[chocomouse]

Thanks everyone for the compliments on my bagels! It takes a little practice and you have to be focused and shape carefully - no just quickly poking a hole and stretching the dough any which way! This was my 4th batch and I think another 2 inches on the waistline.

It would be a lot of fun to do a virtual potluck!

[chocomouse]

Today I made bagels, using KAF "Bagels" recipe, but subbing 2 cups of whole wheat for 2 cups of the AP. I used barley malt syrup in the dough. I made 12 bagels, 75 grams each, which is smaller than typical. Len, each finished bagel weighed about 65 grams.

I shaped each one into a smooth ball and let them rest about 10 minutes. Then I poked a hole in the center of each and carefully stretched each one into the bagel shape. I let them rest for 20 minutes.

To make the boiling water bath, I added 1 teaspoon of barley malt syrup and 1 teaspoon of baking soda (not called for in the recipe but I see that many recipes do call for it; not sure I can tell the difference) to the water in my old electric skillet. That is really not deep enough for the job, but I do not have another wide, shallow (4 inches deep is recommended) pan.

I boiled the bagels, 4 at a time, for about 1 minute, then flipped for another 30 seconds or so. They went into a 425* oven for 25 minutes. Next time I think I will try 20 minutes. The outside is crisp and chewy and the interior is a little chewy but soft. I use AP flour instead of a stronger (bread, or high gluten) flour because we do not like them real chewy.

The texture is what we like. The flavor is excellent; we also love whole wheat. The shaping is much better than the first batch I made a couple of months ago.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by chocomouse.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by chocomouse.

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[chocomouse]

Chicken on the grill, green salad, and a new recipe from SmittenKitchen: rice, zucchini (shredded, from the freezer), lots of onion and garlic, and parmesan. It was adapted from a Julia Child recipe, and it still needs some work, in my opinion. Also, the directions were not clear.

[chocomouse]

I agree, Len, that people don't measure flour correctly. However, I think the real problem is that bread machine users think they can "set it and forget it". I always use a bread machine to mix and knead my dough, as I have arthritis and can no longer knead; I use the "dough only" setting, and have never baked in a bread machine (and I'm on my third abm). I check my dough frequently when it is mixing and kneading. I no longer even weigh my flour, nor do I measure very accurately, and much of the time I'm not even using a recipe (exceptions to those comments are when I am trying a new recipe). I almost always have to add more flour or water to get the dough to the correct "tackiness". It would probably take a new bread baker a few tries to figure out what a proper dough looks, feels, and acts like to get a nice loaf. Maybe now, in this time of social distancing at home, Grandmas and Moms can bake with their youngsters and pass on some of their skills.

[chocomouse]

Pizza.

[chocomouse]

We got about 8-10 inches of granular spring snow, Monday into Tuesday a.m. But temps Tuesday p.m. and today into the 40s, so it has mostly melted. We're still making maple syrup. And had hamburgers and margaritas for dinner tonight, after my husband shoveled the rest of the snow off the deck.

[chocomouse]

I made a coffeecake with raspberry filling. The berries were from our garden two years ago, and I used my German cookbook recipe for raspberry sauce with some cornstarch to thicken it for a filling. This was then swirled into the two layers. I used half oil and half applesauce instead of butter, and yogurt instead of cream. It has excellent flavor with a very light and tender crumb.

[chocomouse]

We have about 3 inches of snow and it is still coming down. It's beautiful, but getting dark out now. Today I made mushroom soup and with it had Gruyere-olive rolls from the freezer.

[chocomouse]

Mike, I went to the senior special shopping hours the other day, except I screwed up and got there at 7:30 when the hours were 6-7:00. The parking lot was packed, and all the handicap spots were full. The aisles were crowded with shoppers and people restocking shelves - so the selection was fairly good, except no toilet paper, cleaning/sanitizing supplies, flour, dairy products (plenty of eggs). About half the shoppers at that hour were 20-somethings, and half 60-somethings. You are right, who wants to get up at 5:00, leave home at 5:30 because it's a 25 minute drive, just to shop at 6:00! Supposedly everything is freshly cleaned, and the shelves better stocked. I will do this again, it's worth getting up early (and, since we're not doing anything else, we can take a nap as soon as we get back home!)!

[chocomouse]

BakerAunt, we are expecting that storm to arrive late tomorrow afternoon; glad you enjoyed it! In anticipation of more snow, tonight we had grilled strip steaks, potatoes roasted on the grill, broccoli, and green salad. I'm thinking tomorrow I will use the two pounds of mushrooms I bought yesterday to make mushroom soup for myself, and I'll open a can of Grillin' Beans for my husband.

[chocomouse]

Dinner tonight was ham, cheddar, onion, pepper omelets with fresh made whole wheat English muffins.

[chocomouse]

Egg salad on rye, for an evening of boiling maple sap at the sugarhouse.

[chocomouse]

My husband just snagged the last 50 lb bag of AP flour at KAF. They were putting out a few 10 lb bags, the last they had. It's encouraging to know that so many people are baking from scratch, although I suspect it's mostly for chocolate chip cookies and brownies, made by the youngsters who are home from school closings!

My cat loves tuna fish juice, but doesn't eat the tuna. The only other human food he eats is asparagus. Oh, yeah, he loves butter, too, but we don't let him have that.

[chocomouse]

Wise dog. I bet she's done some taste-testing already!

[chocomouse]

Dinner was ziti with marinara sauce made from tomatoes in the freezer; and a green salad.

[Author]

Posts