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We are having leftover stir-fry tonight.
Navlys--I refuse to grate onions! When a recipe calls for them, I pull out the onion powder.
Joan, I went to the only thrift store in my little town today and found a glass cake cover that perfectly fits the 8-inch diameter cake stand that I bought last year to use with the little wedding cake that I made for my younger bonus son and his wife. I've been looking for one, and I paid just $2.
I always use buttermilk in my breads and cinnamon rolls. I have not noticed a problem in the rise. I do think that because buttermilk is thicker than water, sometimes it helps to increase the water by a tablespoon or two. It seems to me that buttermilk helps the rise. In the case of the buttermilk maple bread that I and Chocmouse like to bake, there is a substantial rise.
We had to drive to Fort Wayne and back on Friday afternoon, so we got home around 5 p.m. Fortunately, we had leftover pork from last night, so we set to work cutting vegetables and meat, so that I could make stir-fry with soba noodles, pork, deglazing from when the pork was cooked, red bell pepper, green onion, carrots, celery, mushrooms, broccoli, and snow peas. The snow peas were from our garden.
Joan--my sister texted me a picture of her latest thrift shop find: a never used Wilton doughnut pan in heart shapes.
When we grocery shopped on Tuesday, my husband looked at the marked down bananas and asked if I were going to bake banana bread, which is his way of saying he would like banana bread. Thursday was cool and rainy in the morning, so it was perfect for baking. I used a banana cake recipe that I found on the internet last year and adapted. It fits perfectly into the Nordic Ware 4-loaf Bundt pan. This time, I lowered the temperature to 325F for baking, since the pan is heavy and is one of the older dark ones. They baked perfectly in 40 minutes. I froze two but left two out for us to start eating with tea or for dessert tomorrow. I like this recipe as it only uses ½ cup light brown sugar and it uses oil rather than butter.
My husband cooked thin slices of pork for dinner, which we had with sweet corn and microwaved fresh broccoli.
Joan--I love thrifting, whether I find something or not, and it is always better with friends.
My husband cooked thin slices of pork in the skillet for dinner, which we had with sweet corn and microwaved fresh broccoli.
We re-ran Monday's dinner menu on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tomorrow, we cook again.
I realized, as I made lunch on Wednesday, that we were running out of bread, so in the afternoon I baked my Whole Wheat Oat Bran Bread. I gave my husband the choice of my two recipes that make three loaves, this one or Grandma A's Bread, and he said that he preferred my oat bran bread because to him the latter seems more like commercial bread. I wanted three loaves so that I could tuck two into the freezer. We are using up the loaves more quickly, because I am making turkey bacon and tomato sandwiches for lunch as I enjoy the tomatoes from the garden.
I made a batch of Maple Granola on Tuesday.
Speaking of oil in place of butter in recipes:
On a rainy Monday, I decided to see if I could adapt a recipe, "Cinnamon-Apple Bars with Peanut Butter Glaze," which is in the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking. I had made it back when I was still baking with butter and liked the bars, although I made a note to lose the topping which was too sweet and overpowered them. I have leftover applesauce from last week's cookie experiment, and this recipe uses a cup. I replaced ¾ cup butter with ½ cup canola oil and ¼ cup buttermilk. I added a Tbs. of flax meal and 2 Tbs. Bob's Red Mill milk powder. I reduced the salt from 1 ½ to ½ tsp. Instead of grinding the oats to make flour, I used quick oats and combined them with the flour and dry ingredients. I used just ½ cup cinnamon chips (75 g). I baked in a 13x9 inch glass dish. I have started to prefer glass dishes for bar cookies or cakes. I baked for the shortest time, and they tested done. After the bars cooled, I glazed them with some glazing sugar that came from King Arthur long ago that I had in the pantry. King Arthur does not sell it anymore. It does not have cornstarch, so it dries with a nice glossy surface. My husband and I sampled them for dessert tonight, and I would certainly bake my adaptation again.
I bake Moomi's buns with olive oil all the time. Canola or avocado would also work for people who need to avoid olive oil. Baked goods made with olive oil do stay softer longer. Goods with butter go stale more quickly.
Your thoughts about the potato flour are intriguing, Italian Cook. I usually have a container of it in the freezer for he few recipes I have that call for it. My experience, however, is that it can sometimes absorb too much of the liquid in the dough, so I use it sparingly, and indeed, only use it in those few King Arthur recipes.
King Arthur has said that you can substitute instant mashed potatoes, although I do not recall the amount. I think it was on the order of 1/2 cup potato flakes for 1/3 cup potato flour.
Your stir-fry sounds delicious, Mike.
I spent a lot of time in the kitchen on Monday, but it was a rainy day, so what better place to be? I began by making yogurt.
I also cooked a pot of black-eyed peas that I had soaked overnight. When they were done, I drained 1 cup of beans and set them aside. I froze two containers of a cup each of black-eyed peas, and a larger container that I will use in a future meal. I used the one cup of black-eyed peas in the Green Bean, Cherry Tomato, and Feta salad that we both love, and that makes excellent use of the abundance of cherry tomatoes and green beans from our garden. We will be having it again, which is why I froze two one-cup containers of the black-eyed peas.
For dinner, to go with the salad, I made Turkey-Spinach loaf. We had it with an ear of sweet corn for each of us, as our neighbors gifted us with more of their corn this weekend. I think this loaf, which I have been making for about a year now, needs more zing. I had to delete the Italian spices, as my husband cannot handle those, but Penzey's Mural of flavor, even with 2 tsp., is not assertive enough. I will try one of their other blends, and perhaps experiment with a tomato glaze.
We had the last two roasted chicken thighs and the rest of the Cherry Tomato, Vegetables, and Pasta.
Mike--I wish that I could find some good peaches. The Michigan ones I bought from the guy at the corner stand peeled easily, and the pits came out easily, but the taste was so-so. I would like to make some peach jam to have for my zucchini-turkey loaf.
Navlys--I miss the Sprouts store where we shopped in Texas. They had great bulk nuts--and they were never stale or rancid.
Quick note: the zucchini oatmeal cookies were much better the second day.
On Saturday, I baked my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from dough that I made earlier in the week.
I had a scant cup of grated zucchini left over from when I baked the Zucchini Oatmeal cookies earlier in the week. For lunch on Saturday, I sauteed chopped onion in olive oil, then added the grated zucchini and briefly cooked. I whisked an egg and poured it over the zucchini-onion mixture. After the egg set, I had planned to flip it, but I realized that would be difficult, so I settled for sprinkling ¼ cup of mozzarella over it, then folding it like an omelet. I put it between two slices of bread, after adding a couple slices of tomato, and it was an excellent sandwich.
To go with leftover roasted chicken thighs on Saturday, I made a mash-up of Kenji Alt-Lopez's "Fast and Easy Pasta with Blistered Cherry Tomato Sauce and Deb Perelman's "Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta." We have an abundance of cherry tomatoes, as my husband accidentally planted an extra one that he thought was a regular tomato plant. I heated 3 cloves of minced garlic in cold olive oil for about 30 seconds, then added cherry tomatoes--about 2 ½ cups. Although Kenji does not cut them, my experience is that they should be halved. While the tomatoes cooked for 10 minutes, I started 8 oz. of water for rigatoni. In a separate skillet, I sauteed red bell pepper and green onion in olive oil, then added sliced mushrooms, more olive oil, then chopped yellow and zucchini squash. I had a bit of leftover kale, so I threw that in. As the tomatoes got saucy, I added a bit of pasta water. I poured the vegetable mixture into the now saucy tomatoes and added a splash of balsamic vinegar. (That idea came from Deb.) I drained the pasta, reserving some of the water and added the pasta to the tomato mixture. I added just enough pasta water to make a nice sauce, then grated Parmesan over it and mixed it in. I grated extra Parmesan over individual servings. Cherry tomatoes make a great light sauce with just the right amount of sweetness. My husband is now glad that we will have so many cherry tomatoes.
We had some of a small loaf of zucchini bread from the freezer for dessert, so I have eaten a lot of summer squash today!
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