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Hot Dogs for Dinner Tonight

and I just took the buns out of the oven.  We’ll each have two hot dogs tonight and I’ll freeze to remaining four of another Saturday dinner.

 

I used the Basic Roll recipe, but instead of allowing it to rise after kneading, since I use Rapid Rise Instant yeast, I just let the dough rest, covered with a bowl for 10 min. then form the rolls, cover them with plastic wrap and let them rise for 40-45 mins.

 

I also recently purchased a silicone pastry mat which is the best invention ever for anyone that bakes bread or pies.  You hardly have to use any extra flour to knead the dough, and there are rulers along the side to make sure each roll or other bake item are uniform size.  Clean up is a breeze, just wipe it off with a clean damp cloth and fold it up for storage.

 

Eddie

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Apple Pie for the Weekend

I made an Apple Pie this morning.  I used a whole 3 lb. bag of Granny Smith apples because this is a deep dish 9.5” Pyrex pie pan.  I make my apple pies the old fashioned way that my grandma and mom did.  I mix 1 1/4 cups sugar with 1/4 cup flour and 2 tsp. cinnamon, then I sprinkle about 4 tbs of this mixture over the bottom of the crust and begin slicing the apples evenly on top of the sugar/flour/cinnamon mixture, making layers of about 1/4 of the apples and sprinkling the sugar mixture on each layer, finishing with this mixture on the last layer of apples, dot the top with 2 tbs. butter then add the top crust, crimp the edges, cover the rim of the crust with either foil strips or a pie crust shield, and bake at 375F for 1 hour.

 

Apple pie made this way always has a nice flaky bottom crust and doesn’t get soggy from the juice like it can do if you mix the apples, sugar, flour and cinnamon first.  Grandma’s knew all about Apple Pie.  Pies also cut and serve better when made this way and the slices don’t fall apart when you cut and serve it, just be sure to cool for several hours before serving.

 

Eddie

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Excelent Choco Chip cookies

Just made some truely excellent Chocolate Chip cookies. Different recipe than I've ever made. Only down side is no need for any of my electric toys, all by hand...

 

If you try these the recipe calls for making 3 Tbs balls of dough, way too big for me, half that is almost too big for me. I did use chopped chocolate as the recipe calls for, big improvement.

 
 

 

I am going to start baking bread in the Caloric. While the bread machine has produced some really good breads, they still have fallen short of bread baked in the traditional oven. My question is about bread pans. Which would you recommend? I have numerous bakeware from Pyrex, Glasbake, Fire King, etc. Are metal loaf pans better? If so, aluminum, steel? Thanks in advance.
 
Best Bread Baking Pans

Aluminum pans are generally best but you can get good results many different types of pans if you make adjustments, in general the electric bread maker should bake beautifully better than most ovens.

 

The automatic bread makers problems are more with mixing, raising time, etc.

 

Overall baking is a very precise skill, over the years we get far more complaints about ovens that don't bake properly and 90% is people not knowing how to make and bake things. When I get people with BS complaints about their oven being 12 degrees off and other such crap I sometimes remind them that their grand mother baked in a wood stove with no thermostat.

 

John L.
 
complaints about their oven being 12 degrees off and other

ROFL! Ain't it the truth!!

I've gotta say, I tried a new bagel recipe and these are the easiest and, IMHO, best bagels yet (Rich said the same). The crust is there, the chew is right....

Starter the night before:
1/2c flour
1/4c water
pinch of yeast from an envelope (save the rest)

Mix, cover with Saran Wrap and let sit on the counter till the next day.

In the bowl of the KA fitted with the dough hook:

3 3/4c (aprox 450g) bread flour
1 1/4 c cool water
The rest of the yeast in the envelope
1 3/4t salt
The starter

Once it's mixed, you may need to add a bit more flour at a time until the dough doesn't stick and is kneaded by the hook. Knead 12 minutes.

Roll the dough in a touch of veg oil in a large bowl, cover, and let sit until doubled... about an hour.

Take the dough out and portion into 6 (aprox 140g each for mine). Roll each into a ball, poke a hole in the middle and stretch it out to form a bagel. Let them sit while the water comes to a boil.

Preheat oven to 400F convection and put 2T molasses in the simmering water. Using a spider, put 2-3 bagels in (they need a little room to spread) and simmer for 2 minutes. Flip them and simmer for another minute or so. Strain them to a parchment-covered pan and continue until all are boiled. Top them with your fav topping while they are still wet and the next batch is boiling.

Bake aprox 20 minutes until a little more than golden brown.

I adapted this recipe from a video I saw on FB this past week- Jennifer Garner. The link is below. She mentions that she doubled the starter so she doubled the flour etc., but the measurements didn't add up. I used the orig. recipe for her starter and backed the original 4c of flour down a tad. The video is linked below.

Good luck, and stay safe,

Chuck



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Re: Reply #329

Louie, I like aluminum pans too, but IMO the size of the pan is more important that the material its made of.  Since 1978 when I first began to bake bread I used 9.25”x5.25” aluminum loaf pans.  The bread came out fine, but I often found that I didn’t get the nice high loaves I was after.  After reading hundreds of recipes I found that the majority of the recipes called for 8.5”x4.5” loaf pans, so bought 2 of this size.  I looked for aluminum but they are hard to find now with the renewed interest in baking bread.  The pans I use are aluminized steel, something I’d not heard of before.  They are heavier than aluminum of course, but they make a perfectly rounded top and well risen loaf.

 

Something else I discovered is that if I let the loaves rise too long before baking they can have large holes in the baked loaf and be somewhat dried than I would like.  And I’ve also found that I prefer making the dough with the paddle attachment, rather than the dough hook if I use the KA, beating the soft dough on speed 6 for 2 mins, then I finish the kneading by hand for about 3-5 mins.  Since I use Rapid Rise Instant Yeast I only need to let the kneaded dough rest, covered for 10 mins, then I form the loaves, spray the tops with Pam and cover with plastic wrap and let them rise for 30-35 mins while preheating the oven.  It’s very important to keep an eye on the loaves and only let the dough rise NO MORE that 1” above the top of the pan!

 

Also, its better for the dough to be a little sticky than too dry while kneading so the finished bread is nice and moist and not dry. I use my kitchen scale to exactly weigh the dough so each loaf is equal in size, its my OCD in action,LOL.

 

I’ve attached photos of the pans I use,  and link to the recipe I’ve found works very well for white or wheat bread and the loaves I just took out of the oven.  Double the amounts for two loaves.

 

The link for the recipes has some helpful videos on bread baking and even though I’ve baked bread for over 40 years I found them helpful.  

 

HTH,

Eddie


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We had another couple over for a safe dinner and pool time. Tried doing Mexican-spiced chicken wings and camaron (shrimp) with rice and beans. The wing marinade needs a bit more tweaking, but all agreed it was successful overall. The lime was especially appreciated for the rice! Not shown... Hornitos margaritas brought by our guests!

Chuck

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We made

Sugo Bolagnese' and braiciole' yesterday with Fettucini. Thats San Marzano tomato sauce, braised stuffed chip top sirloin, flank or skirt steak. The filing has proscutto or soprasatta, bread crumbs, parmesano regioano, grated provolone, chopped arugala, flat parsley, garlic, carmelized onion, a few currants or raisins.
It's time intensive, the rolls of stuffed beef must be tied with string, then browned before braising in the sauce. It's so worth the time though. Rachel Ray has a 3 hour recipe, and a 45 minute short cut one. Mangia!
 
Mike-

I'm gonna have to try a few of your additions next time I make it. I usually go with bread crumb, parm-reg, romano, garlic parsley and egg. I made it once with a strip of prosciutto in each roll, but the flavor was lost. I'll do it next time but will chop the prosciutto so it travels through the stuffing! And I can back off on the other 2 cheeses if I use some grated provolone like you did! Rich's dad always puts raisins in his meatballs- maybe I'll carry that over too!

I always try to make many more than I need, but I cook them all at the same time then vac-seal the extras in meal portions with a leftover for the next day. Sounds like you make the individual ones same as me. I know it's more traditional to make a large one and slice it, but I prefer the individual ones.

Chuck
 

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