Beanie

First of all, to answer the previous post about "enriched" here's the ingredient label for King Arthur Sir Galahad flour:: Wheat flour enriched (niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), malted barley flour. Sir Galahad is a terrific flour. Note that it's marketed as "all purpose" by the distributor in the above link. I use it for brownies, cookies, and different types of bread. I would not necessarily add vital wheat gluten to make challah. The protein level is higher than most all purpose flours. In fact, King Arthur all-purpose flour for the home baker has a similar protein level and is recommended in a number of books on bread baking instead of "bread flour." (Hamelman, Reinhart, etc.) Having just given Sir Galahad a good review, I can now confuse you by saying that I have also used KA Organic Select Artisan, with no noticeable difference, except for it being organic and twice as expensive. And a friend of mine who bakes bread for a farmer's market loves KA Special Spring Patent flour; he purchases about 50-100 lbs. from my shop each week. I believe this is similar to KA's "Special" bread machine flour for the home baker; protein level 12.7%. I prefer Sir Galahad. I have also used Wheat Montana Natural White. Although this is labeled "all purpose," it is a high gluten flour, about 14% protein, and the packaging recommends it for bread. I have used this for artisan breads with great success, even though it has a higher protein level than typically recommended for these types of breads. I also use it to make my favorite bread -- bialys . One noticable difference between this flour and King Arthur is the amount of water needed to hydrate it. I always have to add a little more water than called for in a recipe. For a $15 investment, I think you'll do well with Sir Galahad. If you want to try any of the others I've mentioned, send me a PM me and I'll be happy to mail samples.

I would love this recipe. Would you post it here (in your own words to avoid copyright issues)? Please....

When a bakery called Montana Mills had stores in the Albany, NY area, I bought a few of these bread knives for a mere $3 or so. It looks like a copy of the Dexter/Russell. I see they are now available online for $5.95, which includes shipping. Time to order a few more. I've been very pleased with them.

Like they said, apply egg wash just before putting it in the oven and then again halfway thru baking. The second time focus on the sides of the braids that have poofed up and any other areas that need touching up.

Frontier also has great spices with emphasis on organic. I sell them in my bulk spice department. You can get them online or in most health food stores.

Here's a thread on cutting your own stencils.

If you're interested in an electric cooktop, this has gotten good reviews. I'm planning to get their gas version.

I have tried the "under the armpit" technique and do not like it. Takes too long and a little too dangerous given my propensity to be clumsy. The following technique has been amazing successful, to my great surprise. First, I cut open the wrapping and pull out the block of chocolate until the score lines are visible. Each section weighs about 1 lb. Then I take a clean Chinese cleaver (mine has a pretty thick blade) and a really, really heavy mallet with a metal head. I place the cleaver on the scored line of the chocolate and whack it with the mallet. One or two good whacks breaks it apart very cleanly. Once the large block is broken into smaller sections, I wrap each loosely in plastic film (to keep bits of chocolate from flying all over the place) and start whacking it into smaller pieces. Once the pieces get to about 1-2 inch chunks, they can usually be cut into smaller chunks with the cleaver alone or a knife. The chocolate block should be cool, but refrigeration is not needed.

I haven't used either, but Rose Berenbaum has given the steam breakmaker a good review. Click here. I've thought about trying to improvise a setup like the Steam breadmaker by using a baking stone or tiles, a 4" deep hotel pan cover with a couple of holes drilled in, and this portable steam cleaner. I saw this at Target and thought, hmmm, looks familiar, and only $39.99. It gets lousy reviews for steam cleaning, but would be perfect for a short blast of steam. I think. If I get around to trying this, I'll post my results.

Not to be off topic, but Mrs. Milman is the mother of Hannah Milman, Martha Stewart's crafts director. Here's the recipe: Mrs. Milman's chocolate frosting. I guess if your daugher works for Martha, you get famous using a recipe from a bag of chocolate chips. The rest of us have to work for a living. Recipe calls for cooking the mixture for 30 minutes. Personally, I think you should follow chefpeon's instruction, not Mrs. Milman's.

You may want to check this previous thread on tart shells and the slipping problem. See Chefpeon's recipe (post #8) for a tart shell that can be blind baked without filling with weights. I haven't tried this myself.

Get the 12 cup. I have the KA with two bowls and, frankly, don't like using the mini bowl at all. The small bowl sits inside the large bowl, but does not have its own lid. The large lid must be used. Click here to see what I mean.Food being processed in the mini bowl tends to fly out onto the lid and fall into the larger bowl. As I am writing this, I see that Emily_R just said the same thing! At least I know I'm not crazy and imaging things! My favorite mini bowl was the Sunbeam Oskar, but I haven't had one for years. One other caution: my KA died while using the larger bowl to mix dough for bialys, per Maggie Glezer's Artisan Baking Across America. Dough got caught under the blade into the spindle thingy and froze the entire bowl in place KA provides excellent customer service, but the repair cost was over $100 (out of warranty.) If I were purchasing another large processor, I'd try to get an older Cuisinart. Hope I'm not bursting your bubble.

Annie, If you have trouble finding alum, send me a PM with your address. Good to see you posting again.

Ling, thanks for the description. It's definitely more of a plated dessert than an eat-in-the-car-while-driving-to-work type of brownie.

I made these brownies last night using Ling's modified version. I used Callebaut chocolate, non-premium cocoa (duh, totally forgot I had Scharffenberger cocoa on hand ), a little cinnamon and vanilla extract. Ling didn't say what size pan she used, but I used a 9x12 pyrex (prepared with pan spray, parchment, pan spray),hoping there would be enough batter (an 8 or 9 inch square would have been better, I think.) However, the batter rose beautifully due to the egg white mixture and was finished in about 30 minutes (moist crumbs on skewer.) Results: excellent but extremely fragile. I tried cutting while still warm (always a mistake but I couldn't wait to taste it with a cold glass of milk ) and the slice fell apart. I put the whole thing in the freezer and cut them later while frozen, but still couldn't get a clean edge. Nevertheless, they are delicious and I would make them again. Ling, are yours this fragile? I rarely use cake flour and wonder if this was responsible for the texture along with the beaten egg whites. When I took the pan out of the oven, I noticed the sides of the brownie (through the pyrex glass) had a very open crumb, almost mousse-like. Any thoughts on this? Thanks.

Dawn Power Dissolver. Spray it on and let it sit awhile before scrubbing. I used it to remove about 50 years of crud from an antique cast iron cook stove. Worked like a charm. Don't get the Dawn dishwashing foam; it's a different product.

I'll definitely be part of this challenge, but I haven't decided which recipe(s) to try. I like a fudgy brownie and have been happy using Ling's recipe (RecipeGullet) and one of Dorie Greenspan's that appears in both Baking, From My Home to Yours and Baking with Julia. Both are pretty gooey and delicious, but I'm up for something new and a little less gooey. This will be fun.

I made a Jewish rye a few weeks ago based on this recipe and it was very good. The instructions are quite lengthy, but very informative. I had heard about the use of old bread ("Altus") in rye, but had never used it myself. The use of a cornstarch solution to make the crust shiny was also new to me. This recipe may not meet your needs, but I think you'll find it interesting nonetheless.

I grew up eating Silvercup bread, baked in Queens, N.Y. The bakery is now Silvercup Studios. Butter and jelly on squishy white. Not peanut butter... regular unsalted butter ... (Never even tasted peanut butter til I was an adult I've often wondered if this was a Jewish thing because I never ever saw it in anyone's house where I grew up. I've since made up for this deprivation and really like PB with sliced bananas ... on soft bread, of course.)

Earler in this thread, andiesenji commented on the Magic Mill. It was purchased from this place , which has a great reputation. I haven't used either appliance, but I would go with the Magic Mill based on everything I've read about it. The Kenwood is also supposed to be an excellent appliance, but if it is now owned by DeLonghi, I would not have confidence in its customer service. This is based on my experience owning three DeLonghi small appliances (toaster, coffee maker, countertop convection oven)

The ice cream freezer at my shop runs at 10-15 degrees F. Any colder and the ice cream is hard as a rock. Some flavors are firmer than others at the same temp. I don't know about homemade ice creams, so this comment may not be helpful.

I like this place: Vanilla, saffron imports I've purchased vanilla beans, extracts, and saffron. Excellent quality, great service, reasonable price, free samples. What more could you ask for? Here's the link for their various beans.

Alot of great information in the eG pie crust demonstration. Unfortunately, some parts have been deleted, but the rest is still terrific.

I also found an ancient can of cream of tartar last week along with a jar of sour salt purchased around 1960 for a stuffed cabbage recipe given to me by my late Aunt Ida. I've moved several times since 1960 and for the life of me don't know why I keep taking the sour salt with me.

In addition to contacting the county, etc., get in touch with the specific markets you're interested in and find out their rules and regs. In NY State, each market has its own operating rules. Some are very strict about where the items are produced (i.e., only on a farm with a certified kitchen), some not so strict. The State's regs are pretty relaxed as long as potentially hazardous foods are not sold, similar to Abra's comments. A friend of mine who is a farmer uses my commercial oven to bake bread for sale at a farmer's market, but he is required to label the bread as being made in my store for him. It can be confusing, but persevere ... and good luck!