BakerAunt

Forum Replies Created

Viewing 15 posts - 6,076 through 6,090 (of 7,928 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • in reply to: What are you Cooking the week of November 11, 2018? #14063
    BakerAunt
    Participant

      I had not intended for today to be a Smitten Kitchen fest, but I did not have time to make this recipe for dinner yesterday, and truth be told, after spending four hours with Microsoft to sort out why I could not view any of my Word documents, I only made it tonight because we had nothing else to eat other than this planned meal.

      This recipe, “Tomato and Gigante Bean Bake/Pizza Beans,” is from Deb Perelman’s second cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Every Day (143-144). I’m grateful that it went together fast, and dinner was only an hour late. I used large lima beans from Bob’s Red Mill, which I had cooked yesterday. I was unclear on the amount, so I cooked up 2 cups dried, and that seems to work well. I did not bother weighing the kale but grabbed a bunch and pronounced it enough. I nixed the red pepper flakes in favor of 1 tsp. Penzey’s Tuscan Seasoning. I added ¼ cup of broth from the beans to adjust the consistency. The recipe is basically a lima bean casserole with crushed tomatoes, sautéed onion, celery, carrots, and garlic. Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese go on top. We liked it, and I will make it again. It’s a good vegetarian main dish or side. It could easily accommodate ground turkey or ground beef

      in reply to: What are you Cooking the week of November 11, 2018? #14060
      BakerAunt
      Participant

        Joan--it would go well with your ham!

        in reply to: What are you Cooking the week of November 11, 2018? #14057
        BakerAunt
        Participant

          For lunch today, I made Black Bean Pumpkin soup, from a recipe that I found at Smitten Kitchen:

          I made a few changes (why do I hear Wonky giggling in the background?):

          I used 1 pound, 8 oz. of my homemade pumpkin puree. (I'm using up that white pumpkin that I don't care for in my baked goods.

          I deleted the 1/2 cup minced shallot--(I'm not sure why shallot is used with onion, and I was not going to find them in a small town grocery store.)

          I reduced the cumin to 1 1/2 tsp. (I want to be able to taste the sherry!) I added it later, along with the pepper.

          I used 14 oz. diced tomatoes in very little juice, so I put it all in.

          I deleted the salt (There was plenty in the black beans, as I could not find low-sodium in this store, and I did not want to take the time to cook my own.)

          I used 2 Tbs. olive oil in place of the 4 Tbs. butter. (I'm saving butter for a recipe where it is essential.)

          I used 1 Tbs. of Penzey's beef base with 4 cups boiling water. (Plenty of salt in there as well.)

          I did not add diced ham or sherry vinegar. (I have neither in the house.)

          The soup is delicious--and the reduced spice is just right for me. It's a healthy soup, although somewhat high in sodium but does not taste salty. I can reduce the salt content next time by cooking my black beans from scratch. I'm looking forward to having this soup for lunches into the coming week.

          • This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
          in reply to: Freezing rolls #14055
          BakerAunt
          Participant

            Navlys--If you bake them so they touch, and are all one unit, then double-wrap the whole unit and freeze. I usually stick the double-wrapped baked item into a freezer bag as well. If you are having an evening dinner, then set them on the counter in the morning to thaw.

            If you make the buns as singles, then, yes, you should individually wrap each one before bagging it.

            in reply to: Rice Bread #14051
            BakerAunt
            Participant

              Chocomouse--I'm pretty sure that I could decrease the butter, as I cut back on the amount in my turkey pot pie back before I needed to reduce saturated fat. Possibly, if I cut it to 4 Tbs., used less flour, and am vigilant about serving size, I would get a soup that is not as thick but still pleasing, and with a much lower amount of saturated fat.

              I'll experiment when we do a turkey. That won't be at Thanksgiving, as we have an invitation to join friends, and with getting the house ready for the start of renovation, we find an invitation to eat Thanksgiving elsewhere a blessing. I plan to take Stella Parks' yeasted pumpkin bread (maple version) made according to her instructions for rolls. Breads I can manage.

              in reply to: Rice Bread #14041
              BakerAunt
              Participant

                I've actually been thinking about a recipe that I have for Turkey Wild Rice Soup that came out of one of those Pillsbury cook booklets (#34) years ago.. The original used broth, wild rice, green onion, margarine, flour, poultry seasoning, half and half, cooked turkey, and some dried sherry. It used crumpled bacon as a garnish.

                I made it for years, after Thanksgiving, using butter rather than margarine, and using nonfat milk. I never used the bacon garnish, as it was lovely as is. I've been trying to figure out how I can alter it to lower the saturated fat. 1/2 cup butter is not going to work with my dietary restriction. I might try it with low-fat evaporated milk and leave out the flour and butter.

                in reply to: What are you Cooking the week of November 11, 2018? #14038
                BakerAunt
                Participant

                  We had the pumpkin sauce rotini, with some sautéed half chicken breast pieces for Friday dinner, along with steamed broccoli. This is one of the three half breasts in the freezer that have the white striping. My husband cut out that out, and then I cooked them in grapeseed oil until browned. The chicken was good, but I’m not buying any large breasts again, and I will look carefully at what I buy.

                  in reply to: Rice Bread #14033
                  BakerAunt
                  Participant

                    Oops!

                    in reply to: Rice Bread #14030
                    BakerAunt
                    Participant

                      KAF has a recipe in Sift for a bread that uses wild rice. I've not tried it.

                      in reply to: Bake Magazine’s Top 25 #14028
                      BakerAunt
                      Participant

                        Thanks for posting the link, Mike. The biographies give me hope that really good bread will continue to be more widely available and appreciated in America.

                        in reply to: It’s that time of year again… #14016
                        BakerAunt
                        Participant

                          I saw this article reviewing different kinds of pie pans and thought it might be timely here. I would disagree with their assertion that one pie pan should do it all. I like to use ceramic for my pumpkin pie and streusel-topped apple pie, but I use a flat metal pan that has a wide rim to catch juices when I bake a blueberry or peach pie. I'm not sure that rimmed pie plate is even made anymore. My mother had them, and years ago, I bought two at a hardware store when I was in graduate school (one of those independent, carries a lot, in the neighborhood stores that no longer exist). I found another one at a garage sale and snatched it up. In addition to catching spills, the rim also supports the crimped crust.

                          Underneath the pie, I use a round pan, the size of a pizza pan, that has a 4-inch or so hole in the center. It was left in this house when I bought it, and it is great for catching spills and allowing the center of the pie to get direct heat through the hole. I bought a non-stick version from the old Chefs Catalog.

                          I'm also a proponent, when baking a pumpkin pie, of cooking the filling--without the eggs--until starting to bubble, then putting a bit of the filling in a small bowl, whisking in an egg, then whisking it into the off-the-burner filling. Whisk in the rest of the eggs, one by one, then fill the warm blind-baked crust. This technique, adapted from Cooks' Illustrated, helps the filling bake evenly in much less time.

                          https://www.foodandwine.com/cooking-techniques/baking/best-pie-dish-review?hid=0527ce5bc5a38694da803c7d5550ccbaa89b02bf&did=304070-20181115&utm_campaign=faw-the-dish_newsletter&utm_source=foodandwine.com&utm_medium=email&utm_content=111518&cid=304070&mid=16239218061

                          • 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.
                          • This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
                          in reply to: What are you Baking the week of November 11, 2018? #14013
                          BakerAunt
                          Participant

                            On Wednesday evening, I baked a new recipe from Bob’s Red Mill: “Gluten Free Fall Harvest Apple Bread.”

                            As I do not need to bake gluten-free, I substituted 1 ½ cups AP flour and ½ cup barley flour for their 1:1 gluten-free flour. I reduced the sugar from ¾ to 2/3 cup. I used buttermilk rather than regular milk, and I substituted 2 tsp. boiled cider for 1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar (it was clearly there to "sour" the milk). The recipe did not specify whether the apples should be peeled, but I did so. I used one Winesap and one small Jonathan. It baked well, and it came easily out of the pan with no falling apart. (I used THE Grease on the pan). I'll add a note tomorrow on taste and texture. The bread is very low in saturated fat, only 3.5g for the entire 9x5 loaf.

                            Promised Note: It made a tasty bread that holds together well--just don't expect to slice it thinly. The apple mixture and the cinnamon went very well together.

                            • This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
                            • This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
                            in reply to: What are you Cooking the week of November 11, 2018? #14012
                            BakerAunt
                            Participant

                              For Wednesday dinner, I made a variation of a recipe, Creamy Chicken and Pumpkin Rotini, that I found in America’s Best Pumpkin Recipes (p. 120), a publication of Centennial Kitchen that I found amid the cooking magazines about a month ago. This is the second recipe I’ve tried. I decided to make the pasta with sauce to go with a rotisserie chicken from the store. I altered the ingredients in that I used yellow rather than red onion, and I used my homemade pumpkin puree. I did not add salt, cinnamon or nutmeg, nor did I use a tsp. of hot pepper sauce, and I used dried sage rather than fresh. In place of ½ cup heavy whipping cream, I used low-fat evaporated milk. I used wholegrain rotini. I like the sauce, although it seems to me to need a little something more--perhaps a dash of nutmeg?. It went well with the chicken and steamed broccoli.

                              in reply to: Of Sourdough, Microbes, and Hands #14009
                              BakerAunt
                              Participant

                                Of course, the murderer will try to obscure guilt by wearing special gloves for kneading, and perhaps sneaking into another bakery to make the sourdough starter there....

                                in reply to: What are you Cooking the week of November 11, 2018? #14006
                                BakerAunt
                                Participant

                                  Joan is making me hungry for ham.

                                Viewing 15 posts - 6,076 through 6,090 (of 7,928 total)