[BakerAunt]

I cooked a package of black beans on Monday after soaking them overnight. They took a long time to soften while cooking. I later realized the package stated: “Best Before Aug. 2013.” However, the beans did eventually soften.

On Tuesday, I made a big batch of black-bean chili, using leftover cooked ground turkey and leftover crushed tomatoes from the pizza I made last week, orange bell peppers that were a good price at the store, broth I made last week from a rotisserie chicken, a bit of tomato paste, onion, 4 cloves garlic, part of a package of frozen corn kernels in the freezer, 2 tsp. chili powder, ¼ tsp. cayenne, ¼ tsp. ground cumin, and black pepper. I ended up with about 5 ½ quarts. I froze some of it. I also froze 3 cups of the black beans. The remaining chili will provide lunch for the rest of the week.

[BakerAunt]

I baked a new recipe on Monday morning: "Pear Spice Muffins," by Ellie Krieger. It appeared in The Washington Post. I’d post the link, except that it would count against any free views that I might have left. These muffins use date sugar and whole wheat pastry flour. I chose the walnut option for nuts. My only change was not to peel the Bosc pear that I used. The batter, which uses buttermilk and applesauce, was very puffy. It filled the muffin cups, but that was fine, as the muffins have a lower dome. We each had one at lunch, and again as dessert at dinner. They have a somewhat spongy texture. I like the cinnamon, ginger, and clove spice mixture. Saturated fat is less than 1g per muffin. Although I’m glad that I tried the recipe, I don’t think that I would go to the trouble of getting date sugar to bake them again, as I like a muffin with a firmer texture.

[BakerAunt]

I fed my sourdough starter again this morning. I'm making my sourdough crust pizza for dinner tonight.

[BakerAunt]

We have not had that amount of snow in northern Indiana. We get a few inches here and there, which are usually gone within a week or so. We were in Florida when the sub-zero temperatures hit.The lake is frozen, and the ice fishermen are loving it, as are the ice boaters. We did make a run to the grocery in the next town on Thursday because next week is supposed to have snow, rain, ice.

I would mind the winter weather less if we were not crammed into our garage apt. waiting for the work on the house to be finished. I miss curling up in a chair next to the wood stove, preferably with a pot of soup cooking atop it.

[BakerAunt]

Kids--Don't try this at home! These were professional scientists in the lab. 🙂

[BakerAunt]

The Honey, Halva, and Cardamom Biscotti make a nice breakfast cookie with a cup of coffee (after steel-cut oats, of course). I think that the cardamom needs the coffee taste so as not to be overpowering. These biscotti are likely quite nice with the glaze, which would also play well off the cardamom. I did grind my own cardamom by hand, so it may be fresher than what is used in the recipe, and thus more potent. I may try this recipe with another spice or combination, but I'm not sure what would go well with the tahini--which is very much a background taste with the cardamom.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I agree with Chocomouse and Joan: meatloaf sandwiches are delicious. I've also made salmon loaf sandwiches.

Dinner on Friday night will feature Salmon and Couscous, using Penzey's Greek seasoning rather than dill.

[BakerAunt]

On Friday, I baked a new recipe, Honey, Halva and Cardamom Biscotti, which I had printed from a Tasting Table email. According to the article, the recipe is from Black Girl Baking, by Jerrelle Guy:

https://www.tastingtable.com/cook/recipes/cardamom-honey-biscotti-halva-recipe

It is designed to be vegan, but I changed it by using ¼ cup buttermilk in place of the nut or grain milk. I also cut each log into 13 pieces (that is, ¾-inch or about 2 cm. wide), which gave me a total of 26 rather than 12. I do not plan to glaze them, which 1) seems to me to be a lot of work, and 2) calls for coconut butter, which is decidedly not for a low-saturated fat diet. The tahini in the coolies themselves, of course, is not without saturated fat, but the whole recipe has 16.5 g or so, and when cut into 26—and only one is eaten at a time—falls into my parameters. I will try them as a “breakfast cookie” to have with my coffee after my oatmeal.

Although the recipe says to allow them to cool, uncovered, at room temperature overnight, I have tasted a few of the crumbs, and I'm pleased with the flavor. My husband asked if he could have one with his afternoon snack, and I said yes. He liked the flavor, which is good, since he is NOT a cardamom fan.

I'll report again tomorrow after the flavors have further time to meld.

[BakerAunt]

Your bread looks great, Mike!

On Thursday evening, I baked my Cinnamon-Apple Barley Bread. I’m satisfied with how I altered the recipe, which I now claim as mine and have written into my recipe book. I will post it here at Nebraska Kitchen.

[BakerAunt]

I look forward to your report on the FP whole wheat bread, Mike.

The bread that I baked yesterday has great flavor--in my opinion. My husband claims the flavor is not as "robust" as my other breads, while I would say the opposite. It is not as heavy of a bread as some of my others, and I think he prefers the firmer texture, and perhaps the rolled grains.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

On Monday, I fed my sourdough starter and used the 2 cups I removed to make the dough for my lower-saturated fat version of Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers. I’ll bake them later this week.

My sourdough starter was nice and strong on Tuesday morning, so I made my version of King Arthur’s Rustic Sourdough bread, and I made it in my Emile Henry long baker. My changes to the recipe are to use 2 cups Irish Wholemeal flour, ¾ cup dark rye flour, 2 Tbs. flax. Meal, and additional 2 Tbs. special dried milk, honey in place of sugar, salt reduced to 1 ¾ tsp., and 2 ½ cup KAF AP flour. I use my milk-based sourdough starter. I always begin with the wholegrains, mix them in, then let them sit for 20 minutes before proceeding. The bread baked very nicely. I’m still working out how to use the EH baker effectively. This time I baked for 15 min. at 425F, then reduced it to 400F for 10 minutes. I removed the cover, and let it go for 15 minutes longer, checking every 5 minutes, until the interior measured 198F. Other than a tiny bit of sinking in the center from when I slashed it before baking, it’s a lovely loaf. I look forward to cutting into it tomorrow and will post about taste and texture after doing so.

[BakerAunt]

For dinner on Tuesday night, I tried a new recipe, “One-Pot Tarragon Chicken, Mushrooms & Rice, a recipe by John Whaite that I received in an email from the PBS radio show The Splendid Table:

https://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/one-pot-tarragon-chicken-mushrooms-rice

I made two changes. I didn’t have a banana shallot, or any shallot for that matter, so I used some chopped onion. I also replaced the basmati rice, which I do not have, with 1 ½ cup medium grain brown rice. I misread the amount of broth and used about 1/2 cup too much. However, we like the recipe enough that I will make it again—this time with the correct amount of broth and perhaps a bit more of the rice. My husband was unfamiliar with tarragon, and I’m never sure how he will respond to a new spice, but he liked the flavor.

[BakerAunt]

The pie was delicious and held together surprisingly well although warm. It is worth seeking out those small (traditional) Winesaps if you can find them. I hope the orchard where we got them has another good year.

[BakerAunt]

On Monday, I baked a streusel apple pie using the first oil-based crust in the KAF Anniversary Cookbook. I used 1/3 white whole wheat flour this time, and as I’ve done before, I replaced the milk with buttermilk. I accidentally put in 1 ½ Tbs. sugar rather than 1 ½ tsp. I forgot that I prefer to put this pie in the deep-dish Emile Henry pie plate. By the time that I remembered, I’d already blind-baked the crust in my 9-inch metal one. I used small Winesap apples that have been keeping cool in our heated garage (temperature at 48F). The original recipe, from Bernard Clayton used 7 large Granny Smith apples, so I used 15 of the little Winesaps. (I intended to use 14 but realized an extra one needed to be used.) I pre-cooked the apple mixture in a skillet after allowing it to sit for 15 minutes. I piled it very high in the pan. I cut the streusel topping ingredients by 25%, except for the butter, which I cut from 1/3 cup to 4 Tbs. I initially baked at 425F for 15 minutes, then 375F for 30 minutes. The filling cooked down just a bit, but it did not run over. (Thank heavens for the drip rim on that metal pie pan.) It is now cooling. While it ought to wait until tomorrow to be sliced, having only finished baking at around 4:45, my husband is unlikely to be that patient.

[BakerAunt]

That must have been before I found the Baking Circle, although I seem to recall that a group was tackling the KAF Cookie book at one point.

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