Ann_T

Better late than never...... Belated Christmas Eve Tourtiere. Wasn't able to make the Tourtiere this year so I baked one for Moe yesterday. The week leading up to Christmas I had canned a small batch of the Chile sauce that Moe likes to have with his pie. And I had also froze turkey gravy to serve with it. Moe wants another piece for breakfast and then I'm going to slice and freeze the remainder.

@TicTacTry this plus adding some vinegar to the water. Can't do vinegar. I can always taste it and there are very few things I use vinegar for.

@Annie_H great photos. Your dinner looks delicious.

So many good looking dinners. Between @Tropicalseniorand @Shelby, I have a craving for lasagna. Simple grilled burgers for dinner last night. With homemade double fried fries. Lately we have been soaking the cut potatoes in salted water instead of just cold water . Makes a big difference. The fries retain their crispiness.

A few meals from this past week. Only cooking if I feel like it, otherwise, we are having simple meals like sandwiches and soup. Baked bread last night. Dough was started 24 hours before and left out of the counter for a long slow fermentation. Parmesan Crusted halibut with oven roasted potato wedges, Grilled New York Strip steak big enough for two to share and hard shell tacos.

Sorry ,they are yeast donuts. Fried not baked.

Getting bored not being able to do much but at least I can bake. Moe does all the heavy lifting, like putting the appliances on the counter and putting them away. Small batch of donuts baked Thursday morning. Just three cups of flour so used the KA to do the kneading. White chocolate glaze on the donuts and I used some of the dough to make sugar twists.

@liamsaunt, Having never made this roll before, I can't say whether it is typical of a New England Lobster/Hot dog roll, but I can tell you that they were exactly what Moe was looking for based on his memory of his favourite ball park hot dog. I looked at a number of recipes but they almost all called for powdered milk, which I never have on hand. This one called for regular milk. https://growagoodlife.com/new-england-hot-dog-buns/

Moe use to get to the occasional Montreal hockey game way back when, and he always raved about the hot dogs at the old Montreal Forum arena. He loved the soft top-split buns. For some reason he mentioned them this morning so I decided to find a recipe and make them. Turns out they are really just a New England lobster roll/hot dog bun. Used the Magic Mill to do all the work of kneading. So I didn't have to do anything too taxing on the neck. Baked this afternoon and made Moe hot dogs for dinner. Since I was grilling the wieners I just buttered the sides of the buns and toasted them on the grill. I have a very happy husband. Said they were very close to what he remembered.

Last night's dinner. Oxtails with spaetzle. Easy dinner done in the Breville PC.

I used 2g of yeast in a 1000 g of flour at 70% hydration. Bread always has more flavour with a longer fermentation, but this was actually really good. Slow rise over 15 hours at room temperature. When I use the same ingredients with the stretch and fold method I usually finish the last stretch and fold around 8PM and the dough has more than doubled by 3:00 AM and is ready to go. Without the stretch/folds, this batch was much slower to rise. I actually enjoy the process of the stretch and folds, but just can't do them at the moment so this is allows me to bake bread for the time being.

Where there's a will there's a way....... I have a facebook friend, Ralph Nieboer, an amazing baker to thank for sharing his "Do Nothing Method" for baking bread. I'm somewhat out of commission at the moment when it comes to baking bread. Not able to do all the stretch and folds. But I'm missing making bread. And more importantly Moe is missing my bread. After reading Ralph's recipe, I realized that it is basically the same recipe I use for my baguettes. I often start a batch at night with just two grams of yeast and leave if for a slow rise overnight. But I always use the stretch fold and autolyze method. I never would have thought to just mix the ingredients together and "do nothing", just leave for a longer room temperature fermentation. Late yesterday afternoon around 5PM I mixed up a batch of dough and left it until after 8 this morning. (15 hours). I shaped 12 rolls and started them off in the CSO on the Bread Steam setting and then transferred to my main oven to finish. Really happy with how they turned out. Next batch will be baguettes using this method.

@rotuts, this one is for you. Roasted the chicken yesterday and made the gravy. Moe had the chicken legs for dinner last night and I made hot chicken sandwiches for dinner tonight. Still keeping to simple to prepare meals. Diner food.

I made something I hadn't made in a while. Rack of Pork Stuffed with Apricots.

I love soup any time of day. So I made a pot this morning for breakfast. Moe loves this Chicken Tomato Rice soup. Served with toasted baguette.

@liamsaunt, great photo. Makes my mouth water. Another dinner for breakfast morning. Had presalted a couple of pork chops yesterday and planned to cook them for dinner. Didn't happen. So they became breakfast.

Breakfast. Schwartz's Montreal Smoked Meat sandwich on homemade rye bread. Kosher full sour dill pickles.

Last night's dinner. Platter for Two. Homemade bagels, smoked salmon and cream cheese.

Baked bagels today. Cocktail size to serve with smoked salmon and cream cheese tonight for dinner. Larger poppy seed and sesame seed and another batch with caramelized onions and cheddar inside and out. These are Matt's favourites.

Started a biga Sunday night and mixed up a batch of rye bread Monday morning. Baked last night. Out of the oven at 9:00 and sliced this morning.

Dinner is served!!

Time this morning to prep tonight's dinner before leaving for work. Eggplant Parmesan Stacks ready for the oven. Based on Lidia Bastianich's recipe.

Moe and I shared a thick NY Strip steak. Served with mashed potatoes, cauliflower, zucchini and carrots (for Moe) and a wine sauce. We were eating about an hour after I got home from work.

This was suppose to be last night's dinner. Made this morning for breakfast instead. Sablefish with ginger and black bean stirfry.

Took eight baguettes out of the oven this morning before 7:00 AM. Moe wanted toast and fruit for breakfast. Sliced orange, banana, pear and a few blueberries.