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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.
