[Italiancook]

I made a pot of Chicken Cacciatore that saw us through the week thus far. Served it once with pasta, once with mashed potatoes, and tonight with frozen asparagus that I sprinkled with Parmesan Reggiano . . . sparingly. I'm really annoyed with myself that I didn't buy imported Italian cheeses for the freezer when I knew Covid-19 would go to New York. I buy from an Italian store there. I'm assuming the health crisis in Italy will have a long-lasting effect on cheese producers. And, I don't know if my Italian store is allowed to be open.

For a break from the chicken, we had Italian rice soup for lunch. I'm limiting the amount of Parm-Regg and Romano we use, since New York is in such difficulty. To my surprise, I really don't need as much cheese as I've used in the past for good flavor. Live and learn.

[Italiancook]

If I would have been patient and read all the answers, I would have had this right. Instead, I picked the first answer that was true and missed the whole question.

My dad foraged for mushrooms, and I refused to eat them. Now, I realize he knew the good from the unhealthy, but as a child, I wasn't willing to trust him that far. That's amusing to me now, because otherwise, I had a lot of trust in him.

[Italiancook]

I had insomnia last night. I didn't want to wake up the house, so I didn't bake. Instead, I spent my time on KAF's website. Each and every item I clicked on that they sell had a quantity limit of 2. I had never before seen that. Do you think that's because of the new interest in baking during Covid-19 and online sellers exploiting it?

[Italiancook]

I found myself today making a meal decision based on this virus. I have a head of cauliflower. Normally, I'd steam it and have half for 2 lunches. I find that fills me up and leaves me satisfied until dinner. But with only one cauliflower and coronavirus thinking, I decided to turn the veggie into Cauliflower and Pasta Soup. That way, we have 3 or 4 lunches, if not 5. I'll make Foccacia to go with it, and there will be plenty for the freezer.

[Italiancook]

I knew this. Read it somewhere.

[Italiancook]

Just read it hasn't peaked yet. We're practicing social distancing by staying home until the schools reopen. We're rationing what we have. Eggs are going to be the biggest challenge. Hubby is now using one egg per breakfast. I just ordered powdered eggs, but the crisis will, hopefully, be over by the time they arrive. Hubby didn't buy olive oil, so we're rationing that, too. We're trying to use fewer paper towels. No KAF AP in stores.

[Italiancook]

Mike, I use this brand muffin liners for my standard pans. They don't need to be sprayed and work great. Pricey, but I gladly pay to avoid treating the pans. I don't use mini's, but here's a link to mini liners. Last time I checked, they were cheaper at Target.

I use Vegalene spray from KAF. My experience is that it hasn't left a sticky residue on my non-stick baking pans. With Vegalene, I can put them right into the dishwasher and they come clean. With other products, I first had to wash by hand to remove the residue. Here's the link:

https://shop.kingarthurflour.com/items/vegalene-food-release-spray-17-oz

[Italiancook]

Ah, here's the thread where Mike says he's caramelizing onions in the oven. How do you do that, Mike?

[Italiancook]

Moved question to correct thread -- cooking Feb. 23rd.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 5 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

Guessed right.

[Italiancook]

Follow-up on the Onion Buns. I didn't notice this when I had one with soup. Last night, I used one for a ham sandwich. There's too much sugar in these buns for my taste. Next time, I'll cut sugar in half. My husband thought the bun was "wonderful" with a roast beef sandwich.

[Italiancook]

I agree, it's amazing and beautiful!

[Italiancook]

Missed it.

[Italiancook]

I would have stretched & folded if I would have had some semblance of a dough. As it was, I had a stick-to-the-hands mess. I couldn't even get it out of the bowl without a scraper. When I plopped it into the greased bowl, my hope was that the flour would absorb the excess water during the proofing time. That somewhat happened. But, it still needed the little extra flour I worked into it on the board. I ate one of the rolls with soup for dinner, and the roll was delicious. I'm really pleased that sliced, no one would ever tell I had a dilemma. Hubby had a roast beef sandwich on a roll. He reports no complaints.

I have been in search for a replicate of an onion roll I had as a guest at a Madrigal Dinner at a high school in another state decades ago. It's taste has lingered with me. Over the years, I've tried every onion roll I can find in stores -- even when traveling. None have compared. The KAF Onion Bun is the closest I've come to the taste. But the one I'm searching for is softer. More like an onion dinner roll than a sandwich roll. So, the search goes on.

[Italiancook]

I baked KAF Onion Buns for sandwiches. I made a rookie mistake, and I know better. KAF offers a range of water, with instructions to use higher amount in winter. So I dumped in the whole 1 cup water, and it was too much. Even though I didn't really have a dough, I used my plastic scraper to plop it all into the greased bowl for rising. That gave me time to think about how to rectify the problem given I didn't have anymore KAF AP flour.

The recipe says to roll dough out on a lightly greased surface. I figured that meant the dough would shrink back when rolled. Nevertheless, I put Gold Medal flour on the board instead of oil. The dough had risen, and I gently kneaded in enough flour to take away some of the stickiness of the dough. Not all. I didn't want to work the dough so much it needed to rise again. It worked, and I have 8 beautiful sandwich rolls. Have no idea what they look like inside as I won't use these until tonight.

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