[Italiancook]

I made 2 boules Cuban Bread. I'm unhappy with the rise -- not tall as normal. I keep my yeast in the freezer and thought it'd last almost indefinitely there. Am I wrong -- does yeast have a shelf life?

[Italiancook]

I made Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake yesterday. Recipe from jennycancook.com. Oil recipe; no butter.

[Italiancook]

cwcdesign, thanks for your helpful information. The crockpot I used for the pork loin is newer -- 3 or 4 years old. It doesn't lock, it's pretty basic. It seems to me that making the pots run hotter defeats the purpose of a slow-cooker. At least for people who depended on them while working outside the home. I'm going to look into the Chef Alarm. Thanks for mentioning it.

[Italiancook]

For the second time, I made Trisha Yearwood's (Food Network) Slow-Cooker Pork Loin. Recipe says to cook for 4-5 hours. Both times, the pork reached 210* in 3-3/4 hours. Both times, it was too dry. I'm not sure it's safe to crockpot cook for less time, but I'll try this recipe one more time & cook for 3-1/4 hours then check the temperature.

I served it for lunch with roasted potatoes & roasted carrots. It was my first time making roasted carrots, but they were scrumptious, so there will be other times.

I put the liquid from the slow cooker in the fat separator. I'll use it tomorrow to make gravy for mashed potatoes, leftover pork loin, and marinated artichokes.

[Italiancook]

chocomouse, after we had an under-sink kitchen pipe leak, my husband bought a plastic storage container. The bottom completely covers the floor under the sink and garbage disposal. The plastic bottom holds all our cleaning supplies and is high enough that if something leaks, we'll probably catch the leak before the plastic bottom overflows. I've tried to convince him to buy something for under our bathroom sinks, but he wants to rest on his laurels of having had a great idea in the kitchen.

[Italiancook]

I baked a new (to me) KABC recipe today. The Easiest Bread You'll Ever Bake. I had planned to bake it yesterday, but didn't have the gumption. At 5 P.M., I made the dough, put it in the dough bucket and put it in the fridge for overnight. I wasn't sure that'd work, having never refrigerated bread dough, so I called KA to find out if I could do this safely. Being out of bread, I wanted to make sure I ended up with baked and functional bread. I was told to not refrigerate it more than 18 hours. So at 15-1/2 hours, I removed the bread and let it come to room temp for 2 hours before starting the bread. Really, this would have been a simple recipe if I had shaped the loaves the way I've done it all my adult life. But I decided to follow KA's directions to become more professional. Mistake! The top of the finished loaves look gnarly, instead of smooth. My shaping errors, not the recipe. Nevertheless, the tuna salad sandwiches we had on the bread were scrumptious. I wouldn't call this the easiest bread I've ever made, but I will make it again soon just to see if I can improve my shaping by KA's technique. I put one loaf in the freezer and we ate most of one.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, Mike, for Jeff Mauro's recipe.

Mike, none of the butcher shops I've ever worked with advertised they'd slice the rump roast. I also asked a conditional question, "If I buy a 5 pound rump roast, will you slice it paper thin after I roast & bring it back to your shop?" None refused, but I think during this pandemic, that they'd worry about the customer bringing back Covid germs and refuse the request.

[Italiancook]

I have posted the recipe for Italian Beef that I acquired somehow when we lived in Chicago. I've received many accolades with this recipe. I've always purchased the roast from a meat market after they agreed to take back the roasted meat and slice it paper thin. That was before the pandemic. I don't know if they'd do that during the pandemic. I buy "hard rolls" from a bakery -- every city we've lived in has had a bakery that could give me hard rolls.

A quick search of KABC netted 3 recipes for hard rolls.

[Italiancook]

BakerAunt, I don't know whether this source has what you need, but . . .

. . . . I purchased Chicago Metallic (I think) 1/4 sheet pans & a 4 quart dough bucket from: wasserstrom.com

[Italiancook]

I'm sorry I'm so late to your party, S. Wirth. You have helped me out a couple of times, so I regret my tardiness. I hope you had a good special day. I hope you heal completely and soon.

[Italiancook]

Yesterday, I baked a new chocolate chip recipe from allreceipes.com. Best, Big, Fat,, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie. I used bittersweet chips, my preferred, even though recipe calls for semisweet. I like the recipe, because it calls for melted butter. I don't have to deal with softening butter, which I always do in the microwave. It calls for 1/4 cup portions, so I used that size ice cream scoop. Made big cookies! And, they were fat. I used only 1-3/4 cup chips, that's all I had, even though recipe calls for 2 cups. For my taste, 2 cups would be too many, and next time, I'll go down to 1-1/2 cups chips. I like the recipe, because it doesn't use nuts, which I shouldn't eat for medical reasons. My Yield: 16 cookies. I gave away some of the cookies. I hadn't planned on that when I started baking, but the finished product looks spectacular, so I had to ignore the pandemic and give away some. This is now my go-to choc. chip cookie recipe. They're that good. I froze what my husband and I didn't eat. I hope they'll be delicious thawed out.

Later in the day, I baked KABC Blitz Bread: No Fuss Focaccia. I added 2 teaspoons marjoram to the dough & sprinkled the top with marjoram. The spicy bitterness of the herb shined through, and I didn't like it. Next time, I'll try a combination of dried thyme and dried rosemary - crushing the rosemary in the mini-food processor. Because the house was cold, I let it rise longer than the 60 minutes called for in the recipe. I'm much happier with the results than previously. I cut it into rectangular soup dippers and froze.

[Italiancook]

I had never heard of these rolls, BakerAunt,, so I'm glad you're keeping us updated on your adventure. I wish you success. Thanks, Mike & Janiebakes, for posting pictures of the cutter & a finished product. It would be an interesting roll to eat with a hollow center. Is that what you're trying to achieve, BakerAunt, a hollow center?

[Italiancook]

chocomouse, thanks for your input about the lemon juice powder. I have made the KABC lemon streusel. Delish! My blueberry muffin recipe uses 1-3/4 cup flour & 1/3 cup sugar for 11 muffins. I'll try more of the powder next time.

[Italiancook]

Yesterday, I baked blueberry muffins. As an experiment, I added a teaspoon of lemon juice powder. Couldn't taste it in the finished product. I'll try 2 teaspoons next time.

[Italiancook]

Yesterday, I made ranch dressing for lunchtime chef's salad today. Besides lettuce, the salad had mushrooms, grape tomatoes, avocado & green onion tops. I would have added shredded carrots, but it took 40 minutes, so I decided not to invest more time in it.

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