[BakerAunt]

We cut into the pie today, and both my husband and I pronounced it delicious! The crust is actually flaky! While it does not have the buttery flavor, with a pie with a strong filling, such as the apple pie, I don't miss it. I might try it for our Christmas pumpkin pie.

The canola oil does, to my taste buds, leave a slight aftertaste. I noted that with my crackers, but in that case it helped to add some special dried milk.

Note: I substituted in 1/3 cup of white whole wheat flour for that much KAF flour. I used low-fat evaporated milk for the 2 Tbs. milk the recipe specifies, in part because I need to use it up. I might try buttermilk next time.

[BakerAunt]

Well, Joan, my husband nixed putting it in our wood stove, and in this rainy, windy weather, there will not be any outside fires.... 🙂

Some people put them in the oven on the self-clean cycle, but as we've discussed before, oven self-clean, especially the really hot ones, may contribute to stove failure. While I could try it with the old avocado green Frigidare that we will donate to Habitat for Humanity if they want it, when we first got the house, the previous people had run the self-clean, and the oven was locked. Someone who knew how to jiggle it got it unlocked for us, and we have never run it ourselves. The sales rep at the store where I will purchase my stove told me that there is an increase in service calls right before Thanksgiving and Christmas because people decide to clean the oven before the holiday baking, and some of the modern ovens get stuck in the locked position.

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

[BakerAunt]

I did blind-bake the crust. Before adding the cooked filling, I sprinkled Panko on the bottom to try to keep the bottom crisp. I baked it for 35 minutes at 375F in a deep-dish Emile Henry pie plate.

[BakerAunt]

On Friday, I decided to bake Bernard Clayton's French Apple Pie, from The Complete Book of Pastry Sweet and Savory. It's an apple pie with a streusel topping. I decided to try an oil crust, only to discover that crust needed to be blind-baked. (I posted about it in a thread under desserts.)

I decided to change around the recipe to accommodate the blind-baked crust. After I cut up the apples, I mixed them with the sugar, spices, and tapioca and let them set, while I blind baked the crust, which I had refrigerated after making. I then cooked the apples over medium-high heat until they were softened and most of the juice thickened. I sprinkled Panko crumbs on the bottom of the pie crust before adding the apple filling to try to keep it crisp. I topped with the streusel and baked at 375F. Bernard Clayton’s recipe calls for 15 minutes at 425F, then 375F for 45 minutes. With the apples pre-cooked and the crust already browned, I baked at 375f for 30 minutes, then an additional five when I could see it bubbling. It smells good. I used 5 Winesaps and 2 Jonathans.

I'll add a note tomorrow after we try it.
Promised Note: The pie is delicious, and the crust works well. I did substitute 1/3 white whole wheat flour in the crust. I also used half white whole wheat flour in the topping. The pie is still 4.85g sat. fat per slice (1/8th of the pie), but the oil crust makes it come out much better than it otherwise would.

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

[BakerAunt]

My husband suggests lining a box bottom with aluminum foil, so that the oven cleaner does not soak through. He also suggests doing it outside so that we do not breathe the fumes. Rain is predicted for tomorrow, so maybe I'll try it Sunday morning.

[BakerAunt]

Here are a multitude of ideas. The coca cola one is interesting--for all the wrong reasons.

https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-restore-a-rusty-cast-iron-skillet-cleaning-lessons-from-the-kitchn-203086

Good point about the garbage bag, Mike. I found some oven cleaner under the sink in the apt., but now I wonder what would be safe to the pan inside. I have plenty of cardboard boxes.

[BakerAunt]

I started with a semi-coarse sponge and Kosher salt. It was slow going, not so much because of rust but the crud cooked onto the skillet. I remembered that there were some SOS pads (left there in the house when we bought it), so I have now used three of the four, wearing the down to nothingness. It has helped, and I can see the actual skillet, but I am now going to see if there is any oven cleaner around here (we never use the stuff), spray the skillet and put it in a garbage bag for a couple of days, and see if that will get me there faster.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks, Mike and Len. I'm going to start with the kosher salt and a coarse sponge. The skillet seems to have mostly black crud with some areas of rust. It almost looks like something burned onto it, or that it was used over a fire.

350F seems to be the suggested temperature. I have both canola and grapeseed oil, so either should work.

[BakerAunt]

Wow, Skeptic, I've only seen the 9-inch with the drip rims. I don't know that 7-inch pans are readily available anymore. I have at least one with a narrow rim, and it is exactly the right size for my light cheesecake recipe.

[BakerAunt]

I made my personal sourdough pizza crust on Wednesday.

I also baked my adaptation of Rustic Sourdough (KAF in the Spring 2016 Sift but probably also on their website) I used Irish Wholemeal flour, as I did last time. I was short 2 cups, so I used spelt flour to make up the difference. I increased the dark rye flour to ¾ cups and added 2 Tbs. flax meal and 2 Tbs. special dried milk. As I did last time, I reduced the salt to 1 ¾ tsp. In spite of increasing the amount of dark rye flour, I still had to add ¼ cup KAF AP in addition to the 2 ½ Cups. I slashed it before baking, and I also misted the loaf before putting it in to bake, and then after 5 minutes, and then another 5 minutes. The loaf had great oven spring, but it blew out along one side. I’ve not had such a dramatic blowout in a long time. Possibly it was slightly under proofed when I put it in the oven. It could be that my shaping or my slashing was not good enough. It may be this oven. I also think I should have put the loaf in width-wise (I used a hearth bread pan). This bread will still be a delicious loaf to eat and to use for sandwiches.

[BakerAunt]

We had pizza for Wednesday dinner. I made my sourdough pizza crust, and I topped it with sliced tomatoes (yes, we still have some that have ripened inside), cooked ground turkey, sliced mushrooms, and mozzarella cut into small pieces and sprinkled on top. I also sprinkled it with Penzey's Tuscan Sunset (salt-free blend). I make it in a half-sheet pan.

[BakerAunt]

I baked an Apple Crisp on Tuesday. The recipe comes from Baking Illustrated (2004), p. 290. I made a few changes. I used a combination of Jonathan and Winesap apples instead of Granny Smith and McIntosh. I decided not to peel them. I reduced the topping by about 25%, slightly more for the butter, as I used 3 Tbs., reduced the salt to 1/8 tsp. and used Penzey’s Apple Pie spice (a free sample). I also used whole wheat pastry flour instead of AP flour. I used my pastry cutter, not the food processor, to incorporate the butter, and I used ¼ cup pecan meal in place of ¾ cups nuts, which would have been ground in. Instead of a 9x9 inch pan or a 9-inch deep pie plate, I baked it in a ceramic 8x11 rectangular dish. We had it with some frozen low-fat vanilla yogurt. We enjoyed it tonight and will enjoy it for the next two nights as well.

[BakerAunt]

Given all the problems that have arisen, that new labeling standard is long overdue.

[BakerAunt]

Monday afternoon was devoted to cooking up a lot of the formerly green tomatoes that we picked before the first freeze. We cut the vine branches and left them attached, which seems to have helped the ripening. We’ve had them in the front room where they can get some sun, and where the woodstove keeps them reasonably warm during the day but not hot. I did have to cut out some bad places, and toss a few that were too far gone, but I was able to use close to four pounds, and we still have some to ripen.

I made the ones I cut up into sauce, by adding them to some onion and minced garlic sautéed in olive oil, then cooking them down. I used that sauce to make spaghetti sauce by adding some tomato paste, cooked ground turkey leftover from last night. I sautéed chopped celery, red bell pepper, and mushrooms in olive oil, then added those to the pot. I used 2 tsp. Penzey’s salt-free Tuscan Seasoning and simmered with a bay leaf. I did add 1 Tbs. of sugar, as these were not as sweet as the ones that mostly ripened on the vine. I added ¼ cup red wine in the last 40 minutes of cooking. I mixed it with 12 oz. whole wheat penne.

[BakerAunt]

I bought marked down bananas at the grocery yesterday. The store sells them for 69 cents a pound, but when they begin to turn, they are marked down to 29 cents. Given how many of their bananas end up marked for reduction, I’m not sure why they don’t just lower the price to a reasonable amount before they go brown.

Usually the ones I get are fine for eating, but these were a little too ripe, so I used two on Monday morning to try a new recipe for Oat Bran Banana Bread, from North Dakota State University Extension Services. It's one that Italian Baker might like because it uses baking soda for the leavening, not baking powder.

https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/foodpreparation/recipes/grains/oat-bran-banana-bread/files/oat-bran-banana-bread.pdf

As usual, I modified it. I ground the oat bran in the food processor, and I substituted in ½ cup of whole wheat flour for the 1 cup of AP specified. I added 4 Tbs. powdered milk. I used buttermilk instead of skim milk. I left out the optional salt. The recipe didn’t specify a pan size, so I used a 9x5 inch loaf pan. It’s not an overly high quick bread, so possibly 8x4 inch would work as well. I sprinkled the top with demerara sugar. It baked in 50 minutes in my oven in a USA loaf pan coated with THE grease, and it released beautifully. We had some for dessert this evening, and we like it. I might add some walnuts next time.

The loaf has about 8.75 g saturated fat and 222.5 mg calcium.

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

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