Italiancook

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  • in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of April 21, 2024? #42449
    Italiancook
    Participant

      https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/chewy-chocolate-chip-cookie-bars-recipe

      Calling you expert bakers: Last afternoon, I baked King Arthur's Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, link above. Recipe calls for 11 tablespoons butter. Without thinking, I used only 7 tablespoons unsalted butter. I used a glass Pyrex 9x13" dish, so I heavily greased it with 1 tablespoon butter.

      The recipe recommends letting bars sit overnight, so I cooled for 3 hours then covered with foil.

      In the middle of the night I realized my butter error. I expected the bars to be too hard to cut. First thing this morning, I portioned them for the freezer. It was easy to cut them.

      I had made these once before using the 11 tablespoons butter. Both times, I used 1 cup Ghirardelli bittersweet chips, 1 cup Nestle caramel chips & 1 cup finely chopped walnuts. It was a couple of years ago, but the goofed bars seem as moist as the ones with the 11 tablespoons butter. So I don't understand what the 4 tablespoons butter I didn't use would have done for the cookie bars. I guess I don't understand the purpose of butter in batters. I always thought butter was for moisture & taste. What am I missing? Thanks! And in case butter helps the rise, I think my goofed bars rose as much as the ones with the recipe amount of butter.

      in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of April 14, 2024? #42426
      Italiancook
      Participant

        BakerAunt, your post reminded me of a Giada DeLaurentis recipe we like. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to copy and paste. It's at foodnetwork.com if you want to search for it:
        Nonna's Lemon Ricotta Biscuits.
        It calls for butter, and I have baked them that way. I've also used oil and been pleased. Either way, they are more like a biscuit than a muffin even thought baked in muffin liners.

        I also want to let you know . . . belatedly, you were correct. The packing box for my Emile Henry ciabatta baker was larger than the product box. Especially in height. Once unpacked, the box would have been manageable if I truly had room for it. I will when a niece takes a set of china. In the meantime, it's resting on top of a tall bedroom dresser. Resting is the key word. I haven't opened it yet. I'm blaming that on my small kitchen. I can't visualize what I'm going to do with it after I wash it unless I make bread and wash it in the same day. That hasn't happened yet, because it still comes down to having no where to store it once it's out of the box. Niece is making plans to pick up the china, so homemade ciabatta is in my future eventually.

        in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of March 24, 2024? #42304
        Italiancook
        Participant

          RiversideLen, I also remove the skin, but I don't remove the bones. I crush the bones with my fingers. I do this because that's what my mom did when she made salmon patties. I just Googled to find out if there's any nutritional value to crushing the bones. Apparently they're a good source of calcium.

          I checked my recipe for salmon loaf. I thought of it as salmon loaf, because I bake it in a loaf pan. Recipe calls it salmon casserole and calls for a 1-quart dish.

          In addition to the 1-lb. can of salmon, it calls for celery leaves, parsley, onion, dry mustard and Tabasco, bread (I think it's soaked in milk, but don't recall for certain), and 3/4 cup milk. If I had a red pepper (or any color pepper), I'd add that this week. Sounds good.

          in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of March 24, 2024? #42296
          Italiancook
          Participant

            Len, you reminded me that I have a good recipe for salmon loaf. Thanks! I haven't had that since way before the pandemic. I'll make it this week. I don't know why it's been so long since I made it. In fact, it may have been a whole decade since I made it. The last time I had a painter working in the house. I made two salmon loaves while he worked. One for him to take home for he and his wife to bake that night. One for here.

            in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of February 25, 2024? #41974
            Italiancook
            Participant

              Thanks, Mike, for taking the time to explain this to me.

              in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of February 25, 2024? #41970
              Italiancook
              Participant

                Mike, I've been reading with interest your journey with the keto diet. I have a question:

                Our son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes back in the dark ages before blood glucose testing existed. Automatically, he had daily ketone strip tests. They were on the regular testing strips. Ketones meant dangerously high blood glucose. So if the keto diet requires you to exercise ketone caution, how can it be a safe diet? Seems to me from what you've said here is that the keto diet elevates blood sugars, and that's why you have to be ketone-concerned.

                in reply to: Hand Mixer Woes #41938
                Italiancook
                Participant

                  BakerAunt, I have a Cuisinart hand mixer, also. I've also experienced the beaters falling out without "catching." I can't tell you how I learned this -- calling the company or reading the instruction booklet -- but: One of my beaters has wings, protrusions on the sides of the stem. The other beater is just straight.

                  I learned that I have to put in the winged beater first, using the hole that has openings in the sides for the wings. Then that beater will hold in place.

                  Lastly, put in the straight beater, and it will catch and stay in place.

                  in reply to: Remembering Cass Avona (Kid Pizza) #41845
                  Italiancook
                  Participant

                    I regret his passing. He was always generous with his knowledge.

                    in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of January 28, 2024? #41759
                    Italiancook
                    Participant

                      I'm glad you have the little funnels, BakerAunt. I share your frustration about the shipping being almost worth it.

                      My Emile Henry ciabatta-baker arrived. My husband was an immediate buzz-kill. "Where are you going to put it?" he asked when he saw the large cardboard box. After I thought for a moment I had to agree with him. Therefore, I haven't opened the packing box. I ponder it each day. I recruited a niece to inherit one of my china sets early, but it'll be summer before she can take them. When they're gone, I'll have room for my ciabatta-baker. Until then? I ponder the large cardboard box everyday!

                      in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of January 28, 2024? #41736
                      Italiancook
                      Participant

                        Yes, Kimbob, may your husband heal completely, quickly.

                        Mike, a few weeks ago, Sam's had the low-fat pre-grated mozzarella cheese in stock that you have mentioned. I wasn't prepared for how much 5 pounds would actually look like. It seemed massive when it was unpacked!

                        I've had it a few weeks -- long enough that I dreamed all last night about processing it before it wastes. To my surprise, after I pulled it out of the fridge, I couldn't find an expiration date on it. Is that normal? The cheese looked and tasted fine, so I put it in 5 oz. packages for the freezer. It's been so long since I made pizza that I can't remember how much mozzarella I use. So I put 10 oz. in a plastic container for the refrigerator. Before breakfast tomorrow, I'll make pizza dough to rise in the fridge. We'll have pizza on Thursday. At that time, I'll weigh how much cheese I have leftover. I'll mark the weight on the recipe.

                        Mike, is there a rhyme or reason to when Sam's carries these 5 pound bags of mozzarella. This was the first time they had it in stock at my warehouse when I've looked for it (online). I'm wondering if it's a winter-only product.

                        Thanks for telling us about this product. I like the appearance of the cheese shreds.

                        in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of January 28, 2024? #41733
                        Italiancook
                        Participant

                          Happy Belated Birthday, BakerAunt. Your cake and meal sounded scrumptious.

                          in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of January 21, 2024? #41655
                          Italiancook
                          Participant

                            chocomouse, I also put potatoes in my corn chowder. I agree with you about the carbs. That's why I froze most of it. If we eat a bowlful of the chowder occasionally, the carbs don't add up, or so I tell myself. Plus, I add 2 ribs of celery to the chowder. With a healthful veg in the pot, some of the carbs are canceled out, or so I tell myself.

                            in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of January 21, 2024? #41643
                            Italiancook
                            Participant

                              chocomouse, I made corn chowder for the freezer Friday. I saw a recipe that added broken chicken ramen noodles to corn chowder. I tried that, and we really liked having the ramen in it. The recipe said to use the full seasoning packet, but that's way too much salt for my taste. I added just a little of it.

                              in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of January 14, 2024? #41642
                              Italiancook
                              Participant

                                BakerAunt, I appreciate your expertise on Emile Henry's products. I'll take your advice and use Crisco and farina. I have to wait until the weather breaks to do a store-run to buy the Cream of Wheat. I had planned on using semolina, which I stock. I'm glad you warned me it burns. I've printed Henry's ciabatta recipe, so once I have the farina, I'm headed to the kitchen. I brought a container of homemade tomato sauce from the garage freezer to the kitchen freezer compartment. So I'm anticipating a meal of penne with tomato sauce and ciabatta. I'm so eager for this meal that I hope I don't have a ciabatta-baking flop.

                                in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of January 14, 2024? #41641
                                Italiancook
                                Participant

                                  Len, the ground meat looks wonderful. Is it time-consuming?

                                Viewing 15 posts - 46 through 60 (of 1,514 total)