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On this Monday of snow showers, I'm baking Bischofsbrot (recipe on this site). I substituted in, by weight, 1/2 cup of barley flour. I also increased the maraschino cherries from 15 to 20 (they seemed rather puny), and used a cup of Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips (large ones). We will try it out for dessert tomorrow.
I'm also baking Semolina Rolls from the KAF website, which go into the oven as soon as the Bischofsbrot comes out. We were invited to dinner in the mid-afternoon, and that was one recipe I knew that I could do relatively quickly with the bread machine doing the mixing and kneading while I worked on the other recipe. I substituted in 1 cup of buttermilk and reduced the salt from 1 1/2 to 1 tsp. The warm rolls will go with us to dinner.
Addendum: The rolls are great, and I'd bake them with these changes again.
Second Addendum: The Bischofsbrot stuck in two places, although I let it rest in the pan for 15 minutes after coming out of the oven. I had used the grease. I think that it was the chocolate in those two places, and I'm thankful that the sticking was minor. Next time, I will also use parchment paper to line the bottom of the pan, and will grease it as well.
With temperatures this morning below freezing, and only slightly higher now, my husband fired up the wood stove. I seized the opportunity and am making minestrone on top of it. I use my own turkey/chicken stock. My basic recipe is from Betty Crocker's International Cookbook. I've replaced the basil with Penzey's Tuscan Sunset (salt-free) and added a yellow bell pepper. I plan to omit the macaroni. It will make a nice warm lunch on a cold day of mixed snow and rain.
I baked a new recipe this afternoon, the KAF Maple Doughnuts. It makes six, and they are smaller than other baked doughnut recipes. I think that they would fit nicely in the Nordic Ware six-well, heart-shaped doughnut pan. I used the six-well, conventional-shaped Norpro pan, which probably holds about 2-3 tsp. more batter and has center posts that rise above the level of the pan, so that the hole stays open. I also made the maple glaze, although the microwave I'm using is rather old, so it is hard to figure our how long to microwave the glaze ingredients.
Instead of using a piping bag to put the batter in the molds, I used a miniature spoonula and dropped in four "blobs" per doughnut, and smoothed them on top. Next time, I'll smooth them out a little more, as they had a "rugged" top, but it may help them hold the glaze more efficiently. I'll add a note after dinner tonight on what we think of the recipe.
Verdict: The maple doughnuts are ok, but they are nothing special, and I'm unlikely to bake them again.
I like candied orange and candied lemon peel. Unfortunately, my husband does not. I have some that I need to use up, so I'll be looking at ways of incorporating it without his knowledge.
This Thursday evening, I'm baking Sub[marine] Rolls, a recipe that came from the KAF Baker's Catalog, and also with the perforated 5-roll pan I bought from KAF years ago. [They do not carry it anymore.] I made the biga this morning, and started the rest of the recipe after 5 p.m.. I've modified the recipe. I always substitute in 2 cups of whole wheat flour, but this time I substituted in an additional 1/2 cup of dark rye flour and added 2 Tbs. flax meal. I substituted 3/4 cup buttermilk for that much water. I used 1 Tbs. of honey rather than 1 Tbs. of sugar. I reduced the salt from 1 Tbs. to 2 tsp., but I was tempted to cut it further. The rolls are now on their second rise.
We are attending a brown bag luncheon talk tomorrow, sponsored by the local historical society, so I thought some special bread for sandwiches would be nice. It's also a way to draw attention to freshly baked bread.
This Wednesday evening, I'm baking biscotti. This recipe, for Ginger Biscotti with Pistachios, came from a restaurant, Fifty Seven Fifty Seven in New York, and was published in the R.S.V.P. column of Bon Appetit (June 1997), p. 26. I baked it last fall and was somewhat disappointed as it did not have much ginger taste. The only change I had made at that time was to use dried orange peel in place of freshly grated orange peel. For me, I'm not sure that orange and ginger go together, but I wanted to give it a try. I don't recall tasting much of the orange flavor either.
This time, I omitted the orange peel. I added 1/2 tsp. of lemon extract and 1/3 cup minced, crystalized ginger. I made that change because a Ginger Shortbread recipe I like, by Ken Haedrich, uses crystalized ginger and lemon extract in addition to vanilla. (That recipe also uses grated lemon zest, I did not add lemon zest because I want the ginger taste to be primary.) I'm now doing the second bake. I'll add a note to this post tomorrow about taste and if this recipe has the zing I seek.
Promised Note: The ginger flavor from the crystalized ginger is exactly what I wanted. I'll add this recipe to my biscotti repertoire.
