andiesenji

Yes, and in an electric roaster for really big batches when cooked just for molding in loaf pans to be sliced and fried for a community breakfast. Long and slow with the lid on tight to keep all the liquid inside is the trick. I did something similar when making masa for tamales when we are going to have a big multi-family dinner. It saves a lot of time standing over a hot stove, stirring and stirring and stirring.

Wow! That sounds so good. Wonderful complimentary flavors. Saturday evening I baked a couple of loaves of Asiago cheese bread that had been in the freezer for awhile. Set the dough to thaw and rise about noon and left it alone under a dome until 6:30 then baked it off. I let it cool a bit then made a very simple filling of two layers of mozzarella with peppadews sandwiched between the layers of cheese. The hot/sweet/spicy counterpoint to the creamy mozzarella and the slightly salty bread was not at all bad. Certainly very filling..... It sounds like you are enjoying your press.

I have looked forward to, purchased and literally devoured every book since "Brother Juniper" and have followed your postings to the Bread-Baker's list and have also had many online discussions as well as one face to face with Bob, the Tarheel baker, who is an unabashed fan. The recipes are so well tested in many different conditions and kitchens, that all of the "bugs" have been worked out prior to publication. I wish I could say the same for all bread books. In some I have come across some errors that render a recipe unworkable and I wonder who was doing the checking against the original recipe. I know that producing a book is a huge project but some people just do the job better than others. I never hesitate to recommend one of your books because I know the purchaser will be pleased. Andie Paysinger

I would like to add that if you have a convection oven you want to avoid opening the door at all, because that steam does not just drift out but is propelled out the open door by the convection fan. I happen to have an oven which has the steam function built into it and I do not open the doors when the steam function is on during the first few minutes of baking. I did it once, which was enough to convince me not to do it. I have a large red U which I hang onto the door handle when I have set it for steam. This reminds me not to pull the doors open even though I have forgotten to do something. Better to have a less than perfect product than a blistered face and neck.

Do you lightly hydrate the barley flakes prior to adding to the dough? I have found that with many of the "flaked" products they soak up liquid like a sponge and pull it right out of the surrounding dough. My solution has been to spread the flaked product on a tray or sheet pan and spritz it with water, stirring and spritzing a few times. This does not add enough liquid to compromise the formula which would affect the dough itself, but adds enough moisture to the product to keep it from causing the problem which you describe and which I also had. The harder seeds and products that are cut or coarsely ground do not seem to have this effect. It is the flaking process that seems to make the product have such an affinity for moisture.

There are a lot of very good bread books available. I have been baking bread for 48 years, since I went to baker's school (Dunwoodie) in the mid 50s. However I still have lots to learn and I buy every baking book that comes along. I have found that the most informative and easiest to understand, are the books by Peter Reinhart. I bought his first book quite a few years ago and found that his philosophy greatly appealed to me. His subsequent books have just improved on the theme. My favorite remains Crust and Crumb but any will serve you well. I have given The Bread Baker's Apprentice to several aspiring bakers and they all feel it has made a great difference in the way they approach the task and make it much more enjoyable.

--------------------- This used to be a problem for me, because so often I would have multiple things going at the same time. Then it occurred to me that I could use color coding. I bought the inexpensive Taylor long-ring timers. Along with them I got clips with magnets on the back which are different colors, red, blue, green, yellow. On each timer I covered the top with colored tape, about the same color as the clips. Something goes in an oven or on the stove it gets one of the magnets stuck next to it or on the door of the oven and the matching color timer set for the proper time. And for those of you that have trouble with toaster ovens. Check your local thrift stores and see if you can find one of the original General Electric Automatic toaster ovens. These were made from the late 60s to the late 70s. They are the best toaster/toaster oven ever made. It is worth your while to find one in fair condition and take it to a small appliance repair place and have them check it and put on a new cord. You set it for how you want your toast or bagle or whatever and when it is done the door pops up to open and the shelf slides out. I have three, two purchased new way back when and another picked up at a garage sale and refurbished, "just in case", because I love them. I have a large collection of toasters, I buy quite a few on ebay. I have yet to see one of these show up on ebay. Everyone I know who has them is hanging on to them because they work so well.

You can also go to Graeme Caselton's web site as he has the largest database on the web that has photos and descriptions of chiles from all parts of the world. U.K. Chile-Head There are wonderful photos. Just click on any letter in the top of the page and you will get an alphabetized list of all the peppers whose names start with that letter and the many variations in names when a pepper is grown in many countries. If you scroll to the bottom of the page under "C" you will find the Cubanelle. scroll up just a bit and you will come to the "Crimson Hot" which is the very hot version of the Anaheim (which are fairly mild). When still green but just beginning to ripen, they are a dead ringer for the Cubanelle and several weeks back Vallarta supermarket had a batch that was indeed labeled Cubanelle. Wow, were they hot when one was expecting a mild, sweet flavor. They were as hot as the Caloro that I grow which can vary from mildly hot, grown in the kitchen garden, to very hot, grown out in the big garden where they get more sun, wind and not as much irrigation.

Has anyone mentioned Mainz hams. I tasted one smuggled in from Germany by the daughter of a friend. The daughter works for an airline that shall remain nameless. It is brined then soaked in some kind of liquor then smoked. It is delicious. It is quite different from any other ham I have ever tasted. Three years ago I tried doing something similar with a boar hind leg, cool-smoking it for 5 weeks after first brining it then soaking in a mixture of hard cider, white wine and Kirsch. It turned out quite good but not as good as the Mainz. My housekeeper has had one of her sisters, who lives in Prague, send some ham from there. It also was very good, much better than (real) Black Forest or similar hams but with the same very dark color. She says, as near as I can figure out the equivalent spelling, it is called Szyncka.

My favorite also is the aroma of baking bread. I have baked thousands of loaves of bread in my life and I never tire of the smell emanating from the oven. There are a great many food and cooking smells that I like but this is by far the most appealing. I have thought about the many scents I do not care for and while there are quite a few that annoy me, the only one that actually sickens me, is the smell of scorched beans. There is that peculiar smell of vulcanized rubber with an acrid overtone that causes me to immediately take the pan outside before it permeates the entire kitchen. It also ruins the entire pot full, as it seems to instantly flavor the entire batch even without stirring.

To me it is the most fulfilling thing I do. Just the act of preparing a single recipe to perfection is enough, no matter how simple or complex it is. The results are tangible and immediate, one does not have to wait to see how the public accepts my creation as is the case with art work. If it is just for myself it satisfies me that I have produced something that pleases me. I love to share the products of my obsession, especially when I can produce something that is no longer in vogue in the home kitchen. I just like to feed people whether or not I see them enjoy it. Before arthritis made it impossible, I was a regular volunteer at fund raising events, cooking endless pancakes, waffles and my own "instant" French toast, for attendees. For many years I spent the day before Thanksgiving baking numerous pies at the local senior citizen center for distribution to house-bound seniors and for dinners for the homeless. There is a profound gratification in knowing that one's efforts are of benefit and comfort to others. It is the most satisfying way of giving of oneself.

When I first began reading and listening to people talk about the slow food movement, it mostly referred to getting away from dependence on produce that is modified to be more easily harvested with machinery rather than people, modifed to hold up longer in shipping, and with the result of a pretty but tasteless product in which appearance rather than substance is important in marketing. The advocates also feel it is important to support local small farmers who maintain heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables that do not conform to the requirements of the mass marketing conglomerates and which ultimately maintain a base upon which one can fall back in the event of a catastrophic loss of major modified crops due to attack by insects, pathogens or ???? The more dependent we are on factory farming of single, modified and non-reproducing hybrid crops, the more chance there is of widespread famine if these crops are destroyed by some either accidental or deliberate introduction of something that can decimate the crop over a wide area. I believe the term may have confused a lot of people because some thought it referred to preparation of foods but some traditional foods can be prepared rapidly, so using it as opposed to "fast food" is not exactly correct. I think it means that before leaping ahead into unknown territory with the production of our foodstuffs, we have to take a step back and make sure we have a safe and secure foundation to which we can retreat if there is such a problem as widespread loss of food crops on factory farms. I may be in error, and have misunderstood the basic principals but this is the gist of what I have picked up on various discussions both on line and in groups.

I grew up eating home cured ham and nothing has ever tasted as good. Occasionally my relatives who still live on the farm send me a ham for the holidays. These are really big hams, nothing like the little ones in the market. No dye to color the ham pink. It is more a dark red. I have developed a "recipe" or method for turning a barely edible "loss-leader" supermarket BONE-IN ham into something quite acceptable. However it involves finding some inexpensive maple syrup - I buy the jugs of the stuff at Costco but Trader Joes sometimes has a sale on the "B" syrup which has more flavor. You need a lot of it because the ham has to be covered at least half way with the liquid. First you take your ham and trim off as much of the outside fat as possible. Then you take your trusty chef's fork or if you don't have one use an ice pick, and stab the thing all over, stab deep, right down to the bone. Then rub the ham with dry mustard. put it into a pot that is not too much larger than the ham but leaves you enough room so that you can lift the ham out easily when you need to turn it over. Add the maple syrup until it comes up well past half way on the ham, if you have enough, cover it. put it in a slow oven, keep the temperature around 275, certainly not over 300. At the end of an hour turn it over and put it back in for another hour. Repeat until the ham has been in the oven a total of 4 hours. lift it out of the pot and put it on a wire rack over a sheet pan or in the sink so the excess liquid can drip off. Then transfer to a dry roasting pan, turn the oven up to 350 and put it back in the over 30 minutes to brown. When the syrup is cool, strain it and store it in the freezer, you can use it for another ham. You can do this with a spiral sliced ham, one of the cheap ones that are usually way too salty, but you have to have it tied fairly tightly so the slices won't separate during the cooking.

I simply season with salt and pepper and brown the pork chops on both sides in a little fat. Then I add about a cup of apple cider to the pan, reduce the heat and cover tightly and braise for about 20 minutes, remove the cover and let the liquid reduce then add a cup of chopped apples (or a cup of chunky applesauce) for each pork chop and cook till the apples are tender. If using the applesauce I just make sure it is warmed through. To me there is nothing tastier than pan fried or braised pork chops and applesauce or cooked apples. Along with a green vegetable and rice, this is a fine dinner. If you want to go the whole route, add some baked sweet potatoes or yams.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This can happen to anybody, with any kind of freezer. I have a huge upright freezer and sometimes have to move things out when I am redistributing things, putting new stuff toward the back, bringing the older stuff to the front. I have a big U-shaped red plastic thing that I found in Staples or Office Depot which is supposed to hold folders or whatever. It lives on top of the freezer and when I open the door and take anything out that has to be replaced, I hang that red thing over the top of the door. Now the door won't close until I remove it and it reminds me to turn around and take whatever is now setting on the storage shelf behind me and put it back in the freezer. You can get something similar and hang it over the side of the freezer. If you can't close the top you will remember that something needs to go back inside. Andie

Sloppy Joes. Homemade, I make the stuff with beef, turkey and pork sausage, make it fairly spicy. It is true. People do ask me how can I eat that "crap". The fact is that a very small amount satisfies me, certainly well within my caloric limits. There are times when I feel the need to indulge my cravings or start climbing the walls. I have been very good lately, my weight loss is better than my doc suggested at this point so I feel it is okay that I have something that is not "approved" and that indulgence will carry me through until my next episode of insatiable longing for the forbidden.

PECAN PIE With No Corn Syrup This method simply thickens the egg mixture with the sugar to make a custard, loaded with pecans. If you toast the pecans first, they will have more flavor…and the result is not quite so aggressively sweet as the one’s made with corn syrup. I also add just a pinch of white pepper to the filling for a piquant top-note! SERVES ABOUT 8 (ONE PIE, 8”, 9” OR 10”) 1 baked pie crust - either 8, 9 or 10 inches in diameter 2 cups, shelled pecans – toasted (see below) 5 eggs 1 cup, white sugar 1/2 cup, brown sugar pinch of salt (about 1/8 tespoon) 6 tablespoons, (3/4stick), butter – melted 1 tablespoon, vanilla extract To toast the pecans: bake them on a cookie sheet for about 5 minutes in the oven as it preheats (or at an oven temperature of about 250 degrees). Shake and stir the nuts frequently, and bake them until they are hot and fragrant. Cool the pecans; finely chop about half of them – and coarsely chop the remainder. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Break the eggs into a small saucepan (off the heat) and beat the eggs well, until they are thick and foamy. Add the sugars, salt and melted butter to the eggs and beat until the mixture is smooth. Place the saucepan over medium-low heat and warm the egg mixture gently, stirring constantly, until it is hot to the touch – but do not allow it to boil, or the eggs will scramble. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and the chopped pecans. Place the pie crust on a baking sheet. Pour the filling into the crust [Cook’s Note: The crust may be still hot from pre-baking, or warm it in the oven before adding the filling. This will prevent moisture condensation on the bottom of the pan and a soggy crust.] Bake 30-40 minutes or until the filling shakes like Jello, but the surface still appears wet. Cool on a rack (it will complete cooking) and serve warm or at room temperature. A larger in diameter pie will be shallower and the filling will cook more rapidly than a deeper one. Variations: For CHOCOLATE PECAN PIE: Melt 2 ounces of semisweet chocolate with 3 tablespoons superfine sugar. Allow to cool slightly, then blend this mixture into the beaten-egg and sugars mixture as you warm that mixture, before adding the vanilla and pecans. Then continued as directed above. For pumpkin/pecan pie add 1 1/2 cups of pumpkin puree into which you have beaten 3 egg yolks and 1/4 cup brown sugar, to the egg mixture prior to adding the vanilla and the pecans. If it seems too thick and dry, add the 3 egg whites also, however the yolks are usually enough liquid unless the pumpkin puree is very dry. This will make 2 regular pies or bake in a 9 x 13 rectangular pan in which you have blind-baked a crust. This will require the equivalent of a double crust batch of pie dough.

There was a lot of sorghum cane grown on the farm. A fair amount was crushed and the juice cooked into molasses. It does have a distinctive taste, not at all like the syrup from true sugar cane. Most of the sorghum was chopped and mixed with other things for silage, winter feed for the animals. I believe that the only silos in that area were on my grandfather's farm, I don't recall ever seeing any others. My cousins loved to climb the outside of the silo, open one of the vents and stick their heads inside as the fumes (from the fermentation of the stuff) were strong enough to nearly make one drunk. The best pecan pie I ever tasted was made by our cook. I wish I had the recipe but so far have had no luck in getting my aunt to part with it. I know it does not include any Karo syrup, it was made with brown sugar and a lot of eggs or egg yolks. It also included ground or chopped pecans because I can remember one of the young women who worked in the kitchen sitting with a large wood bowl and a hand chopper working it back and forth in a bowl full of pecans. I sometimes got to help with cracking the pecans. They would sit me down on a low stool with a towel across my lap and a small sad iron upside down in my lap with the handle between my knees, and a little ballpeen hammer. I was supposed to stand the pecan on end and give it a tap or two till the nut cracked, drop it into a pan and go on to the next one. Someone else would remove the shell and so on. If one "happened" to fall apart I could eat the nut. Funny how many fell apart........... Next I will post my recipe for pecan pie that has been touted as "fair" by various tasters.

Whenever I go to visit my Dad in Deming when they are harvesting, I love to go watch the machines that grab the trees and shake them. Of course these are small trees. The pecan grove on the farm where I was born and grew up, were very large old trees, home to countless squirrels which were hunted by me and my cousins. The upper branches could be shaken to make the nuts fall, but the trunks on these trees were big and solid. Several were harvested for the timber after being struck by lightning and I can remember my grandpa showing me the growth rings that showed one of the trees was more than 100 years old. They were fairly large pecans, and very sweet.

--------------------------------------------------------- Well you won't have a problem with the Bron, there is a lever that you move one way or the other to get to whatever thickness you want, it is infinitely adjustable. I have been using mine for many, many years. I have had the blades replaced once, about 8 or 9 years ago. When I am doing a big batch of something like cucumber slices for pickles, 20 pounds or so, I just set the Bron in one of the bus tubs (a rectangular tub available at Smart & Final or other restaurant supply places) and start in. I work sitting down, as this is usually a prolonged job, with the tub on a stool which I also use for holding very deep pots and etc., and onto the top of which I have tacked some of the non-slip shelf/drawer liner to hold it in place. I have tried all of the knock-off slicers of every type and have never found one that works as well as the Bron. I paid 69.00 for the one I have, it still has the price on the end of the original box.

--------------------------------------------------------- Many of my ancestors were enthusiastic about foods, collected "receipts" and grew odd things. This one came from one of my paternal ancestors, Patience, wife of Antony Nesbitt, Capt., which is how she named herself in her journals. Apparently she sometimes sailed with him on his ship during trading trips. My grandmother had two or three of her journals and copied recipes (and interesting stories) from them long before I was born. One of my aunts passed the recipe on to me and also sent me a photocopy of the pages in the journal where it was written. Very difficult to read - every "s" is written like an "f" and there are breaks in words that do not belong because of writing with a quill pen. These do not need to be refrigerated. When I say cool, I mean not near a heat source. Don't put them on top of the refrigerator which produces heat. It is usually cooler near the floor so if you have a kettle or stockpot that is big enough to hold the cake, wrap them well put them into the kettle and cover it and place it in a low cupboard or on the floor in a closet. (That is as long as you don't have radiant heating in your floor.) Now here is my suggestion for making cakes like these that include a lot of ingredients. Do not try to do it all at once, it seems like a really big job. Instead start out with measuring out the fruit, set it to soak. On another day measure out the dry ingredients, place in ziploc bags and place in a large bowl or one of the jumbo ziploc bags along with a copy of the recipe. Chop the nuts and store them in a ziploc bag. Then when you are ready to assemble the recipe all you have to do is get out the perishable ingredients and mix then bake. I do this with the many cookie recipes I do each year. I have a bunch of bus trays and totes. Each one is for a particular recipe. I line them up and measure out all the dry ingredients, and store in ziploc bags, along with any special utensils needed for a particular recipe, put the tray or tote in a large plastic bag and stack them in the pantry. This way I do not get into the middle of a recipe and find I am missing an ingredient and it just generally makes things go so much faster.

This is my cocoa fruit cake. I have recreated this from a recipe written in difficult-to-read, spidery handwriting in the journal of an ancestor with the entry dated 1690. It is important to use Dutch process cocoa. I use King Arthur Flour's Double Dutch Cocoa and Black Cocoa Half and Half. When glazed with the glaze at the end of the recipe, this cake will keep for several days at room temp and will stay incredibly moist with just a loose cover. I have in the past made this cake ahead of time and wrapped it well in Aluminum foil and kept it in a cool place for 6 or more weeks. However I now live alone. When my family was still all together, I could not keep it more than a couple of days......to give you an idea of the way things used to be, the original "receipt" called for 6 pounds of twice-boulted flour and 3 full pound loaves of sugar well beaten..... 2 pounds of butter and 3 dozen eggs. I have cut it down to a manageable size. FRUITED COCA CAKE original recipe ca. 1690 1 cup BUTTER unsalted 1-1/2 tsp SALT kosher 1 tsp CINNAMON ground 1 tsp CLOVES, ground 1 tsp NUTMEG, ground 1 tsp ALLSPICE, ground 6 Tbsp COCOA, Dutch process 3 cups superfine SUGAR 4 large EGGS 3 Tsp BAKING SODA 4 cups, sifted FLOUR 1-1/2 cup CURRANTS 1-1/2 DRIED CHERRIES 1-1/2 cups WALNUTS, chopped or pecans or macadamia nuts, etc. 3 cups APPLESAUCE, unsweetened chunky style if you can find it. Preheat oven to 350 F Grease and flour a deep 11" x 15" pan or 2 10-inch square pans or 2 holiday mold pans. In a large mixing bowl cream together butter, salt, spices, cocoa and sugar. beat until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after adding each one. Mix baking soda with flour. reserve 2 heaping tablespoons of the flour. Instead of sifting the flour you can simply put it in a large bowl and run a wire whisk through it which does the same as sifting, i.e. fluffing it up a bit. Add flour to batter alternately with applesauce. Sprinkle the fruit and nuts with the reserved flour and fold into cake batter. Pour batter into pan and bake for about 1 hour or until cake tests done. (deeper pans will require longer baking. ORANGE GLAZE GRATED PEEL OF 2 ORANGES 1/3 CUP SUGAR 1/4 CUP WATER 1 CUP ORANGE JUICE 3 TABLESPOONS GRAND MARNIER LIQUOR OR BRANDY Combine ingredients in saucepan, bring to simmer, stirring constantly, continue cooking until liquid is reduced by 1/2. Drizzle over cake ( I use a turkey baster and a perforated spoon as the glaze is too hot to dip my fingers into which is usually the way I drizzle icing . After the glaze has set, decorate edges of the cake and the plate edges with powdered sugar sifted thru a fine strainer.

I make a white fruitcake but it is too late for this year as it has to "age" or mature for at least 6 months to reach the proper flavor and texture. White Fruit Cake This one is a lot of work but the results are extraordinary. Preparation a minimum of 2 weeks prior to baking. 1-1/2 pounds finely cut candied citron or use candied citrus peel 1-1/2 pounds sultana (golden) raisins 1-1/2 pounds finely cut candied pineapple Place in large glass jar and add: 2 cups sweet white wine - Carmel Cream White or similar. 2 cups white rum Allow to macerate in a cool place for a minimum of 2 weeks, longer will be o.k. When ready to make the batter, weigh and measure out: 1-1/2 pounds blanched almonds, ground till resembling fine bread crumbs. 1 small coconut - meat freshly grated, medium shred. Or soak 1 cup of shredded coconut in coconut milk and drain prior to adding to recipe. Use the coconut milk for something else. 1 pound unsalted butter 1 pound sugar 6 extra large eggs 1 pound flour 1 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons nutmeg 1-1/2 teaspoons almond extract 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1/2 pint of liquor in which fruit has been macerated, see next directions. The night before you are ready to bake, drain the fruit in a colander placed over a deep vessel, allow to drain overnight then spread fruit on paper towels and pat dry. Set aside in a very large bowl and toss fruit with HALF the flour. Directions for batter: Cream butter and sugar till fluffy Add eggs one at a time beating till each is completely incorporated. Mix remaining flour with ground almonds, grated coconut and nutmeg. Beat into the butter/sugar/egg mixture. Add almond and vanilla extracts. Add liquor drained from fruit. Pour mixture from mixer bowl over the fruit and flour mixture in very large bowl and mix until fruit is well distributed in batter. If too thick or dry, add additional liquor - 1/4 cup at a time. Batter should be thick enough to cling to a spoon and drop off in large globs. (technical term - glob - clump at least the size of a small egg) Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a large round cake pan (10 inch - at least 2 inches deep) with greased brown paper (or baking parchment) Or use 2 large loaf pans, line them also. Spoon batter into pans, pushing into corners and up against sides so batter is slightly lower in the center. (This is to make sure the top is flat.) Set pan or pans in a larger pan, pour in hot water to within 3/4 inch to top of cake pans. Cover everything with 2 layers of aluminum foil and crimp tightly around water pan (this is to work like a steamer - If you have a very large covered roasting pan that will hold the pans you can use that.) Place in preheated oven and steam for 3-1/2 hours. Remove from oven - remove cake pan/pans from steamer - return to oven and bake for 1/2 hour at 325 F. Remove from oven - punch holes in top of cake with skewer and spoon 1/3 cup almond liquor - Amaretto etc. over cake. Allow to cool completely, remove from pan, wrap tightly in foil and then with plastic wrap. Place in cool place and allow to mellow for 4 to 6 months. Repeat the application of liquor every two to three weeks.

You can make Jamaican black cake and have nearly the same end result. This is a very good recipe for it Jamaican black cake