shain

I don't think it makes any real difference in breads. It might be notable in white breads that suppose to be light and fine, but those rarely contains cornmeal anyway. Do make sure to measure by weight and not by volume. Today's bake shows you the importance of proofing. This slightly weird looking challah bread is the result of me not being able to remove the dough from the fridge in time, therefore it had not enough time to relax, making rolling the dough strands harder, but even worse, leaving me with not enough time to let the bread proof before baking. It had 20 minutes, instead of the planned 60 to 80. I heated the oven to 190dC, and as you can see, the bread expended without being relaxed and stretched enough to contain it. This effect of under proofing is useful with breads which are scored and where a large ear is desired. However in challa, no scoring is made and the dough is forced to expend from the weak spots between the braids, resulting in this very specific look. The inner texture and flavor are still as good. I let it chill a little, then gave it s short second bake to warm and crisp just before serving. I also baked a raisin loaf and hamburger buns from the same dough, to be used in the near future.

Edited to add that those are sage flowers.

@djyee100 Those are immature lupine pods.

I highly suggest removing 1/4 to 1/3 of the beans and blending them, then mix back in. I really dislike the method of partial blending inside the pot. I find the broken beans having an off putting texture, and less thickening power.

For any baked good that you plan to serve warm (as I assume you are going to do with croissants) I prefer to freeze after baking. Freezing always causes some damage, before bake it will hurt rising, after bake, it will cause some staling (though still much better then keeping them standing for days). If you give them a short re-baking (straight from the freezer, don't bother thawing), to get them warm and crisp, you will revert the staleness anyway. The other options should also be OK, just more risky IMO. Lovely croissants by the way

@KennethT Those are mulberries. I found a ripe ones today, there are going to be a lot more in the next few weeks.

Garden tour (warning, many pics): And this is from today, they ripen quickly

Yes, I figured. This is what I aimed for in this variation, but I think I should have added some more butter to it.

Are you looking for a southern style or a sweeter, cakier version? I've adjusted my corn muffin recipe to be slightly leaner and less sweet (though it wasn't too sweet to begin with). I can happily give you the muffin recipe, which can be baked as a bread, but I still need to perform some adjustments to be happy with the leaner version.

Mexican style mixed beans with cheese, pickled chili, sour cream. Corn bread.

@sartoric Sound delicious! Mafaldine in walnut cream (toasted walnuts blended with a little milk), nutmeg, pepper. Dollops of warm ricotta, mixed with a little lemon zest and a little salt. Grated parmesan, chopped walnuts, drizzle of honey.

Light dinner - Warm salad of roasted zucchini, eggplant and onion (all roasted until tender, not crispy). Soft creamy sirene cheese, sumac, olive oil. Crisp toast.

@Franci Wow, I haven't had a chocolate salami in so many years! @LePetitPrince Those look lovely. Did you bake them in a mold? Care to explain how they differ from the familiar macaroons?

Bagels

It's Purim, and I didn't feel like making hamantashen, so instead I made "pressburger cakes". Two small ones, the first filled with poppy seeds, the other with walnuts and a little hazelnuts. Both cake's fillings contained some brandy, butter, some apricot jam, and milk. Pressburger cakes as they are called in Israel, are most similar to the Hungarian Beigli or crescent shaped Pozsonyi kifli (Pozsony is a Slovakian city called Pressburg in German). The dough is yeast risen, but has a texture somewhat similar to that of a pastry. The only filling found in those cakes in Israel is the poppy one, but I remember the ones I had abroad and tried to replicate the flavor. And on the subject of hamantashen, or as they called in Hebrew - Oznei Haman, literally "ears of Haman". The way this name came to be is quite funny. Hamantashen comes from mohn taschen, which is German for poppy seed pockets. One can imagine how an Hebrew speaker might relate the name to Haman (intentionally, or not).

I usually bake rolls at a slightly higher temp, about 10-20ºC

@Smithy @chromedome The seeds are actually of culinary use, if soaked repeatedly, though I won't do it myself. Boiled and salted, they are eaten as a snack, much like chickpeas and fava. They are sold by vendors and also canned. They are a little crisper then most pulses.

@KennethT Thank you. Those are lupines, specifically blue lupine, which is common in Israel.

Giant beans, fennel, fusilli, spinach, caramelized onion and gruyere gratin.

@pjm333 To keep with the filled triangles theme: Crisp buttery phyllo filled with (lightly salty) feta, drizzled with honey.

I am a little busy lately. A couple of recent breakfasts: Spinach, feta & tomatoes shakshuka. Onion, garlic, cumin, parsley, sumac. Egg salad. Turkish coffee had a cool pattern yesterday:

@liamsaunt stunning!

Nothing complex, Yorkshire pudding batter baked until puffed and set, filled with mushroom, onions, milk, cheese, flour (as for a quiche filling), baked further to set the filling and crisp the pudding crust.

Yorkshire pudding crust filled quiche-style with mushroom, onion & milk custard.