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I made yogurt on Thursday.
After a morning of thunderstorm and tornado watches on Wednesday ended, I celebrated the quiet afternoon by baking a double recipe of Almond Date Breakfast Bars from Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, by Deb Perelman. I made two minor changes by halving the salt and adding 2 Tbs. Bob's Red Mill milk powder. I baked them in a parchment-lined 11x11" pan for 25 minutes. I cut them into 32 bars. My husband had two at dinner and was much more favorable than in the past. I had not baked the recipe since before we moved here nearly six years ago. I think that using the 11x11 pan rather than a 13x9 pan works better. The recipe is for an 8x8 pan, so that area would be 128, and the 11x11 pan gets closer than the 13x9. The zest from a Cara Cara orange that I used this time gives a lovely flavor superior to the typical Navel orange. We will not be eating them for breakfast but with tea in the afternoon.
I hope that everyone in tornado areas is staying safe.
Navlys--When people gift you their unused food, do you feel like a contestant on Chopped? Your pizza sounds delicious.
For Tuesday night's dinner, I improvised a soup using the rest of that bland broth mixed with a container of my regular broth. I sauteed red and yellow bell pepper and mushrooms in olive oil, browned some ground turkey, added the broths, 1 cup of brown lentils and ½ cup of red lentils, before adding cubed butternut squash. I added a teaspoon of sage and some dried parsley before letting it come to a boil then simmer for 40 minutes. My husband liked it a lot, as did I. It was a good way to use butternut squash from autumn. I have two more to go. I am pleased at how well they have kept in a cool location.
We had the leftover turkey, vegetable, and farro stir-fry for dinner on Monday, so for me, like Joan, no cooking tonight!
Aaron--My understanding is that the King Arthur milk is heat treated so as not to interfere with yeast bread rise.
I have a hazy memory that the BRM milk powder is not so treated. I know that the one time I mixed the BRM into my yogurt AFTER I had heated the milk to between 180-190F, and kept it there for the required ten minutes, that the yogurt was runny. That suggests to me that the BRM is not the same. That is my one-time observation; others may have a different experience. I cannot use the KA special dry milk for yogurt because it needs to be mixed in with dry ingredients as it does not reconstitute.
I keep both the KA and the BRM milk powder in my cupboard, but I reserve the first for yeast bread (mostly to add additional calcium even if I am using buttermilk) and the second for non-yeast baking and yogurt.
Groan!
I started Sunday by making Cornmeal Pumpernickel Waffles. My waffle iron, which I bought in 1990, has developed some sticking issues, but brushing it with canola oil before each waffle does the trick.
I also baked a new recipe on Sunday, "Cinnamon Roll Baby Bunny Cakes," which came from the Nordic Ware site, and which is designed to use their 6-well bunny pan. I made changes by using half barley flour and half King Arthur AP and adding 2 tsp. Bob's Red Mill milk powder. I replaced the ½ cup of butter with 1/3 cup canola oil. Since the butter is melted for the recipe, I knew the oil would work. I replaced regular milk with buttermilk and added 1/16th tsp. baking soda to balance it. For the filling, I used the Penzey's Chinese cinnamon, which is a little stronger than my regular cinnamon. The cakes took 23 minutes to bake and came out beautifully, thanks to The Grease. I was particularly pleased at the definition. Although we should have waited, we did split one this evening. I do need to do a better job getting the cinnamon filling more toward the middle. I am not a great judge of how much batter I have put in, particularly with more decorative pans.
For Sunday dinner, I made a stir-fry. I cooked a cup of farro in the bland chicken broth I made for my husband last week. In a large pan, I browned ground turkey, removed it, then stir-fried baby carrots from the farmers' market, the rest of the celery, half of an orange bell pepper, a red bell pepper, and 8 oz. sliced mushrooms. I returned the ground turkey to the pan and added the farro. My husband still needs to take it easy on spices, or I would have added some sage or thyme, particularly with the bland chicken broth. Although my palate missed the spices (his did not), at least I had different textures.
Chocomouse--the base recipe is the Maple Buttermilk Bread recipe that I posted a link to a couple of years ago and you have baked. When I baked it this time, I did a couple more tweaks with the whole wheat flour and bread flour combination and adding a little flax meal and special dry milk.
Short Rant: I add the milk powder because one brand of buttermilk here, which used to be calcium fortified to 400 mg per cup is now only fortified to 300 mg per cup, and the Kroger brand is 290 mg per cup. I have to keep re-calculating to see if I am getting 900 mg from food!
I have posted my version of the recipe. It would be nice to figure out how to scale it to get two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2" loaves, although that would mean I would need the stand mixer.
I have a quick question for you: I am planning to can the syrup I bought, which is in a plastic jug. Should the syrup be heated in a stainless-steel pan? An enamel one? I cannot recall what I used when I canned the syrup that I bought from your operation.
That's a great one! I've been enjoying other April Fools ads from various companies. My favorite today is the "grow your own bamboo fly fishing rod," in just 3 months, from Orvis.
We had wet snow this morning, but it did not stick around. That is Spring's April Fool's laugh. The temperature has stayed at about 35F. After the severe weather watches last night, however, I am not complaining.
We had Salmon and Couscous with Dill for dinner on Saturday. I had forgotten how tasty that combination can be. We also had microwaved frozen peas.
My husband pronounced the Mostly Whole Wheat Maple Buttermilk Bread to be the equal of his favorite Grape Nuts Bread. He likes the softness. He asked if I had ever baked it before, and I reminded him that I have baked it at least two, and maybe three, times. However, I had not baked it in the smaller loaf pans. I plan to use them for this recipe in the future.
On Friday, I made dough for my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers. I will bake them next week.
I made yogurt on Friday.
Chocomouse--that is how I feel when I try to grab a snack of a few of my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers and discover my husband has inhaled them!
We have a local maple syrup producer coming to our farmers' market. I bought a quart from them last year, and the syrup is excellent. I bought another quart this year, and I noticed that they have gallon jugs available for $45. As a quart is $18, I consulted with my husband, and I ordered a gallon to pick up this weekend. They are also offering a $1 rebate if people bring back their bottles, and I just happened to have last year's in the refrigerator waiting for me to clean it out with hot water when I bake bread. I am excited at having a large supply of maple syrup on hand!
With that prospect, instead of thawing bread from the freezer on Thursday, I baked my Mostly Whole Wheat Maple Buttermilk Bread. That let me clean out the container with the water for proofing the yeast. The recipe makes too much for a 9x5" pan but is somewhat scant for two 8 1/2 x 4 ½ inch pans. I decided to try two 7 ½ x4" pans that I picked up some years ago at T.J. Maxx. The dough fits perfectly, and I have two nicely tall loaves, which I will be excited to slice tomorrow at lunch.
I also baked, at my husband's request, a double recipe of my adaptation of the Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from Jenny Can Cook.
For dinner on Wednesday, we had roasted chicken thighs, roasted potato chunks, and microwaved frozen peas. Usually, I put some kind of spices on the potato chunks, but I made them plain for my husband, tossing them in olive oil before roasting and salting them afterwards.
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