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On Friday, I baked Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from dough I made on Sunday.
I baked Lime Pecan Biscotti on Thursday because we finished the Pfeffernusse and need something to go with tea. I cut back the sugar in my recipe by 2 Tbs. because they have always seemed overly sweet to me. I tasted a broken bit before the second bake, and I think the reduction works well. If my husband does not notice, then I will make the change permanent.
BTW, that Pumpkin Apple Cake is even better the next day, and the apple skins softened.
Oh, Navlys, being sick is no fun.
I had not planned on doing any cooking on Thursday, but this afternoon, I noticed that two of my butternut squash were starting to go bad, so after dinner, I roasted them, then pureed and froze the pulp. I was able to time it so that the squash went into the oven after the biscotti came out, so I only had to increase the heat.
While I probably could have put it off until tomorrow, I knew it would save energy to go ahead and do them tonight. We are preparing for single-digit temperatures that are to begin arriving on Saturday. We will spend the next two days preparing in case we lose power.
For all the in-door winter gardeners:
My combined Christmas/Early Birthday present is a deep 11-inch Staub skillet in a lovely red. On Wednesday, I used it to try a Washington Post recipe that came out before Thanksgiving: "Skillet Pumpkin and Apple Cake." That recipe used a 12-inch cast iron skillet, but my 11-inch enameled cast iron worked well. I replaced 1 ¼ cups of the AP flour with white whole wheat flour and used the King Arthur AP for the remainder. I added 2 Tbs. Bob's Red Mill milk powder. For the topping, I used almost three Winesap apples. I did not peel them, but next time I will, as the skin makes it hard to cut pieces of the cake. I used frozen cranberries from my freezer stash. I reduced the butter in the topping from 4 Tbs. to 2 Tbs. and replaced the deleted butter with 1 ½ Tbs. avocado oil. The cake baked well in the allotted time. I inverted it onto an 11 ½-inch platter after ten minutes rather than fifteen, and it came out of the pan beautifully. We had some for dessert tonight, and it is excellent. The spices are more muted than in a traditional pumpkin bread or cake, but the topping of apples and cranberries in this upside-down cake work well with the lower spice profile. I will bake this recipe again.
I'm glad that you got through the storm and power outage ok, Joan.
I made a turkey-vegetable barley soup for lunch on Wednesday. I will be eating it for lunch over the rest of the week.
For dinner on Wednesday, I cooked 1 ½ lbs. of large lima beans (soaked overnight) with the ham bone I had frozen from Christmas dinner. I combined it with cooked brown and wild rice and sauteed yellow bell pepper, celery, kale, dehydrated onion, and ½ tsp. thyme. Enough is leftover for at least three more meals and maybe four.
For dinner on Tuesday, I made Crispy Oven Baked Fish and Chips with Dill Tartar Sauce. We had microwaved fresh broccoli as well.
I also made yogurt on Tuesday.
The pizza looks delicious, Len. I've noted that a lot of "rye" or "wholegrain" recipes actually use very little wholegrain flour.
We finished up leftovers from last night's dinner experiment. It does not look so great, but it is tasty.
On Sunday evening, I made dough for my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers. I will bake them near the end of the week.
I improvised a variation on Shepherd's Pie tonight to use up the leftover muddled mashed potatoes and gravy, along with some of the turkey. I made a doubled recipe of the white sauce that I use for my turkey lasagna and mixed in the gravy. I sautéed chopped carrots, celery, green onion, red bell pepper, mushrooms and kale in some olive oil. I added a heaping 2 cups of turkey, and then I threw in some leftover frozen corn and seasoned with ½ tsp. poultry seasoning. I combined it with the white sauce in a deep 9 x 9-inch-deep casserole baking dish. I spread the mashed potatoes over the top and baked for 40 minutes at 400 F. As I had feared, I used too much sauce; a 1 ½ recipe of it would have been enough. It was like eating a thick gravy stew. However, it was delicious, and perfect for a cold day that saw two inches of snow, the most significant amount we have had this season.
We are supposed to get serious snow on Tuesday, so we will be doing our major shopping trip tomorrow.
Chocomouse--I use both pickle juice and dill seed. I buy a German pickle at Big Lots, when they have them and we are close enough for me to go to that store. For me, that juice is just right for the bread and for my potato salad. Last time, I bought three enormous jars. We are still consuming the second one, as I told my husband he can only snack on them occasionally so that I have them available for potato salad and tartar sauce. I will need to stock up again next time we are near South Bend.
Navlys--rotisserie chicken is one of my go-to meals when arriving at a vacation location or returning home from vacation.
You never know what a vacation rental will have in the kitchen. I have a box where I store my travel kitchen items and select from it before a trip. Still, I recall having to buy a sheet pan at one place. And don't get me started on what passes for a skillet, usually with lots of scratches.
What a great opportunity for your son and granddaughter, Mike.
We ate leftover mashed potatoes and gravy, turkey, coleslaw for me, and microwaved frozen peas and carrots for my husband.
We were running low on bread, so on Saturday afternoon, I baked a loaf of my Pumpernickel Sandwich Bread, which is part of my continuing attempt to get the recipe just the way I like it.
The ideal flour amounts appear to be 3 cups Bob's Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour and 2 cups King Arthur pumpernickel. I had 1 cup plus 2 Tbs. pickle juice left, so I used all of it and did not add more than ¾ cup water. The hydration was perfect this time. I also cut the salt back to 1 tsp., since the pickle juice adds salt. I'm still experimenting with ideal spices. This time I used 1 Tbs. caraway seed, 2 tsp. dill seed, and 2 tsp. mustard seeds. I again increased the oil from 3 Tbs. to 4, and I used avocado oil, which seems to keep the bread softer longer. The rise this time, unlike when I baked it in November, was ideal. The loaf is cooling on a rack, and the height is excellent. I look forward to turkey sandwiches for lunch tomorrow. -
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