[Italiancook]

I made my second pizza today. First time, I used a sauce recipe from a cooking site and didn't like it. Today, I used my homemade tomato sauce, made just a tad bit thicker than I'd normally make it. The problem with both pizzas is that the sauce was too runny for the pizza. Next time, I'm going to do what BakerAunt does and smear tomato paste on it. The crust today seemed a little wet, which I assume was from the green peppers, onions and mushrooms. Next time, I'll slice the mushrooms thinner.

The crust I used was KAF "The Easiest Pizza Crust You'll Ever Make." I made it without the optional Pizza Dough Flavor. I think that was a mistake.

The crust was not crisp enough to suit us, but I don't have or want a pizza stone. Recipe instructions say to cook it on the pan if you don't have a stone. Both times, I've used parchment in the pan for easy cleanup. Next time, I'm putting the pizza directly on the pan to see what will happen. I'm going to try one more pizza with this recipe (I have 2 rounds of dough in the freezer). Then I'm going to try the crust BakerAunt uses, unless it has ingredients I shouldn't eat.

Bottom Line: I do not yet feel like a good pizza-maker, and if I don't come up with a better pizza after 4 tries, I'm giving up on them.

[Italiancook]

BakerAunt, do you use buttermilk when the recipe calls for heating the milk? Is there a discernable taste to using buttermilk? I'm wondering if I could use buttermilk when making dinner rolls.

[Italiancook]

Someone please tell me why milk and egg whites have sodium in them. Is that because the animals are fed foods with salt? Until I read this, I didn't even know there was salt in these items!

[Italiancook]

I checked the poultry seasoning yesterday before using it. Was surprised to see that nutmeg is one of the ingredients. So I guess I like nutmeg on chicken.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, Aaron & BakerAunt. I'm glad I started a separate thread for this question so I can find it in the future. I'm glad you had success without sautéing the veggies. I just don't want to do that after slicing them. It's good you told me to cut them thin. Putting fennel on the ground turkey sounds like a winning idea.

BakerAunt, I always tent roast meat with foil while it rests and I finish the meal. It does keep the food hot. If you try foil, I'd just tent it. I think if you wrapped the pizza in foil that it'd get soggy, but what do I know? I'm just a fledgling pizza-maker.

[Italiancook]

RiversideLen, you basket weave bread is stunning! So glad you tried it and shared photos with us.

[Italiancook]

I feel your salt-reduction pain, Mike. I hope there don't turn out to be many foods you have to give up completely.

For lunch, I roasted a chicken and served it with rice and gravy. I put the chicken in the pan breast side down. Nancy Fuller of Farmhouse Rules (Food Network) claims that keeps the breast moist. I can't verify that, because I ate a leg and thigh. I'm planning on making chicken salad with the breasts, so I'll never know for certain. If it's cooked with the breast down, the top of the chicken isn't fit to take to the table whole. The skin stuck to the pan, so the breast meat was exposed when on the plate. The bottom of the roast was beautifully brown, though.

[Italiancook]

I cooked lamb loin chops last evening. I guess all this talk about salt is affecting me. After eating one, with no-salt raw veggies, I thought there was a lot of salt in the meat. I didn't put salt on them. I don't think they were injected with a sodium solution, but there was definitely something prolonging in them.

I have a large pot of tomato sauce on the stovetop. It'll cook for 4 hours. Most of it is for the freezer. I want to use some of it for pizza sauce, which leads me to a question:

Is pizza sauce supposed to be thicker than tomato sauce for pasta?

[Italiancook]

I had never made cinnamon rolls, so when I wanted to try them, I used Fleischmann's Beginner Cinnamon Rolls. The recipe didn't say to deflate the dough after the first rise, and for me, that didn't work. The dough was too poofy when rolling, and the cut rolls were quite high when the second rise started. The end result is that the middles of the rolls separated during the rise and more during the baking. They taste good, and I'm glad I had an easy recipe to try my hand at cinnamon rolls. The recipe called for 2 packs of rapid rise yeast, and I think that much yeast may have been part of my problem. I will try KAF Soft Cinnamon Rolls next time.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

Mike, thanks for posting the can size chart. This will come in handy for me. I have a cookbook that lists all cans by the can number. Now I can figure out whether my guesses on the volume are correct.

[Italiancook]

I baked KAF Easy Cinnamon Bread. I have a supply of the cinnamon chips, so I was in luck with the recipe given someone posted they non longer sell them. My sister made this recipe last year (as I recall), and she used Hershey's cinnamon chips. She bought them online from Walmart, but I think they sell them in my local store. She made the mistake of ordering them during the summer, and they melted. The store refunded her money.

[Italiancook]

Am I the only one who covers bread/roll dough with a damp towel. My dad always did that, using a kitchen towel. I do it using a flour sack towel, because it doesn't have fibers that might stick to the dough. I tried Saran Wrap once and had a terrible time stopping the Wrap from sticking to itself. I have xenon under cabinet lights, and they burn hot, so I use them as my proofing box if the house is quite cold.

I always write notes on recipes I've tried but find I don't take the time to read them before starting. I've lived to regret that more than once. I also write each family member's reaction to the recipe the first time I try it and the year. I've found that what a person doesn't like one year might fly a few years later.

[Italiancook]

Blanche, Welcome!

I use SAF (I think) instant yeast sold by KAF. I keep it in a plastic container in the freezer. Blanche, I wonder if the yeast you're using is perfect for KAF recipes. The reason is because of a recent call I had with KAF Baker's Hotline. I needed to know how to convert some type of packaged yeast to the instant yeast for a recipe not from their website. It was not an exact conversion. You may want to call their Baker's Hotline (Phone: 1-855-371-2253) and ask them whether the type of yeast you use equally converts to their recipes calling for instant yeast.

[Italiancook]

BakerAunt, thanks for the yeast/salt info. I think you're right that recipes are written for rising speed. We live in a fast food society. Thanks, also, for the Penzey's seasoning mixes. I'm going to buy all 3. Plus, I'm going to buy them for a relative who has a health condition that precludes all salt. She complained before Christmas about the lack of taste in no-salt cooking.

Mike, I didn't know nutmeg was used as a preservative. I knew it was a hallucinogic, but the preservation is interesting. I've also never put nutmeg on meat. I use it in butternut squash some Italian dishes. Nutmeg is good in ricotta cheese-based foods.

[Italiancook]

Your star looks gorgeous, cwcdesign. Thanks for persevering to post the picture. I wonder: When you bite into the bread, is it hard or soft?

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