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I will have to look for 2% cheese when we are in different areas.
The dairy fat issue is confusing--and I'm not convinced that it has been settled. In the past, I mostly did low-fat dairy because I used so much butter in my baking, and I hoped to offset it somewhat. I did switch from non-fat to 1% milk a couple of years ago and will not change back. My issue is that I had such a high LDL cholesterol number that the doctor tried to put me on Lipitor, and I asked for time to try lifestyle change, which the CMA (they never let you talk to the doctor), after communicating with the doctor, said I could try for three months until they re-test me. All she said was low-fat diet and exercise--no help--and I was also judged Vitamin D and calcium deficient, so I need more dairy in addition to supplements. I consulted a friend's daughter who has her M.A. in Dietetics and recently became a P.A. (She became a P.A. to help people BEFORE they are in negative health situations.) She said to focus on keeping saturated fat to less than 11g per day, so that is what I am doing, and to include exercise. I'm also eating more beans and have increased fruit and vegetables. I've kept eggs. I use more canola oil and more olive oil. Low-fat cheese gives me flexibility in how I stay below 11g. I've cut out almost all butter, although I may make an exception for a rare pie. As 1 Tbs. butter = 7g saturated fat, a single scone would put me close to the limit, and pie, oh, my.
The new food plan (and exercise) is for lowering cholesterol, but I have lost about 8 pounds in the twelve weeks since I began it, and pants have a better fit now.
Your bread sounds beautiful, and yummy, Joan!
I baked Skeptic’s Pumpkin Biscotti on Wednesday night. I followed the recipe except that I use white whole wheat flour, add 3 Tbs. powdered milk, and delete the vanilla. I also spritz the loaf and sprinkle with sugar-in-the-raw, which gives a nice sparkle and subtle flavor. We like this recipe a lot; this is the third time I’ve baked it this autumn.
On Tuesdays, I used the mixed beans and barley I cooked yesterday to make two different soups. For my husband, who cannot tolerate hotter spices, I sautéed a little onion, some red bell pepper, and celery in olive oil, then added sliced mushrooms and a bit of garlic. After adding half of the defatted chicken drippings from a couple of days ago, I added half the beans and 1 tsp. Penzey’s Herbs de Provence. For me, I used more sautéed onion, bell pepper, and celery, then garlic and half the defatted chicken drippings. I added half the beans, two small cans of chopped tomatoes with chilies (bought before I realized I would have to give up tortilla chips due to the saturated fat content), and 1 tsp. Penzey’s Salsa and Pico that I bought during a promotion. It definitely gave a zippiness that I crave in a bean soup.
KAF has a yeasted ginger pumpkin bread, which is slightly sweet, that I made about a month ago, substituting in some white whole wheat flour and oil for the butter. It's good as a sweet bread. We had it along with breakfast and as an accompaniment at tea time.
Stella's pumpkin yeast bread recipe is very good for chicken sandwiches. I think it would be great with ham or with most cheeses.
Mike--with all the food/nutrition info, we just do the best we can with the information that we have--and try not to think about all the information in the past that was wrong. Sigh.
We had a pound of hamburger from the farmers’ market in the freezer—bought before I learned about my high cholesterol. We decided to use our charcoal grill one more time this season (we’ve only used it once) and use up the hamburger in style, so my husband grilled hamburgers. To go with them, I made one last batch of All-American Potato Salad (Cooks’ Illustrated recipe). I had been saving the Mountain Rose potatoes from the farmers’ market for it. I also found the German pickles we like at Tuesday Morning when we were in South Bend in October; without those, and their juice, the potato salad is not worth making. So, we have a summertime dinner on what will likely be the last temperate, non-rainy day of the week—and even now, the rain is making its way towards us. A freeze is predicted for Wednesday night/Thursday morning.
I also soaked mixed beans and barley last night and cooked them today for soup, but I did not get the soup made today. I'll make it tomorrow. I'm thinking of using the beans for two separate soups, so that I can make one spicier for me.
I made a batch of my variation of Ellen’s burger buns, but this time I used 2 Tbs. canola oil in place of the butter. I actually forgot to add it until 7 minutes from the end of the bread machine’s kneading cycle. To my relief, the oil did incorporate. I made the dough into 10 buns, which is the size we like for hamburgers.
I've baked that recipe, Len, and it makes a lovely loaf. I like your idea of a cinnamon raisin variation.
I've been using an adaptation of my Buttermilk Pie Crust for all my pies. I'm not sure if I've changed the recipe that I posted. It works well for blind baking, and I've used it for pumpkin pie.
For a single crust, I bake in an Emile Henry 9-inch ceramic pie plate (not one with a ruffled edge--what the heck were they thinking?!), which is a deep dish, I use 1 2/3 cup pastry flour and 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour, 1 1/2 Tbs. sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt, 2/3 cup cold butter, and 1/3 cup buttermilk. I mix the dry ingredients, and cut in the butter. I then add the liquid all at once, and use a pastry fork, then a bowl scraper to bring it together.
I used to make the recipe with half butter and half Crisco. Then, one day, I was distracted by my husband and accidentally used all butter for the fat. The crust was wonderful, and I've never looked back.
After the dough has a couple of hours in the refrigerator, I roll it out to 12-inches. I roll on parchment paper, with a wide piece of saran over the top, and I use pie wands. To transfer it to the pie plate, I flip it over and peel off the parchment, put my hand under the saran, and move the dough to the pie plate and carefully fit it in (saran still on top). I carefully pull off the saran once the dough is fit into the pie dish, and I fold over the edges around the rim and make a fluted edge. (The extra dough will help it hold its shape. I set the plastic over it, then refrigerate it for 40 minutes, and then for 20 minutes, I freeze it--if I have a freezer in which it will fit. Sometimes if it is cold enough outside, it sits there!
I line the pie shell with a double thickness of foil, or I have some commercial coffee filters, and I use one of those. I fill with beans--ideally, fill the entire pie shell. (Beans can be used over and over again.) DO NOT USE CERAMIC OR METAL PIE WEIGHTS. These get too hot. I bake for 21 minutes at 375F on the middle rack, or until the dough sides are light, dry, and firm. I then remove the foil, carefully, and return the pie shell to the oven.
If the intended filling for the pie requires no baking, bake another 15-20 min. If the filling will need 20 minutes or less, bake an additional 7 minutes. If the filling will need more than 20 minutes, bake for 14 minutes.
OK, that is what I do. The article that Mike posted, with a suggested baking temperature of 350F is interesting, and if someone tries it, I'd be interested in knowing how it works.
I do want to bake a pumpkin pie this year, and right not, I'd love to do an apple one. However, I'm dismayed when I calculate the saturated fat in the crust, and with only my husband and I to eat it, it's a problem. I thought about trying an oil crust, but I don't think that I would find it satisfactory.
There is a chance that we may be "under construction" by Thanksgiving. Our new contractor says he is on schedule to start in later November. We meet with him later this week to see when that might be. We have a smaller, functioning kitchen in the apt. over the garage, where we will be living during the renovation, so we will have Thanksgiving dinner, but it will be on the everyday dishes.
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This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by
BakerAunt.
For Sunday dinner, I roasted six chicken legs on a rack in the roaster pan, so that the fat would drip below them. In a separate pan, I roasted chunks of peeled sweet potatoes rubbed in olive oil and drizzled with maple syrup. The chicken turned out fine. The glaze on the sweet potatoes was slightly overdone. I used to make this recipe with everything on a sheet pan, but due to the low saturated-fat regimen I must currently follow, I must no longer do that. The juices from the chicken used to keep the maple syrup on the sweet potatoes from being overdone. Next time, I'll wait and drizzle the maple syrup on the sweet potatoes midway through the roasting.
And only 18 days until Thanksgiving!
Dinner sounds good, Navlys. Sadly, barbecue sauce doesn't work for my husband.
Mike--I understand about the recipe.
For dinner tonight, I made salmon and couscous. I used 1 tsp. of Penzey's Greek seasoning instead of dill. I really like that spice with the salmon.
Mike--Is your apple pie filling recipe available online or in another location?
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This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by
BakerAunt.
On Friday afternoon, I baked the KAF recipe, Cinnamon-Apple Flatbread, a new recipe for me, using my sourdough starter. I made some changes. For the bread, I reduced the yeast from 2 tsp. to 1 ¼ tsp., and that was plenty. I reduced the salt from 1 ½ tsp. to 1 tsp. I substituted 2 cups of white whole wheat flour (I use the Bob’s Red Mill Ivory) for that much regular flour, and I added 2 Tbs. flax meal. I used Winesaps and Jonathans for the filling/topping. I used all the juices, rather than only ¼ cup, but I did reduce it down a bit. (Time constraints prevented my doing it longer.) I do not buy the KAF Baker’s Cinnamon filling, so I made my own, using 3 Tbs. sugar, 2 tsp. cinnamon, AND 2 Tbs. regular Clearjel. My husband and I had a slice, warm from the oven, with some frozen vanilla yogurt on the side. Delicious.
Note: The Clearjel that I added is of upmost importance. A couple of years ago, I made pecan sticky buns from a KAF recipe and just used brown sugar and cinnamon, as I see no need to buy KAF’s Cinnamon Filling. Well, the resulting syrup boiled up in the pans and out of them. When I discussed it on this site (or was it still the Baking Circle?), and we were all trying to figure it out, S. Wirth astutely observed that Clearjel is an ingredient in the KAF Cinnamon Filling. When I read the comments on the flatbread, a couple of people mentioned having had a similar issue, so, I mixed it into the cinnamon sugar, before mixing it with the liquid in which the apples had cooked. Perfect! And once again, S. Wirth saves the day!
I also made up a single batch of dough for Lower-Fat Whole Wheat Sourdough Ranch Crackers. It’s an experiment to see if I can create another cracker flavor that I like. I’ll bake those next week.
I made applesauce on Friday afternoon, using mostly Melrose and Empire apples, and a couple of Winesaps. It made a lovely, pinkish applesauce that did not need much sugar. I don’t know that I would use Winesaps again, as it helps to have an apple that doesn’t hold its shape for applesauce. The flavor is excellent. I froze most of it for Thanksgiving (which is less than three weeks away).
The recipe I submitted is for a single batch, but I always double it. Recently, I had to reduce saturated fat in my diet. I found that with a double recipe of these crackers, I can substitute 1/3 cup of canola oil for the butter. To improve taste, I also add 2 Tbs. special dried milk with the flours.
In addition to being lower in saturated fat, and tasting good, the oil version rolls out much more easily and more quickly than the butter version.
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This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by
BakerAunt.
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This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by
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