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mktye

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Everything posted by mktye

  1. Next time, if you are as far north as Sherman Oaks, consider driving about a half an hour further up 101 to Thousand Oaks and going to Marcello Ristorante (140 W Hillcrest Dr., 805-371-4367) for their Ravioli de Zucca.
  2. I suspect you'll enjoy the Hamelman book. It has not the breadth of bread recipes as BBA and some of his scaled-down recipes are not without issues, but his discussion of flour, leavenings and methods make the book well worth the price. And here is a discussion on Pain a l'Ancienne that might also be of interest.
  3. I've found that Pain a l'Ancienne is a tricky bread that does not always play by the rules, so you have to trust your senses more than the recipe. I usually end up letting it rise 6-8 hours at room temperature. And cook it for a longer period and at a bit lower temperature than called for (so the crust does not burn). If you've not already seen it, a book you might enjoy reading is "Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes" by Jeffrey Hamelman. He really gets into the how's and why's of bread baking without being ridiculously technical.
  4. The two factors that affect yeast are heat and moisture. For storage, I prefer the freezer instead of the refrigerator because I feel the moisture levels are better controlled since nearly all the water molecules in there are in a solid state (ice). I also avoid purchasing yeast at the supermarket because of concerns regarding the temperature it has been kept during the distribution and storage. (I suspect this is what accounts for the difference you are seeing, Pat.) I buy SAF yeast in 1-pound bags from King Arthur Flour, keep it in tight-sealing tupperware containers in the freezer and have found that it will be fine even a year (or more) later. Great minds think alike, Miss L?
  5. I use 3.5 ounces of dough for hamburger buns, but as KMango pointed out, it will depend on your bun recipe. And, when forming, be sure to flatten out the dough much more than you think you should.
  6. World Market. They usually have double cream or clotted cream, or both.
  7. In the "Cappellacci with Sweet Squash" recipe from The Splendid Table, Lynne Rossetto Kasper calls for combining butternut squash with sweet potato in a 2:1 ratio to approximate the taste and consistency of the local squash from Ferrara and Parma. I have made this recipe numerous times and it is excellent.
  8. Bûche de Noël. Vanilla sponge, brushed with Frangelico cake syrup, filled with chestnut French buttercream, frosted with chocolate French buttercream and decorated with meringue mushrooms.
  9. A few Thanksgivings back, my MIL brought me one all the way from California (they'd grown it on their farm) and I had the same exact experience. I always figured it was just that particular pumpkin. Guess not.
  10. Although I've not made this particular recipe, I've been liking "The Arab Table" by May S. Bsisu for such things. Someone else has copied out the recipe here.
  11. King Arthur Flour carries 100-count packages of half-sheet-sized, pre-cut parchment paper for $19.95. Click.
  12. Waters Appliance Service in Gaithersburg fixes KitchenAid mixers. 216 E. Diamond Ave., 301-258-7500
  13. And if you end up left with a clever mousie who passes on the peanut butter, you'll probably have luck baiting with little pieces of raw bacon tied to the trap with dental floss (and yet again prove the near-universal irresistibility of bacon).
  14. And that friend just might scale and filet the fish for you. Especially if you transport the fish across state lines.
  15. Bookcloseouts.com is having a Buy One, Get One Free cookbook promotion through 18 February. The selection of books available for free is somewhat limited, but there are a few of interest. Details here.
  16. If it is just 1/8 of a cup out of 2 cups total flour, it probably does not matter very much if you use the KA white whole wheat or cake flour. And using 1 cup of KA white whole wheat & 1 cup of AP would most likely also work just fine.
  17. My favorite roll recipe (warning: it is a little fussy): DINNER ROLLS Makes ~2 dozen rolls Because there is so much butter in the dough, it is too difficult to knead by hand or with a food processor (which would heat the dough too much). Although the dough will be very soft, resist the urge to add extra flour since it will result in the rolls being tough. ~3½ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour 2¼ teaspoons (1 package) dry yeast 1½ teaspoons salt 2 tablespoons sugar 1¼ cups milk, warmed 1 large egg, beaten lightly 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature In the bowl of the mixer, stir together the 3 cups flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Mix in the milk and egg and beat at low speed with the paddle attachment for 1 minute. Gradually add the butter, increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, then knead with the dough hook ~5 minutes, adding more flour as necessary to make a very, very soft dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in size, ~45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly oil or line two half-sheet pans with parchment paper. Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured work surface and pat into a 9” square. Fold the dough into thirds by folding the upper 3” down and the lower 3” up. Pinch the edges together to seal. Next, using the side of your hand, firmly press an indentation along the length of the dough, then fold and roll the upper sealed edge of dough toward the center indentation, pressing firmly with your fingertips to seal. Pull the upper edges of the dough down over the thick portion to meet the seam, pressing with your fingertips to seal. Repeat this 5 or 6 more times until the dough lengthens and forms a taut, narrow cylinder ~17” long. Dust the dough with flour, then roll the dough seam-side up and pinch firmly to seal. Next, press an indentation into the length of the dough along the seam with the side of your open hand. And repeat as above to form a long, taut cylinder. Gently stretch and roll the dough cylinder until it measures 36” long and is ~2½” wide. Use a bench scraper (or a knife) at a 45 degree angle to the cylinder, cut off one end, then cut triangular-shaped rolls along the dough, alternating the scraper 45-degrees to the right and left. You should get ~24 rolls. Transfer the rolls to the prepared sheet pans, then cover with lightly-oiled plastic wrap and let the rolls rise until almost doubled, ~30 minutes. Bake the rolls for 15 minutes, rotating the sheets about halfway through the baking. Cool rolls on a rack for at least 5 minutes before serving. Adapted from an old "Cook's Illustrated" recipe (I recently made the recipe from this year's CI Nov. issue -- while the crumb and crust were great, I found the flavor a little blah. They were okay for everyday, but not the buttery, special-occasion-type of rolls that I like to serve at Thanksgiving.)
  18. It's that time of year again! If your posts are showing up marked an hour late or the little time stamp at the bottom of the page is off by an hour...
  19. Substituting approximately half the total amount of white flour with whole wheat is the general rule. So, in this case, use 2 cups whole wheat and 2.25 cups bread flour. If you use a larger amount of whole wheat, things can get tricky because of lack of gluten development which can result in a very dense bread.
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