bought from King Arthur. It's a small plastic contraption that has the tines of a fork. It requires compressing the handle when you stick it in, then releasing it. I work my way around the muffin until I have two halves.

I think that buttermilk makes a particularly great muffin, which is why I replaced the milk. I've had to switch out the butter in my recipe with canola oil to accommodate my need to reduce saturated fat. Inn this recipe, I can get away with doing that.

[BakerAunt]

That's a fun link, skeptic!

Upon reflection, I would say that the recipe I made yesterday is a dough English muffin, but a slack dough.

After sampling at breakfast, I am very pleased--holes and cooked through nicely. Of course, I would have been ranked low in the Great British Baking Show because I was only able to make ten and not a dozen--another reason that I would never want to compete on a TV baking show: it takes the spontaneity out of baking--and the fun--and the need just to go with what works.

[BakerAunt]

I narrowed it down to two and picked the correct answer.

[BakerAunt]

Chocomouse--I think that I tried the zucchini brownie recipe once and was similarly underwhelmed.

[BakerAunt]

To change up tonight's dinner, I mixed some leftover cooked ground turkey that I had in the freezer with the rest of the ratatouille and brown rice. We had it with an ear of sweet corn each.

[BakerAunt]

Aaron--I cannot recall if I've made a dough English muffin that is rolled out, then cut with a cutter. I've made a KAF recipe that used rings that was more of a batter, but I never quite got what I wanted in an English muffin. Of course, I did not have good pans (cast iron) at that time. The one I'm using now (see following discussion) is probably between a dough and a batter. They did have excellent rise, and are worth the mess. I will work on fine-tuning what I do. There must be an easier way of getting them divided. The dough/batter is too sticky, I think, for a scoop.

I’ve been dreaming of English Muffins, on which to use a bit of jam left over from a batch of strawberry-blackberry jam that I recently made. It’s a cooler, rainy Tuesday, and I bought new batteries for my infrared heat reader on Sunday, so I pulled out the recipe for Easy Buckwheat Oat English Muffins, which is my favorite. As always, I substituted 12 oz. buttermilk for that much regular milk, then used ¼ cup warm water to proof my yeast. Usually, I substitute honey for sugar, but this time, I decided to use the sugar. I reduced the salt to 1 tsp. and added 2 Tbs. flax meal and 3 Tbs. special dry milk. I replaced the 3 Tbs. of butter with 2 scant Tablespoons of canola oil. I resisted the urge to use the bread hook, which I’ve done in the past, and instead mixed the dough for 5 minutes using the paddle, scaping as I went. I used speed 3 on my Cuisinart stand mixer. (The recipe states, “medium speed.") I let it rise in the mixing bowl. The rise took the full two hours. It’s a very sticky dough. I used farina (cream of wheat) rather than semolina on the tray. I managed to cut the dough into ten pieces, not the twelve specified—and there was no way that I could weigh them. I used a bowl of water to help shape them into the semblance of a disc, then let them rest, covered for 20 minutes. I only have two medium sized griddle pans; one a Le Creuset (probably sold as a crepe pan), and one a Lodge 10-inch griddle pan. I was able to fit three on each. Once the pans came to temperature, I put the flame as low as it would go on both burners. [Major thumbs up here to the gas cooktop on my Wolf!] After 15 minutes, I turned them for another 15 minutes. All but one tested done the first time, and I moved the slacker muffin to a hotter spot and let it go a little longer. I then did the other four—two on each pan. While my English muffins are not perfectly round, they are about 1 ¼-inches high. I’m looking forward to toasting one to have with breakfast tomorrow.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 3 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 3 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 3 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I know this one!

[BakerAunt]

For lunch on Monday, I made The Simplest Black Bean Burgers, a recipe by Mark Bittman:

https://www.markbittman.com/recipes-1/the-simplest-bean-burgers

I used 14 oz. of black beans that I cooked yesterday, and I used old-fashioned oats. (The recipe says not instant but does not specify quick or old-fashioned.) My only change was to use 2 Tbs. Penzey’s Southwest seasoning in place of 1 Tbs. chili powder. (The recipe does say “or spice mixture of your choice.) I used half of a small onion. These came together well in the food processor without additional water or oats. I used my KAF ¼ cup scoop to make six patties. They held together well when I cooked them in olive oil.

I had one in a sandwich, made with Grape Nuts Bread, mayonnaise and sliced tomato from our garden. No one will ever mistake it for a hamburger, but it is tasty I think that it would be great topped with salsa. When I warm one up tomorrow, I’ll try it with a bit of melted cheese on top. I expect to make the recipe again. I might try adding a bit of tomato paste next time and changing up the spices.

The recipe ticks several boxes for me: low in saturated fat, cholesterol reducing, and healthy for bones.

[BakerAunt]

Joan--These were old beans. I don't know how long I'd had them before they were packed away for over two years when we moved.

I've had good results with Bob's Red Mill beans, but those are hard to find in the store. I order them from their site.

[BakerAunt]

As usual, I narrowed it down to two and chose the wrong one.

[BakerAunt]

My black beans had to cook for four hours, with more water added, but they now are the correct consistency. I will freeze two 14 oz. containers. The other 14 oz. container is for a new recipe I hope to try for lunch tomorrow for black bean burgers.

Sunday dinner was our old standby of salmon and couscous, this time seasoned with 1 tsp. dill and 1/8 tsp. celery seed, as well as some freshly grated pepper. We had fresh green beans from our garden as well.

[BakerAunt]

I missed it, but I shared the information with my husband.

Our broccoli crop, and I don't know what variety it is--was eaten once by caterpillars, resulting in very lacy leaves--then, when it was recovering and a small head had formed on one, the caterpillars came back. My husband was removing them as fast as he could, but a tiny bit of broccoli, which he ate last night, is all he got.

Unless we can solve the caterpillar issue, I don't see broccoli as one of our future crops. I have suggested a "dead zone" around the outside of the long and narrow garden fence, so that the grass does not grow right up next to the enclosure, but that may not solve the problem. It's also why we haven't had a spinach crop. Another gardener told me that her kale was hit as well.

[BakerAunt]

I sympathize Navlys. We redid our kitchen completely, and I'm still trying to figure out how everything will fit. I have to store some items that I don't use as much in the apt. kitchen over the garage, which means going outside to get to them. Give yourself time. You will find yourself re-arranging as you go. I still need to re-do the utility cabinet organization, as well as the cabinet over the refrigerator.

[BakerAunt]

On Saturday, I tried another version of the KAF recipe, “Lemon Blueberry Cornmeal Cakes.” When I baked it a couple of weeks ago, making some significant changes, it was far too lemony and that overpowered the blueberries. I decided to make it in an 8x4-inch loaf pan this time, since I don’t have any of THE Grease mixed up, so I didn’t want to do a Bundt pan. This time, for the flour I used ¾ cup AP and ½ cup barley flour. I added 2 Tbs. BRM powdered milk and 1 Tbs. flax meal. I used just 1 Tbs. lemon juice and added ½ tsp. vanilla. I used ½ + 2 Tbs. EACH canola oil and buttermilk. I sprinkled the loaf with demerara sugar. I baked it for about 38 minutes, when it tested done, cooled it for 10 minutes in the pan, then turned it out onto a rack. We had some for dessert this evening. It is a slightly sweet bread that is definitely better with less lemon and a bit of vanilla. The original recipe includes a glaze, so that may be why the cake/bread is not overly sweet.

I also baked my lower-saturated fat version of Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from the dough I made last week.

[BakerAunt]

Saturday night dinner is a rotisserie chicken (on sale for $4.99), an ear of sweet corn each (we have to eat it while we can!), and microwaved green beans from our garden.

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