Here's my reporting back:
Ok, the taste is great but the texture was just ok. Didn't get the big bubbles, but the three of us ate 1/2 of it already and this was after dinner.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Bread for Dessert
This is part of a facebook conversation about good, chewy bread with a crunchy crust. If you know Iggy's, I think it's close to their french baguette.
Here's my reporting back:
Ok, the taste is great but the texture was just ok. Didn't get the big bubbles, but the three of us ate 1/2 of it already and this was after dinner.
Here's my reporting back:
Ok, the taste is great but the texture was just ok. Didn't get the big bubbles, but the three of us ate 1/2 of it already and this was after dinner.
Wednesday, April 09, 2014
Pie Cravings
I planned on making pizza for dinner tonight and realized I had no mozzarella cheese. I had to stop at the market after work and pick up bread and an avocado for tomorrow's quick dinner of grilled cheese & avocado anyway, so I stuck with the pizza plan. While at that evil market I was bombarded with cakes, cookies and pie (oh my!). I looked but knew I wasn't going to actually get anything. I had Immaculate Bakery's pie dough at home but nothing to put inside it. I bought a bag of frozen blueberries and a container of strawberries.
While the pizza was cooling a bit, I threw the dough in a pie plate. I then debated with myself whether to mix the sugar, almond flour, tapioca, vanilla, and almond extract in the bag with the blueberries or dirty a bowl. I went with my instincts and used a bowl. So while we were eating pizza and salad, my open faced berry pie baked away. After dinner I changed to go out for a jog and said I'd take the pie out before I left. So about 10 minutes into the jog I had to slow down and text Alan to turn off the oven. I forgot all about it.
But now I sit here, empty bowl at my side and can't imagine I'd be happier with anything else. Well, maybe a little chocolate.
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| Berry Galette |
Tuesday, April 08, 2014
It's all about balance
These days it's difficult for me to say no to any sweet or treat. The best thing is to keep it out of the house, yet I keep bringing it in - no will-power so I started jogging again. Hope it will work, but if not, there are many healthy, good tasting foods I can turn to.
So the questionable - I'm on the doughnut bandwagon. I had been craving doughnuts ever since I caved during a late evening stop at Market Basket - on the reduced price bakery rack were several boxes of four doughnuts for $1.99. I could not, nor did I, say no. Instead I took several minutes to carefully examine each box to make sure I'd want every one and wouldn't get any that I didn't really want. If it's in my house, even if it's not my favorite, I will eat it. So to make it worth it, they better be good! And these were; two filled with jelly & coated in powdered sugar, coconut covered, and cream filled.
So a few weeks later, the cravings are getting worse. I'm in A.C. Moore and the location is closing. Everything is 40% off and I found a doughnut pan! Just one so I can only make 6 at a time, which is perfect. And they're baked, not deep-fried. So last weekend I found a recipe that sounded like it would give me the texture of a raised doughnut, the prefered doughnut in our home, and the ease of a muffin. I read if you bake a true yeasted doughnut it will come out like a dinner roll. Not a bad thing, but certainly not a doughnut. So this recipe uses yeast and baking powder, apparently very similar to baking powder biscuits made down south - Baked Doughnuts with Vanilla and Chocolate Glaze from the Kitchn.
I tried a couple of different things. I used white wheat flour, plain non-fat Greek yogurt, and instead of evaporated milk used unsweetened, vanilla flavored almond milk. Another substitution was unsweetened chocolate for the semisweet. No one in the family wanted them to be sweeter. One thing I've noticed, and it happens with these wonderful chocolate yogurt brownies, is the Greek yogurt is so much thicker than regular, more liquid needs to be added, so in this case, more almond milk. I also think there was too much nutmeg.
Anyone who knows me also knows I don't like to take extra steps if not necessary. I noticed the vanilla glaze and chocolate glaze were so similar, when I was done with the vanilla glaze, I put in the chocolate and turned it into the chocolate glaze. The part that failed was thinking the vanilla glaze was too thick and when I thinned it, it got too thin. So lesson learned. The flavor was still great and the glaze not setting certainly kept them moist!
The recipe, halved, made 9. I may have to fill them higher next time. Yes, there will be a next time.
So where's the balance? Dinner tonight! We've been very off-schedule for meals these days and I had bought chicken, broccoli and cilantro to make a Thai meal. We ended up having take-out Chinese the other night, that lasted a couple of days, and one of the dishes was chicken and broccoli. I didn't let that deter me. I grilled for the first time of the season, because I didn't want to do extra dishes. I was also able to take advantage of my PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter
that arrived from Amazon today. So a simple, healthy meal of Udon, grilled chicken, steamed broccoli, cucumbers, and cilantro in a nice peanut sauce. I used my prized China Moon Cookbook
as a guide for the sauce -
1/2 cup PB2 peanut butter
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tsp. grated ginger and juice - my ginger was mostly fiber, so I grated and squeezed the juice out
1 tbsp. chopped garlic
2 tbsp. Moo La hot chili oil & a couple spoons of "goop"
Mixed all together and heated in the microwave for about 30 seconds to warm.
So the questionable - I'm on the doughnut bandwagon. I had been craving doughnuts ever since I caved during a late evening stop at Market Basket - on the reduced price bakery rack were several boxes of four doughnuts for $1.99. I could not, nor did I, say no. Instead I took several minutes to carefully examine each box to make sure I'd want every one and wouldn't get any that I didn't really want. If it's in my house, even if it's not my favorite, I will eat it. So to make it worth it, they better be good! And these were; two filled with jelly & coated in powdered sugar, coconut covered, and cream filled.
So a few weeks later, the cravings are getting worse. I'm in A.C. Moore and the location is closing. Everything is 40% off and I found a doughnut pan! Just one so I can only make 6 at a time, which is perfect. And they're baked, not deep-fried. So last weekend I found a recipe that sounded like it would give me the texture of a raised doughnut, the prefered doughnut in our home, and the ease of a muffin. I read if you bake a true yeasted doughnut it will come out like a dinner roll. Not a bad thing, but certainly not a doughnut. So this recipe uses yeast and baking powder, apparently very similar to baking powder biscuits made down south - Baked Doughnuts with Vanilla and Chocolate Glaze from the Kitchn.
I tried a couple of different things. I used white wheat flour, plain non-fat Greek yogurt, and instead of evaporated milk used unsweetened, vanilla flavored almond milk. Another substitution was unsweetened chocolate for the semisweet. No one in the family wanted them to be sweeter. One thing I've noticed, and it happens with these wonderful chocolate yogurt brownies, is the Greek yogurt is so much thicker than regular, more liquid needs to be added, so in this case, more almond milk. I also think there was too much nutmeg.
Anyone who knows me also knows I don't like to take extra steps if not necessary. I noticed the vanilla glaze and chocolate glaze were so similar, when I was done with the vanilla glaze, I put in the chocolate and turned it into the chocolate glaze. The part that failed was thinking the vanilla glaze was too thick and when I thinned it, it got too thin. So lesson learned. The flavor was still great and the glaze not setting certainly kept them moist!
The recipe, halved, made 9. I may have to fill them higher next time. Yes, there will be a next time.
 |
| Not sure these could be filled higher, but will try. |
 |
| nicely browned |
 |
| Yes, sprinkles too! |
So where's the balance? Dinner tonight! We've been very off-schedule for meals these days and I had bought chicken, broccoli and cilantro to make a Thai meal. We ended up having take-out Chinese the other night, that lasted a couple of days, and one of the dishes was chicken and broccoli. I didn't let that deter me. I grilled for the first time of the season, because I didn't want to do extra dishes. I was also able to take advantage of my PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter
that arrived from Amazon today. So a simple, healthy meal of Udon, grilled chicken, steamed broccoli, cucumbers, and cilantro in a nice peanut sauce. I used my prized China Moon Cookbook as a guide for the sauce -1/2 cup PB2 peanut butter
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tsp. grated ginger and juice - my ginger was mostly fiber, so I grated and squeezed the juice out
1 tbsp. chopped garlic
2 tbsp. Moo La hot chili oil & a couple spoons of "goop"
Mixed all together and heated in the microwave for about 30 seconds to warm.
Sunday, April 06, 2014
Catch-up - 2 months overdue!
Lots of pictures to show I haven't been hiding in a cave.
Cocktail Party Menu:
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| spaghetti squash w/ ricotta filling, roasted eggplant slices & sauce - baked it's just as satisfying as traditional eggplant parm. |
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| Got a sourdough lesson from the Bridgewater Baker and kept our take home sample going for a couple of weeks! Made great pizza dough. |
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| Our fantastic New Year's Eve sushi platter from Hayashi |
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| More spaghetti squash with local kielbasa, spinach & sauce |
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| my attempt at Irish Soda Bread |
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| Farro, kale turnip salad - delicio |
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| Cauliflower pizza crust - popular on the Web but not so much for me in real life. It didn't crisp enough even though I did it on a silpat. Maybe smaller would work better - 3" rounds topped with sauce & cheese, then baked. |
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| Big project - 100 oatmeal cookies for Mainspring House. Our church makes monthly lunches & this was my family's contribution for February. We're going to do it again but bake & freeze, rather than all at once. Would also help if I hadn't messed up and thought 1 cup butter is a lb. Yes, there were several very rich cookies before I realized what I did and was able to adjust. |
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| Stuffed bread for New Years Day - artichokes & roasted peppers |
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| My daughter's salad, found in a kid's cookbook and enjoyed by all. |
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| Yummy Mid-eastern special from Maguires |
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| My daughter found a recipe online for frog cupcakes and jumped right in. They came out very well for her first try. We're not a family who would think of using a cake mix! |
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| Butterfly Cookies - royal icing creates the dam |
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| Very wet icing works like paint to create the design |
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| Cocktail party goodies - pomegranate flavored cream cheese stuffed apricots w/ crushed pistachios |
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| Veggie Basket |
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- Grilled Cheese & Avocado Sandwiches
- Pumpkin Puree Flatbread w/ sage, fennel seeds & parm shavings, balamic drizzle
- Sauteed Chicken & Waffles w/ Rosemary Bacon Maple Syrup
- Stuffed Mushrooms
- Smoked Salmon on Cucumber w/ Dilled Yogurt
- Apricot Canapes - cream cheese, pomegranate molasses, chopped pistachios
- Cheese Tray w/ Seedy Crackers w/ Lemon Basil Jelly & Apricot Rosemary Jelly
- White Bean Dip
- Eggplant Dip - Baba Ghanoush
- Crudités - cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, celery, snap peas, asparagus
- chocolate dipped (butterflies) & plain strawberries
- Fudgy Meringue Cookies
- Butterfly sugar cookies
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| Backyard egg taste test - my sister's on the left, our neighbor's on the right. I love the flavor of my sister's, but the rest of the family voted for the neighbors. I can only think it's because the neighbor's are very traditional tasting and with my sister's, egg flavor is sometimes overshadowed by the thick texture and richness. |
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| sisters to the left, neighbors to the right. |
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| asparagus roasted w/ garlic, anchovies & oil |
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