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Cass, I just reread your instructions for the Portuguese Bread. You suggested using a pan, and I completely overlooked that this morning! Without the pan, I ended up with a round loaf. It wasn't a pancake, but it wasn't far from it. I'm afraid my 9" round cake pan might be too small -- not deep enough. That's the largest size I have. The recipe calls for 4 cups of flour, and my guess is that I added close to another cup after the first rise. I'm thinking the dough might fall over the edge of my 9" cake pan. Hmm . . . could this be a reason to buy a 10" pan?! An excuse to browse William-Sonoma's website!
BakerAunt, I thank you again for posting the suggestions from Cass. I cut the bread tonight to make myself bruschetta. It has a crisp crust with small holes in the crumb that make it look light and airy. Yet, the crumb has body to it, which I like in bread with a crisp crust. I will definitely work on perfecting this recipe.
Cass, I baked the Portuguese Bread today. (1) I used half KA unbleached AP flour and half Pillsbury unbleached AP. Turned out my husband was wrong when he said he found Gold Medal unbleached. It was Pillsbury. (2) As you suggested, I used the stand mixer. Thanks for the much-needed suggestion. My mistake was that I used the kneading attachment. The paddle would have mixed it better. With all that water, it was a mixing, not kneading matter. I let it knead for 6 minutes after ingredients were mixed in. I wouldn't call this a dough -- it looked and acted more like a batter. (3) The recipe called for the first rise of 1 hour. That was more than doubled, and I don't know if that matters.
(4) I used a bench scraper to pull the beautiful risen batter that had turned into a loose dough onto the pastry board. I was grateful this wasn't my first rodeo, so I knew to use the bench scraper to work additional flour into the dough. I didn't want to overdo the additional flour, but I don't think I used enough. My finished product is only 3-1/2" high, which looks shorter than the picture. It is also much wider than the picture. The dough was luxurious and airy. It felt wonderful to work with. It reminded me somewhat of KA's Tuscan-Style bread dough.
(5) I didn't make a biga, Cass. I couldn't find anything in the KABC's blogs that told me how to make a biga out of this recipe. I called their hotline and didn't net an answer.
(6) My husband has plans for the bread -- he wants to use it for bruschetta. I gave him your instructions about oiling and peppering the bread. I'm sure he'll try that tonight with the Portuguese olive oil. I'll report back on Saturday about how it looks inside and on the taste.
Thanks, Cass, for your help with this. The recipe leaves out some important details, and I'm glad I wasn't a novice with this recipe. If I like the taste, I'll probably make it again, paying attention to how much extra flour I use on the board to make it into a workable dough.
I think it's cute you had a Christmas shrew, BakerAunt. I seem to remember a story about one. I can understand if you don't think it's cute.
One summer morning, I hopped out of bed. I happened to look over my shoulder and saw a green frog attached to the wall above the head of the bed. Having been raised in a rural area, I probably could have handled the situation. Instead, I walked out of the bedroom to find my husband.
He didn't believe me until he saw it with his eyes. He grabbed a rag from the rag bag. He wrapped the rag around his hand then climbed on the bed. He successfully cupped the frog and carried it to the backyard for release.
I called the contractor to find out how we ended up with a frog on the wall. He expressed astonishment. "Your house is tight as a drum!" he said. He suggested the frog hopped in when the garage door and door to house were open for taking in groceries.
Thanks for the sale notice, chocomouse. I was really torn by the price of the Harvest Grains, which I've never used. I considered it for a long time before deciding not to buy. Right or Wrong?: I think Harvest Grains would only work taste-wise with whole wheat flour. I don't bake with whole wheat.
I'm not in the market for an induction range, but I've always thought it wouldn't work with my electricity. Do induction stovetops require any special electric system?
Christmas is almost over, and I hope everyone enjoyed their day.
Cass, when Christmas Eve morning dawned, I decided to take a laid-back approach to the day. The Portuguese Bread didn't make it to the oven. I'll post when I make it.
December 25, 2021 at 7:51 pm in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of December 19, 2021? #32529Your wife's trifle is stunning! Mike. With your pastry cream in it, I imagine it is scrumptious!
I've been in a restaurant supply store only once. It was an expedition finding it but so worth the effort. All of a sudden, I had a Need for items I never knew I needed. I wanted things I had never thought about wanting. My husband was with me, and even he was enamored. I use everything we purchased, so I guess we needed it all. Because it was an expedition away, we never went back. Oh, but it's a fun memory being there.
I don't know anything about citron, BakerAunt, since I don't use it. But Frank & Sal Italian Market on Staten Island has citron. It's listed as candied. Below is the link. I buy cannoli shells and parm-reggiano and romano cheese from them. Delivery was great until the pandemic. Now, shipping takes an extra day. So I order on Monday instead of the end of the week. If you have questions about the citron, you can call them. I've always found that to be helpful.
https://frankandsal.com/search?type=product&q=citron*Why do you want the water gone so soon in the bake, Mike. The wording of my bread recipes make it sound like the water should stay in for the entire bake . . . the Portuguese Bread recipe being the exception. But then, none of the bread I make is complex or difficult.
I made a loaf of Italian/French Bread. The recipe calls it French bread, and the crumb I attained is French bread quality. The shorter length and plumpness of the loaf make it Italian bread. Before posting this, I checked online to find out the difference between French and Italian Bread. Italian bread has a denser crumb.
I tried something different in the oven. The recipe says to put a pan of boiling water on the bottom rack. The recipe for the Portuguese Bread says to start with ice water during the preheat. Then, remove the water 10 minutes before bread finished. It says this will make it crustier. So I started with boiling water, but removed it after I gave the bread it's last egg white wash at 30 minutes, fifteen minutes before the bread was done. This did, indeed, make the crust crispier, even though the bread had 3 layers of egg white wash. My husband commented happily on the crispy crust when I sliced it. He's more into that than I am.
The bread looked so beautiful that I served it with the Portuguese olive oil tonight. I've learned to trust the descriptions of the oil. This olive oil was exactly like the description, and I dislike it. Too spicy for me. Hubby likes it, so he's inheriting it for his morning eggs.
I'm still going to make the Portuguese Bread Christmas Eve morning. I want to see if that bread makes the olive oil taste better to me -- I don't think so, but I may be surprised.
Yes, BakerAunt, we read the same article. I have a friend who lives in the farming region of Oregon. During the growing season this year, she kept me posted on the drought there. The water shortage was so severe that there was a danger drinking water might become compromised. During fire season, farmers couldn't irrigate, because the water was needed for firefighting. So it was easy for me to extrapolate Australia's problem to the U.S., especially since there were droughts in other farming areas of our nation this year.
Don't recall where, but I read today that there's a shortage of wheat. Do you know anything about that, Mike? I guess this means we'll have a shortage of flour, but I have no idea how many months away that may be.
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