Sunday, December 23, 2007
a cut above the rest
Time to slow down, it's not fun typing left handed. . .
Friday, December 21, 2007
I'm Crazy!!
Soon it will be time for bed!!! Yay!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Today!!
I made a no-knead bread starter last night (around 2 am) and made it around 5:00pm today!
The recipe is adapted from this recipe found on Jaden's Steamy Kitchen website
No Knead Bread
Yield: one 1½ lb loaf
3 cups bread flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
3/4 tablespoon kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon table salt)
1 1/2 cups warm water
Covered pot (five-quart or larger cast iron, Pyrex, ceramic, enamel...something that can go into a 450F oven.)
1. Mix dough: The night before, combine all ingredients in a big bowl with a wooden spoon until the dough just comes together. It will be a shaggy, doughy mess. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours on countertop.
2. Shape & preheat: The dough will now be wet, sticky and bubbly. With a wet spatula, dump the dough on a floured surface. Fold ends of dough over a few times with the spatula and nudge it into a ball shape. You can use your hands if you like, just keep your hands wet so that the dough does not stick. Generously dust a cotton towel (not terrycloth) with flour. Set dough seam side down on top of towel. Fold towel over the dough. Let it nap for 2 hours. When you've got about a half hour left, slip your covered pot into the oven and preheat to 450F.
3. Bake: Your dough should have doubled in size. Remove pot from oven. Holding towel, dump wobbly dough into pot. Doesn't matter which way it lands. Shake to even dough out. Cover. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover, bake another 15-20 minutes or until the crust is beautifully golden and middle of loaf is 210F. Remove and let cool on wired rack. If not eating right away, you can re-crisp crust in 350F oven for 10 minutes.
I made many substitutions and additions in this batch of bread.
I put in
1/2 cup of Oat flour
1 1/2 cups Wheat flour
1 1/2 cups Bread flour
I also added
a little sugar
and some cinnamon.
This was good. My roommate loved it! ^_^ yay!
Chocolate Chip cookies!!
Toll-House Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt (omitted)
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
2 cups chocolate chips(I used 3/4 of a large bag for a double recipe)
1 cup chopped nuts (omitted)
Combine: flour, baking soda, and salt, in a small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in a large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chips (and nuts).
Refrigerate for an hour until chilled, and preheat the oven (15 minutes before the hour is up). Put about a rounded teaspoon of dough onto a baking sheet. Bake for 10-11 minutes until golden brown. Cool on wire racks or paper bags.
I cooked mine for 8-8 1/2 minutes.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Cooking with my Mummy!
I'll be editing this post and adding more specifics. Needless to say. This was a very fun day. ^_~
Snickerdoodles
Other recipes I looked at had a 1/2 cup of butter and shortening. I found a recipe that only called for butter. I thought it might be healthier. Maybe if you have shortening too they stay softer. mine have hardened and become chewy. They turned out beautifully once I turned the oven down! My oven is small and it is a hot oven. The bottoms were burned after having the temperature 50 degrees too high. Oops!
Substitutions: I used a 1/2 a cup of wheat flour. It didn't affect the color of the cookies really, I did however affect the texture subtly. The wheat flour has more impurities in it than the white flour I have. It gives the cookies little bits that are hard to chew. If I use wheat flour again, I will sift it first.
I added a tiny bit of Maple Sugar to the Dough and the topping. I don't think it really affected the flavor, but it was worth a try.
I don't have an electric mixer, I did everything by hand. it's hard work, but they are delicious
Ingredients
1/2 cup of butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all unbleached all-purpose flour
Topping
4 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Directions
In a mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add one cup sugar, baking soad, and cream of tartar. (you can substitute cream of tartar and baking soda for baking powder, just look around on the internet for suggestions). Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well blended. Beat in as much flour as you can with a mixer, and stir in the remaining flour. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.15 Minutes before the hour is up start preheating the oven to 375 degrees. While you are waiting Combine 4 tablespoons sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. After the hour is up: Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture to coat. Place balls of dough 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes or until edges are beautifully golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Keep an eye on the first batch of cookies. I ended up only baking my cookies for around 8 minutes because my oven is hotter and smaller.
http://www.popularcookierecipes.com/Snickerdoodle.html#
I will add pictures later on. I'm missing my camera cord right now!
Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
2/3 c. milk
2 tbsp. oil
2 tsp. light corn syrup
1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 c. ground oat flour, made by grinding 1 1/4 c. rolled oats in blender
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Add milk, oil and syrup to combined dry ingredients. Stir with fork until ball forms. Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead 10 turns. Then with greased fingers, press into pizza pan. Shape edges to form a rim. Bake crust in preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes. Remove top with pizza fillings and finish baking about 15 minutes for 425 degrees.
http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,164,148174-247199,00.html
Pizza notes: I used spaghetti sauce, leftover chicken, and onions. When I make this again, I will pre-bake the crust first. Then I will put on the toppings and bake for a little longer. It tasted good, but the toppings were all dried out. It also could've used more sauce, but there wasn't much sauce left over. I made a thin crust and spread it out in a medium baking sheet.
Sweet Pistachio Butter
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000750.html
Saturday, December 15, 2007
The Beginning
This morning I made Pancakes with wheat flour. They turned out pretty good. The batter was thicker because I put too much flour in it, so I thinned it out with soy milk. I put cinnamon on them and chocolate chips. Yum!
I'll be putting up the recipe for this and my comments at some point in the future. I'm just getting organized!