Emily_R

Jackal -- This is very interesting and I appreciate your post. Would you say the science described above also applies to non-sourdough non-prefermented sandwich-type loafs? Emily

I don't know folks -- I'd petition for the "cake in a mug in the microwave" things to be moved to a separate thread. Maybe its just my skepticism, or having read other cooking forum sites where people tried various microwave cake-in-a-mug things and did not have positive things to say, but I just don't feel like they are really in line with the true "recipes that rock" credo...

Hmmm. Ok. Am making a loaf of 50% white 50% wheat sandwich bread right now... Its already in a loaf pan so no hot casserole is possible... I'll try not letting it rise as high as I normally do (which shouldn't be hard as the house is so cold its hard to get my bread to rise much at all at the moment)... Will report back later...

Hey folks -- I've been following this thread with interest, as I've never had a dry-aged steak before. Then today the craziest thing happened to me! I went to my local (high end) supermarket, and was looking in the butcher's case... He had a whole bunch of dry-aged steaks in there, and I commented how I had recently been reading a lot about dry aged steaks online and wanted to try them someday. Mind you I didn't think that would be someday soon, as the steaks were $25 a pound... Next thing I know, he takes out a 3-pound dry-aged new york strip steak roast, writes "no charge" on it, and hands it to me! I was so stunned I could hardly do the rest of my food shopping! I feel like I just won the lottery! Just had to share -- I'll report back when I make the roast in a few days!

I find this thread interesting, as I've intermittently had problems with lack of oven spring, but I can't really predict when that happens, and I never make 100% whole wheat bread -- I usually make part white/part wheat or whole grain sandwich breads... The thing I've never understood about the "overproofing" explanation is this: Imagine that the bread fills half the loaf pan when I put it in for the second rise. Often I will just let it rise to the top of the pan as Darren describes, and then may or may not get oven spring. If I dramatically cut back on the second rising time, it seems that the bread would be going into the oven at only filling up only around three quarters of the pan. Even with oven spring at that point, it wouldn't seem likely to go much over the lip of the pan, leaving me back where I started at with the longer proofing and no oven spring? Does this make sense? Am I missing something?

Hey folks -- Eilen sent me this cracker recipe a while back, and I've been making them often since then... But tonight I finally tried making them with a pasta roller, and they managed to be even more fantastic than usual. Something about the pasta roller made them crisper and flakier, and to me they really were very close to the "La Panzanella" crackers that cost a zillion dollars a pound and have been written about extensively on this site. Tonight was also the first time I made the rosemary version of these, and while 2 Tbs of rosemary looked like a lot, the flavor was just perfect.

Just made some of my all time favorites -- gingerbread cookies from the NY Times cookbook. These roll out easily, and bake up fantastically delicious, even without icing.

Paulraphael -- The hydration and autolyse comments are a big help, as I do think I added too much water with my last crust -- I think I should have just shoved all the crumbs together (I added more water at that point) and refrigerated to let the flour hydrate. Nonetheless, maybe its just me, but I find the tone of this thread to have gone a little sour -- I don't think there's really any need to get into what should or shouldn't be "easy," nor do I think its necessary to essentially say that butter crusts are really the only thing someone with a refined palate should want to eat.... But maybe I'm just a little too sensitive at the moment...

Butter was frozen, then grated on the large holes of a box grater, then frozen again to firm up in those little shreds, then mixed with the flour. I don't remember which recipe i used (I checked lots -- cooks illutrated, BHG, Joy of cooking, etc), but I am confident that I *didn't* use the one that called for the *most* butter,as I was already trying to get past just how much damn fat goes into a pie crust! :-) Has no one else ever had this seeping butter happen to them?

Ok, I guess maybe I'm just no good at making pie crusts, but I'm having a hard time understanding how the method I used could be good enough to produce extreme flakiness -- which to me indicates that the butter wasn't overworked into the dough / was left in appropriate size pieces to create the little pockets of air -- and yet still somehow the method was so wrong as to produce all that weeping of clarified butter. Could someone help explain the science of this to me? I think this is 100% about method. I say so because I make all butter tart shells all the time, and greasiness is never an issue. Lack of tenderness is also an issue with method. ←

I think I'm with Zoe. I recently made an all butter crust, and while it was unbelievably flaky, at the same time during baking so much liquid butter came out of that crust that the bottom of the pie nearly fried in clarified butter. I don't think that should have anything to do with the method, as the pie was indeed super flaky and the flavor was there. Its just that a) it wasn't quite as tender as I'd like, and b) the whole thing was too greasy once baked.

Lilija -- Just wanted to thank you for the homemade egg noodle suggestion -- did this yesterday and it was TO DIE FOR. You are right -- the extra flour on the noodles made the broth thicker and silkier... This was just the thing since I've been sick with a cold since pre-thanksgiving...

I also love Cox Orange and for anyone in the finger lakes who wants to try them, Littletree Orchards in Newfield NY (just outside of Ithaca) has a good stand of them...

Just three of us for thanksgiving, so we had... Roast turkey -- with herbed butter under the skin Butternut squash gratin (with cubed sourdough, cheddar, and rosemary as the topping, so it functions as a butternut dish and as something like stuffing...) Braised red cabbage Shredded brussel sprouts with pecans and dried cranberries Gravy And for dessert, chocolate truffles and blueberry raspberry pie... Today was a delicious turkey noodle soup with homemade egg noodles. Mmmm.

Hi folks -- Made something new last night that was a huge winner. It had to be a pantry-staples only night, and I had some kidney beans, so looked up some indian recipes using kidney beans and found this one for Rajma, essentially an Indian kidney bean stew. Made just a few modifications -- recipe calls for 4 cups of water but that would have been too soupy, so I used 2 cups. Also, I used a 15 oz can of diced roasted tomatoes rather than fresh, and cooked the whole thing for longer so the flavors could meld. Served over rice it was fantastic -- savory, subtle... And made a great lunch today! I was so happy to try it, since my efforts at Indian food have been hit or miss... This was a hit! http://indianfood.about.com/od/vegetarianrecipes/r/rajma.htm Emily

My all-time favorite kale recipe -- I can hardly bring myself to make it any other way since I love this so much. Blanch kale in boiling water, then roughly chop. Saute lots of garlic in good olive oil. Add kale, a handful of raisins, a handful of toasted walnuts, lots of fresh pepper and some kosher salt, and let Kale soften and absorb some of the oil and garlic flavors. Finish with crumbled feta, and its heaven! Emily

Looks like pizza has been on a lot of minds these days, now that it is cool enough to crank the oven up hot... Made pizza with roast chicken, thyme, leeks sauteed with a bit of bacon, and gruyere... Serious yum! Emily

I'm thinking really dried out beans might be best ground up in a coffee grinder and mixed with sugar as vanilla sugar?

I tried his whole grain no-knead bread recipe two days ago and got a big leaden doorstop. Terrible.

I think the boiled shrimp with dipping sauce sounds perfect... Also, what about some stuffed grape leaves?

Oooh -- forgot to mention -- I made the Eggplant Gratin that eldoreno posted about so long ago, and it is FANTASTIC. SO good. Both times I made it I added a layer of sauteed zucchini slices as well, which were a nice addition... Just writing about this is making me want it again, despite the fact I just made it a week ago (for a dinner party with vegetarians, so that's a nice use for it)... Note that I don't have individual gratin dishes so I've made it in various larger baking dishes with no problem... Emily

Hi folks -- Wanted to revive this thread, and thought I'd mention the David Lebovitz Easy Jam Tart -- fantastic! http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/07/jam_tart.html The crust could not be easier -- no rolling, you actually push it into the tart pan -- and was flaky and buttery with a hint of cornmeal. The amount of jam is just perfect -- just the right balance for the crust. And it really is as he says -- the whole thing gets significantly better the second day, and stays just as good the third day... In fact I really think it is worth making a day in advance to let the flavors meld -- it is so nice to have an elegant dessert that can be made the day ahead of a big dinner party... Emily

Ok, I think this is the most mouth-watering page this thread has seen yet! Those macros! Those cakes! Please help me stop drooling by sending one of each to my home immediately! :-)

On one of the gardenweb forums I frequent there is lots of talk about this recipe for Habanero Gold which is a hot pepper jelly with habaneros and apricots. I gave the recipe to a friend who had an overabundance of habaneros and she loved it (I didn't try as I'm not a pepper jelly sort of girl)... Emily

For me, what constitutes a daily salad varies wildly based on the season. In the summer "daily salads" are a huge production for me to make, as I don't really like lettuce much, but feel obligated to include basically every other fresh veggie from the garden I possibly can, including: carrots, sugar snap peas, cukes, zukes, scallions, and tomatoes, then on top of that toasted nuts, chickpeas, cubed cheese, etc. I've now taken to making my husband's salads in a medium sized mixing bowl, as the pile gets so high! In the winter things are much easier! My go-to winter salad is arugala or spinach, shredded carrots, diced apple, toasted walnuts, and feta. Dressing is the same year round -- a lemon, lime, or white balsamic vinaigrette. Emily