BakerAunt

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  • in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of November 19, 2017? #9855
    BakerAunt
    Participant

      Monday night I tried an experiment. I had an acorn squash left from a farmers' market in October. The people selling them said that their children had experimented with squashes and were very excited at how they had grown, but they had other activities on the Saturday, so the parents ended up at the market. I had looked at stuffed acorn squash on the internet and finally found a site that gave general directions about using a protein, a grain, and vegetables but left the decision to the cook.
      I began by cutting the squash in half lengthwise and seeding it. I put it cut-side down on parchment and roasted for 40 minutes at 375F, until the squash was tender. Meanwhile, I cooked some Bob's Red Mill Country Rice Blend in turkey broth from the freezer. I chopped some onion and sliced three mushrooms, which I sautéed in olive oil, before adding the leftover cooked ground turkey from when we did our pizza last week. I added 1/4 tsp. dried sage and mixed in 1/2 cup of the cooked rice, along with 1/4 cup grated cheese (mozzarella-provolone blend). I divided the filling between the two squashes. I baked for 15 minutes more, then sprinkled with some freshly grated parmesan. My husband was initially dubious, but he enjoyed the dinner.

      in reply to: Fruit Cake #9850
      BakerAunt
      Participant

        I have a recipe for Bischofsbrot--translation is Bishop's Bread--which has regular raisins, golden raisins, currents, whole maraschino cherries, walnuts or pecans, and chocolate chips. The idea is for slices to be like a stained glass window. It's not really a traditional fruit cake, so it is not overly moist. It's been a while since I baked it, but I think that I will bake it in the Christmas season.

        in reply to: Roasting Butternut Squash #9842
        BakerAunt
        Participant

          Ole Lady,

          This would be an easier way to get the squash peeled:

          https://www.tastingtable.com/cook/national/how-to-peel-butternut-squash-microwave?utm_medium=email&utm_source=TT&utm_campaign=Daily&utm_content=Editorial

          • This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.
          in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of November 12, 2017? #9836
          BakerAunt
          Participant

            Hello, Ole Lady. I will do a special entry under cooking about Butternut Squash, so that it will be easy to find.

            in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of November 12, 2017? #9831
            BakerAunt
            Participant

              Saturday evening, I tried an experiment with my springerle pumpkin mold. I had made springerle once years ago, and maybe it was the recipe, or maybe it was my technique, but I did not care for them and have not tried baking them again. I did try the KAF Springerle Shortbread recipe a couple of years ago, but the taste and texture made them a so-so cookie for me.

              I decided to try making a brown sugar shortbread. I looked at the KAF recipe, then I googled brown sugar shortbread recipes. I ended up using 1 Cup of salted butter, 1/2 Cup light brown sugar, 2 Tbs. regular sugar, and 2 1/4 cups bleached flour. After making a smooth dough, I rolled it to 1/4 inch, but that was not deep enough, so I added another 1/8 inch. Once the mold is pushed down, the cookie is probably about 1/4-inch thick. I also used a copper pumpkin cut-out cookie cutter that is designed to go around the pumpkin springerle mold, so that the cookie has crisp edges.

              I baked these on parchment at 325F for 35 minutes--checking at 25 minutes and 30 minutes. The design came out pretty well on about half of them, as I got better at it as I went along. I would still like a little more clarity on the design. Taste and texture is good (as of next morning.) However, I think that they might need 1/2 tsp. of vanilla next time.

              • This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by BakerAunt.
              • This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by BakerAunt.
              in reply to: Chefs Catalog #9822
              BakerAunt
              Participant

                I shopped Chefs back when they were out of the Midwest (Illinois?). Then Nieman-Marcus got a hold of them, and I had to pay sales tax in Texas. They also stopped carrying some of the really useful stuff, such as wide saran. (Not everyone has access to Sam's, Cosco, or a local restaurant store.) I do not recall if there was an additional owner before Target bought them to cannibalize for their customer data base and recipes. Much of the Cook's unsold inventory has ended up at Tuesday Morning on "close-out."

                I'll have to look online. They were my favorite place to kitchen shop.

                OK: Here's the scoop: https://www.chefscatalog.com/about-us/

                • This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by BakerAunt.
                in reply to: Vienna Bread Baguettes by Antilope #9815
                BakerAunt
                Participant

                  Hi, Rascals,

                  I just saw your post. Here is the variation I used the last time I baked this bread:

                  I preheated the oven to 400F, but turned it down to 375F once the bread was in. I baked for 40 minutes to an internal temperature of 205. That will make the bread a darker color. For a lighter bread, perhaps bake for 35 minutes. I used my hearth pan.

                  1 cup whole wheat flour
                  1/2 cup rye flour
                  1 1/2 cups bread flour
                  1 1/2 cups AP flour
                  2 Tbs. flax meal
                  2 Tbs. special dried milk
                  2 tsp. salt.

                  1/2 cup "honey water" (cleaned out a honey jar)--regular water will do
                  1 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast and 1 tsp. special gold yeast
                  3 Tbs. honey
                  3 Tbs. unsalted butter
                  9 oz. buttermilk

                  By "honey water," I simply mean that we had a jar with most of the honey scraped out. I save them, and when I bake bread, I put the water in them that I plan to use for proofing the yeast, so that the jar is cleaned out.

                  You can delete the special dried milk if you like. I'm trying to use it up.

                  • This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by BakerAunt.
                  in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of November 12, 2017? #9813
                  BakerAunt
                  Participant

                    Thanks for sharing your picture Riverside Len! That gives me encouragement to try some piping.

                    Tonight I made the KAF Ultra-Thin Crust Pizza.

                    I was going to add a note about the Chai Butternut Squash Bundt Cake on my previous post, but the edit button appears to be gone from it, so I will add it here: It is an absolutely wonderful cake, and I will be baking it again. It is not overly dense, and that cream cheese layer inside is wonderful to see as well as taste. I did not make the walnut sauce; it does not need it.

                    The Bundt pan I used is the Vintage Star, a 10 cup pan.

                    • This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by BakerAunt.
                    in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of November 12, 2017? #9796
                    BakerAunt
                    Participant

                      This afternoon, I baked my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from the dough I made on Sunday. I decided to "dock" them--sticking them all over with a fork--before brushing them with the grapeseed oil, salting them, and cutting them. It was easier (dough did not pull up when I was pricking it), and they seem to have baked better. It also helped that I discovered that my oven is now 50F hotter than the setting indicates, rather than 25F.

                      In the evening, I baked a new recipe, Chai Butternut Squash Bundt Cake, from Bake from Scratch 2.4 (Fall 2016), pp. 59-60. Instead of grinding up a tablespoon of loose Chai Tea, I used KAF Chai Spice--5 grams as called for with the loose tea. I substituted in whole wheat pastry flour for 20% of the AP flour. The recipe called for a 10-cup Bundt pan, but my pan was actually a bit small for that much batter, and the cake rose above the sides. It did not test done at an hour, so I baked it another 10 minutes. I cooled it for 15 minutes, rather than the stated 10 minutes, on the rack, before inverting it onto the rack. I suppose the pan was ok after all. The cake definitely filled it.

                      Here is a link to the recipe: https://www.bakefromscratch.com/chai-butternut-squash-bundt-cake/

                      I'll report tomorrow on taste and texture.

                      in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of November 12, 2017? #9795
                      BakerAunt
                      Participant

                        Cwcdesign--PF is also the "stuffing" of choice in my house, and in my siblings' houses.

                        For Thursday dinner, I sautéed red bell pepper in grapeseed oil with a clove of minced garlic. (Mushrooms would have been nice, but there were none in the refrigerator.) I cut up the rest of our roast into long strips, and added it and the remaining broth to the bell peppers, along with a little water. I stirred in the last half of a bag of semi-defrosted frozen broccoli. I added 1 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce, before mixing in Bob's Red Mill Country Rice blend (Brown Rice, Wehani, and Black Japonica) that I'd done in the rice cooker. I added sliced green onion on top.

                        • This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by BakerAunt.
                        in reply to: The Vanilla Shortage #9787
                        BakerAunt
                        Participant

                          Rascals, I agree that there is probably a limit, but perhaps by the time you reach it, vanilla prices will have decreased from where they are today. 🙂 So, go ahead and use that kit!

                          in reply to: I Now Understand Cream of Celery Soup #9784
                          BakerAunt
                          Participant

                            I agree that organic does not necessarily mean tastes good. There was one store in Texas where the organic carrots did not taste good, and another one where they did. I've tried carrots at two different stores here, one had organic. Both packages were bitter.

                            in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of November 12, 2017? #9776
                            BakerAunt
                            Participant

                              Sigh. I have not lived near a Trader Joe's for 20-some years, and I can count the number of times I've actually been near one in my travels and could stock up. The Aldi's in the larger town north of us has its grand re-opening today after remodeling and adding an addition. I was not impressed the one time I went there a couple of years ago, but I will check it out again.

                              in reply to: I Now Understand Cream of Celery Soup #9774
                              BakerAunt
                              Participant

                                I've also noticed after moving to Indiana that the carrots we get here are bitter, as compared to the ones I bought at a particular store in Texas (and those were organically grown as well). We have taken to buying the so-called mini-carrots in bags, but even these are not as sweet as what we were getting.

                                • This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by BakerAunt.
                                in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of November 12, 2017? #9767
                                BakerAunt
                                Participant

                                  Wednesday morning, I roasted two butternut squashes. I used most of the puree to make Curried Butternut Squash Soup, which I will have for lunches the rest of the week. I set aside one cup of puree for a Bundt cake recipe.

                                Viewing 15 posts - 6,616 through 6,630 (of 7,600 total)