[BakerAunt]

On Monday, I baked the two varieties of whole wheat sourdough crackers—a cheese and a buttermilk ranch—from the dough I made last week.

I skipped the soda bread this year, although in the past I've made it as a breakfast food. So far, my favorite recipe was from KAF and used the Irish Wholemeal flour. I prefer raisins in it.

[BakerAunt]

I, too, enjoy a Ruben sandwich.

For my husband’s birthday dinner on Sunday, I made Pork Loin Roast with Barley, Butternut Squash, and Swiss Chard, a recipe that I’ve made before that we both like. I did the prep early, but I still find that the meat tends to cool down too much while the rest of the barley-vegetable side finishes cooking. I’d like to find a way to keep it warm without the meat’s drying out; tenting it with foil on a warmed platter is not enough. We have plenty of leftovers for the early part of the week.

[BakerAunt]

Remodeling and Renovation Update:

Dry wall went up last week, upstairs in the bedroom and study and downstairs in the kitchen. It was the expected mess. After they sanded and washed the walls, my husband and I primed the three rooms. (At some point, there is a downstairs bedroom to be done, but we have to wait until we can move stuff out of it into completed rooms.) We painted the kitchen, and then my husband repainted the ceiling--four times. We did not realize that eggshell paint is tricky, probably because there was so little light in the previous house where we used it, and those walls were textured. With the light shining in here at certain times of the day, every painting flaw shows. My husband got some advice from the paint store people today before he did the fourth coat. We have decided to use a different level of paint for the upstairs (and eventually the downstairs bedroom), although it will be the same color. It may not reflect the light as well, but we can live with that more easily than obsessing about the streaking.

The ash floor in the kitchen will be laid this week, and next week, the man who does the new floor, and the original Douglas Fir ones upstairs, will set to work. So, we have to complete the painting upstairs before a week from Monday. In the meanwhile, the exterior soffits are being installed on the outside of the house. The siding arrived ten days ago and is waiting to be installed.

The cabinets have arrived at the warehouse, so once the flooring is installed, they come next. There is then a three-week wait for the counter tops.

We are not going to be back in the house by Easter. Sigh.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I fed my sourdough starter on Sunday and made dough for a single recipe of my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers, and dough for a single recipe of a new variation, Whole Wheat Sourdough Buttermilk-Ranch Crackers. I only had enough Vermont Cheese powder for the single recipe, so I decided to experiment, since a single recipe never lasts long with my husband.

On Tuesday, I baked another batch of seeded crispbread.

On Wednesday, I baked the KAF 100% Whole Wheat Apple Cider Baked Doughnuts with Maple Glaze. I used white whole wheat flour. I reduced the sugar in the doughnuts from 1 ¼ to 1 cup. I reduced the boiled cider from ¼ cup to 1 tsp. (that stuff was far too strong when I followed the ¼ cup in the recipe, and it drowned out all other flavors). I reduced the vanilla from 1 ½ to 1 tsp. I cut the salt in half, from 1 tsp. to ½ teaspoon. I mixed these by hand, and I think it gave them a perfect cake doughnut texture. I glazed them the next day. I used the given amount of powdered sugar, but I used 4 Tbs. dark maple syrup instead of 3 Tbs., and I used 1 Tbs. of half and half. The glaze has held up well, and we will have the last two for dessert after Saturday’s dinner.

On Friday afternoon, I baked a loaf of Buttermilk Wheat and Barley Grape Nuts Bread. I substituted in ½ cup whole wheat flour, ½ cup barley flour, and used 2 cups bread flour. I used 1 cup buttermilk to soften the Grape Nuts. I used half special gold yeast and half active yeast (need to use up that bit of special gold). I cut the salt to 1 ¼ tsp. The dough took a little longer to rise both times, which worked out, since we got the call that my computer was ready and could retrieve it during the first rise. The loaf had good oven spring, and we cut into it for lunch on Saturday.

Early on Saturday afternoon, I baked the KAF Favorite Fudge Birthday Cake. I will make the filling and glaze and assemble it tonight. I’m off my game, in that I forgot to soak the cake strips; running them under water at the last minute is not adequate, and I had more doming than I would have liked, so I’ll have to trim one down before I split the two layers. If you are wondering why, with my usually strict adherence to a low-saturated fat eating plan, I am baking such a saturated fat bomb, it is because tomorrow is my husband’s birthday, and it is one of those significant decade birthdays. He pointed out that the two previous decade-turning birthdays had not been so great for him. So, four-layers of chocolaty delight it is, with three layers filled, and a ganache poured over the top and smoothed around the sides. I’m hoping some friends will help us eat it, or that my husband will consent to sharing some of it with the guys working on our house.

[BakerAunt]

For Sunday dinner, I made salmon and couscous with Greek seasoning.

On Monday, I made Tomato and Gigante Bean Bake (Pizza Beans) from Smitten Kitchen Every Day. I used giant lima beans from Bob’s Red Mill. This time I cooked 2 ½ cups dried. I always throw in the whole bunch of kale. I added browned ground turkey, because my husband prefers to have meat included. I cut the mozzarella from 8 oz. to 4 oz, and I cube it and sprinkle it on top. I don’t add salt, and this time I did not add the Italian seasoning. My husband prefers it that way, and I think it allows the flavors of the other elements to shine on their own.

On Thursday, I made a chicken-vegetable-soba noodle stir-fry. We used the last frozen chicken breast, which unfortunately was one of those rubbery ones. At least it was somewhat hidden by the vegetables: celery, red bell pepper, carrots, Baby Bella mushrooms, broccoli, and green onion. I had some defatted chicken drippings in the freezer which I used for the sauce.

Saturday’s dinner will be Salmon and Couscous, probably with Penzey’s Sunny Paris seasoning, with steamed green beans as the side.

[BakerAunt]

I'm catching up what I did not get to add during my laptop's being out of commission.

For dinner on Saturday, I used the rest of the rotisserie chicken to make a stir-fry with vegetables and bulgur (cracked wheat).

• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I'm catching up on what I could not post while the computer was out of commission:

First, that applesauce cake is delicious and moist. It did not need the frosting, so I'm glad that I did not include it.

On Friday, I baked two loaves of English muffin bread, using the recipe in Bernard Clayton’s second edition New Complete Book of Breads (revised and expanded edition), pp. 52-53. I made a few changes. 1 reduced the yeast from 2 ¼ tsp. to 2 tsp., I reduced the salt to 1 ½ tsp. from 2 tsp. salt. I might reduce it an additional ¼ tsp. next time. I used 1/3 cup KAF special dried milk in place of the ½ cup nonfat milk. I substituted in 1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour in place of that much bread flour (flour is total 4 cups). I used only the paddle on my stand mixer. After the first rise, I tried using it to mix in the baking soda dissolved in 1 Tbs. of warm water, since the last time I made this recipe and tried doing it by hand, I was not able to eliminate the brown streaking that occurs in the loaf but does not affect flavor. However, I had no better luck in eliminating the brown this time. I have 7 ½ x 3 ½ -inch loaf pans, so I used those. The bread baked well and had splendid holes. I gave one to the friend who helped us with the house while we were in Florida, as he is an English muffin bread connoisseur, with a favorite bakery in Michigan that produces it. He was very impressed. I enjoyed my loaf toasted with light butter canola spread. For some reason, my husband prefers it untoasted--heresy, in my opinion.

On Saturday, I baked a loaf of Malted Wheat Flakes and Buttermilk Whole Wheat Bread, using that basic recipe with which I’ve been experimenting. The malted wheat flakes do not behave the same as the other rolled cereals I’ve used (barley, oats, mixed grains) in that they do not soak up the liquid as readily. As a result, I had to add nearly ¼ cup of flour, and I did some additional kneading after it finished kneading in the bread machine. I did two stretch and folds before final shaping to strengthen the structure. The loaf came out well. Next time, I use the malted wheat flakes, I’ll reduce the liquid.

[BakerAunt]

Last night I used the last frozen chicken breast from the freezer--bought back in the fall. This one also had the "whiting," and it was chewy, even though my husband tried to cut out those parts before I sautéed it. We had it in stir-fry, so it was a bit less noticeable. We will not buy any more large chicken breasts. The large ones at our local grocery have definite white lines through them.

[BakerAunt]

I baked a new recipe this evening, Applesauce Cake with Cream Cheese & Honey Frosting, which I printed from Tasting Table last fall, as a cake that I could make that is low in saturated fat:

https://www.tastingtable.com/cook/recipes/applesauce-cake-recipe-cream-cheese-frosting

I made two changes: 1 substituted 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour for 1 cup of AP flour, and I used ½ tsp. fine sea salt. I used only 2 tsp. cinnamon and 2 tsp. ginger. I also baked it in an 8x8-inch square pan after working out that this square pan has almost the same area as a round 9-inch pan. We will cut into it tomorrow. Although the frosting looks delightful, I will leave it off. (An ounce of cream cheese has 6g saturated fat, so the frosting would have had 36 g plus whatever is in the sour cream. The cake by itself has about 10g.) We have some low-fat vanilla frozen yogurt, and I plan to serve pieces with it.

[BakerAunt]

I tried a new recipe on Tuesday afternoon, “Quinoa-Pumpkin Seed Granola,” from that Better Homes and Gardens special issue reprint of Cut the Sugar (p. 69). I made one change in that I replaced ¼ cup flax seeds with ¼ cup sunflower seeds, since humans cannot get the benefit of whole flax seeds. The finished granola has a good flavor. I was surprised that the recipe specifies refrigerating it, but maybe the quinoa needs that even after being baked.
I baked the granola directly on the baking sheet, and there was some sticking. If I make it again, I would spray the pan to prevent sticking. (At least the pan washed clean easily with a brief soak.)

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook--Chocolate always helps in difficult times!

On Monday, I baked a new recipe, Millet-Sunflower Bread, from King Arthur Flour’s Whole Grain Baking (pp. 202-203). I made a few changes. I replaced the orange juice with an equal amount of water, I deleted the 1 tsp. dark sesame oil, and I replaced the 2 Tbs. of vital wheat gluten with an equivalent amount of first clear flour. (I recall Cass telling us that first clear flour is the same thing as vital wheat gluten, so I thought, why not?) I reduced the salt by ¼ tsp., and I used active yeast. I was nervous about this recipe, as it only calls for 1 tsp. of yeast, but since it has longer rising times, I decided to forge ahead.

I proofed the yeast in the water with the honey. I then mixed in the millet I cooked yesterday. I weighed it to be certain I used the correct amount. I mixed together all rest of the ingredients, but I held back the salt and the olive oil. I did that to give the yeast more time to get going during the 45-minute rest after the initial mixing. At the end of the 45-minute rest period, I sprinkled in the salt and added the olive oil, then mixed it together with the paddle before switching to the kneading hook. I initially had to keep stopping the mixer to get the dough pushed together, but once it did, I kneaded for 4 minutes until I was satisfied with the texture.

Both the first and second rising times corresponded to what the recipe states. The bread baked into a beautiful loaf. I baked it to 200F, rather than th3e 190F. We cut into it for lunch on Tuesday, and it is a wonderful bread. The millet gives it a sweeter tasted than the 1 Tbs. of honey would have, yet the flavor is not overpowering. It is a perfect bread for any sandwich, and I will bake it again. This recipe makes it worth my while to keep a small bag of whole millet on hand

[BakerAunt]

I made a stir-fry for dinner on Tuesday. I thawed a chicken breast, which my husband cut into pieces so that I could stir-fry it. I then stir-fried sliced celery, cut-up small carrots, and broccoli. I added the leftover millet and leftover mixed rice. I added ¼ tsp. sweet curry and sliced green onion. I would have liked a bit more curry, but I didn’t want to push it with my husband.

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook: Here is the chart I use:

Ask Judy – Canola oil and Baking

I do a bit of "guesstimating" with smaller amounts.

On Sunday afternoon, I baked another new recipe from the King Arthur 200th Anniversary Cookbook. It’s the Basic Quick Bread, and I baked the Spicy Applesauce Bread version (pp. 90-91). I used the smaller amounts of oil and brown sugar. I substituted 1 tsp. boiled cider for the vanilla, and I added 1/3 cup of quick oats. I did not add the nuts or raisins. I baked the batter in three mini-loaf pans (coated with THE grease), and it took 35 minutes. These have nice rise, especially given that they are half whole wheat. We will sample them on Monday, since quick breads are usually best if allowed to sit for a day.

Note: Note: The spice combination is excellent. However, the breads were slightly dry. Next time, I’ll omit the oats I added or else decrease the flour slightly.

It was a good day to bake, since it has been snowing all day. Tomorrow should also be a good baking day.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I still have some limes from my lime tree in the refrigerator, and they are starting to yellow, although they still have juice. In paging through King Arthur Flour’s Whole Grain Baking, I came upon a recipe for “Sunny Citrus Squares” (pp. 363-364) that uses ½ cup citrus juice—lime, lemon, or combination—along with zest. The only issue for me was the 6 Tbs. of butter in the crust. I decided to use the guidelines for the oil pie crust that I’ve baked from the KAF 200th Anniversary Cookbook and see if I could modify the crust.

I used 4 ½ Tbs. canola oil in place of the butter, and I replaced the 3 Tbs. of orange juice in the crust (meant to cut the whole grain flavor of the spelt flour) with 3 Tbs. buttermilk. I whisked the buttermilk and oil together, before combining with the flour, using a fork. I followed the rest of the recipe as given, although I used a bit of water to reach the ½ cup of lime juice. It baked up well. As the recipe states, I will refrigerate it overnight. I’ll add a note tomorrow after we have it for dessert.

Note: The bars are delicious. I did have some shrinkage of the crust, so some of the topping flowed over and got beneath the crust. Next time, I will refrigerate the crust for an hour in the pan before I bake it, since my oil pie crust recipe says that doing so will relax the gluten and prevent shrinkage.

I don't know if I will have so many limes this year. Usually we put the lime tree in the apt., which we keep cool, but with the house renovation and our living in the apt., it got too warm and the lime tree bloomed early, but inside there are no pollinators.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Saturday’s dinner was my healthier take on my Mom’s hamburger stroganoff, which we had over brown and mixed rice with microwaved peas.

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