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On Wednesday, I baked Oat Bran Banana bread from a recipe that I created by major adaptations to one I found at Cooking.com. I forgot to grind the oat bran, but the loaf still came out moist and delicious—and healthy! This recipe is a keeper. I will try to get it posted here when I can.
On Thursday, I baked the King Arthur recipe for Chewy Semolina Rye bread, but I made some changes: I substituted in ½ cup plus 2 Tbs. buttermilk (5 fluid oz.). I replaced the Vital Wheat Gluten with an equal amount of first clear flour. I cut the salt down to 1 tsp. from 1 ½ tsp. I do not buy the KAF rye blend, so I used ¾ cup of dark rye flour and ¼ cup of white rye flour. The latter was bought back when I was going to try a scone and a cookie recipe that specified white rye, but I am unlikely to make those now, so I want to use the white rye flour which is taking up freezer space, and combining it with another rye flour is a good start. I omitted the dried minced onion, because we might want to use this bread for peanut butter sandwiches at some point. I used the bread machine to knead the loaf, and I held back the olive oil until after the initial 5-minute mix and 5-minute rest. I do own the baking bowl the recipe specifies, but it is still packed away until after the renovation, so I used an 8 1/2x4 1/2-inch loaf pan, and adjusted baking temperature and time: I baked it at 375F for 40 minutes, to an internal temperature of 202F. I did not do the egg seed topping. We cut into it for lunch on Friday, and flavor and texture have earned it a permanent place in my baking repertoire
On Thursday, I fed my sourdough starter and made my half-sheet pan pizza. I topped it with cherry tomatoes that I cut in half; they were on sale because slightly blemished, which is perfect for a recipe where they are baked. I sprinkled some Penzey’s garlic powder and Tuscan Sunset blend over those, then added browned ground turkey, sliced mushrooms, chopped red bell pepper, sliced green onion, 4 oz. part-skim mozzarella diced small, and grated Parmesan on top. It was a cold, rainy day, so the pizza really hit the spot.
I always use semolina flour and durum flour in my pizza dough. I've developed my own sourdough version that I can bake in a half-sheet pan. While I like the thin crust pizza, my husband does not like it as well as the sourdough version, so that is what I make, and I enjoy it as well. Indeed, I will be making it later this week.
KAF's semolina buns and semolina bread are good. I want to try their semolina rye bread.
Chocomouse--I'm not sure that KAF's new emphasis on "baking boxes" or "bundles" will get more people baking. I suspect it brings in the occasional or one-time baker. I recall Zen commenting when KAF closed the Baking Circle that its focus is on courting the "boutique" bakers--people who do not mind buying expensive ingredients for one-time baking attempts. What I have noticed is much less emphasis on the serious, practical home baker.
On Sunday, I experimented with making a lower-saturated fat version of the KAF Apple Cinnamon Bars. I replaced the 6 Tbs. melted butter with 4 ½ Tbs. canola oil. I replaced ½ cup of the flour with ½ cup barley flour and added 2 tsp. flax meal. I reduced the brown sugar from ¾ to ½ cup, which I have done in the past, or else these bars are much too sweet. I went ahead and used 1/3 scant cup of cinnamon chips, since I have them and want to use them up, but like all chips, they have lots of saturated fat. I made a half recipe of the glaze, which is plenty for this recipe, but I modified it by deleting the butter and using 1 Tbs. of half and half instead of water. The bars are delicious, but they are more like a cake than I recall from previously baking them.
Note: I used KAF glazing sugar. I bought it a while ago. KAF does not seem to sell it anymore. Instead they sell their own glazing mixes. Sigh. I will need to find another source for glazing sugar.
On Sunday, I baked a new recipe, Rye Bites (Schuastabuam) from Stanley Ginsberg’s The Rye Baker (pp.225-226). I’ve given up biscuits due to following a low-saturated fat dining plan, and I wanted something to have with the stew other than cornbread, which we had recently. These are rye rolls made with 2/3 medium rye flour and 1/3 bread flour. After the dough is mixed and kneaded for 8-10 minutes, it is divided and shaped into 24 small buns, allowed to proof for 35 minutes or so, then baked. They can be made in under two hours. My only change was to use active rather than instant yeast and to proof it first. My one mistake was not following the direction to put the oven rack in the upper-third of the oven. I thought with my particular oven the middle would be fine, but I had a bit of burning on the bottom of the cooked rolls—not bad, but I think that the rolls would also have been a bit softer had I done so. (This oven is also difficult for temperatures over 400F, so I may have had it a bit too hot.) However, they made a nice accompaniment to the stew, and my husband ate four of these cute little buns. I think these would make good party sandwiches. I had two for lunch today with tuna salad spread on them.
On Sunday, I made broth from the bones of the rotisserie chicken and those from a turkey breast in the freezer. I had run out of stock, so I needed to restock!
For dinner on Sunday, I made beef stew, which was perfect for the colder weather. There is enough for several days.
