Tropicalsenior

I'm talking about recipes with directions like this. "Firstly, cover your dough in a little olive oil, and place it in a large bowl where the dough will have room to expand to at least twice its size," That gorgeous bread that you make is not the general run of the mill product that these recipes turn out. Sadly, mine is but it's better than what I can buy here.

@Duvel For some time now, I have been reading a light-hearted series about a Village Bobby in the highlands of Scotland. Going on this trip with you, just let me see the territory in which he lives and to learn about the food that, to me, seems strange but you show to be really quite appealing. I was a little disappointed that you didn't try a bacon bap.

Your basic bread directions usually say, generously oil or butter a bowl and place the bread in it to rise. Once I have finished my dough, it is the way I want it and I don't want any more oil or butter in it.

@JoNorvelleWalker, For larger loaves I've seen coverings like produce bags or the plastic grocery bags used. I don't like the extra oil in my bread so when I let it rise the first time I always just put it under a big plastic mixing bowl, a trick that I learned from The Frugal Gourmet almost 40 years ago. After it is shaped I do this but I put a thin dish towel over it and spray it with a fine mist of water so that it's never too wet.

Interesting. Would you please elaborate.

Yes, research and local recommendations when possible. Not easy to do sometimes when you're on the road. The internet is good but sometimes it looks so good and is so bad.

Even so, there is always one big problem on vacations. So much good food, so little time.

https://www.freezeit.co.uk/can-you-freeze-gelatin/

Let me know how it turns out. It might be the answer to some of my problems with making flat bread.

That makes two of us. I understand the basics but I'm afraid I'm a little too old or too lazy to figure out hydration, Etc. I basically have my repertoire of breads that I have always made and my method of judging the hydration is to poke it. I've made them so much that I can tell how they will turn out from the feel of them. I have a big oven that goes up to 550°, but I live in the tropics and when I use it my kitchen goes up to 150°, so I use a small countertop oven that works fine for me. I don't even know why I look at this thread. It is pure torture because not only can I not make this beautiful bread I can't even buy it. But I certainly enjoyed looking at the product of the people here. It all looks so good.

"hot water dough is used for making things other than yeasted bread, such as unleavened flatbreads (tortilla, bolani, roti, paratha) and dough wrappers (dumplings, perogies, manti)." Sounds like she might be on to something here.

https://earthtoveg.com/hot-water-dough/#:~:text=The Science of Scalded Flour,-Scalding flour has&text=Breaks down and inhibits gluten,the strength of the dough.

I hope that you figure it out because I know how frustrating it can be when there's just that one thing missing or that one step that won't work. Your food is always amazing and it is obvious how important the right ingredients and getting the right results are to you.

Each time you handle the dough the gluten tightens up a little bit. What I am saying is rest it more in between shaping the snake and coiling the disc.

I know that in shaping my bread, I always let it sit a while after the first shaping to let it relax completely before I shape it again. Maybe it just needs to rest a little longer in that one step of the process. I might also add that I know nothing at all about this type of bread but it might be worth a try.

No pictures but last night I made pulled pork sandwiches with homemade barbecue sauce. So today with the leftovers... I made empanadas/calzones for our lunch and dinner snacking as per our usual Sunday routine. Thanks for the great idea. I haven't made something like this in ages and I had enough dough left over to make a baguette which will be perfect for this. I won't be able to use Brie because most of the time it's unavailable and if I can find it, I would have to take out a loan on the car to buy it. But I'll find a suitable cheese.

Yuck!!

I love your blog! Your repertoire of dishes is amazing. Exotic and eclectic and yet simple to prepare.

I love mashed potato cakes made from leftover potatoes but I could never get them firm enough to fry right. I finally solved the problem. I bought these little forms to use in my instant pot but whatever I was going to make didn't turn out and I didn't want to throw them away. They came in a sheet and I cut them apart to use them individually. They are about 3 in across. I form the potatoes in these and freeze them. Then they cook perfectly. I cook them a little slower than I would otherwise and they're perfectly hot throughout with a nice crisp exterior.

I've never been to a holiday gathering where there were any serious arguments or any blows were thrown. I have to admit I've been to some where I have felt like throwing a few myself but fortunately better judgment prevailed.

Looks like a very happy group of people. The photograph alone is a major feat of organization. What a beautiful tradition. Happy Thanksgiving

That was the temperature of gentle simmer for me. I make cottage cheese every week and the directions are for it to come almost to simmer and just as bubbles start to break on the surface the temperature is at 197°. I don't know if it is just my imagination but to me, the viscosity of the liquid seems to affect the temperature at which it maintains a simmer.

I got out of pot of water and my instant read thermometer and what I consider a gentle simmer is bubbles just barely breaking the surface. My instant read was at 204 °. We are at about 4,000 ft altitude.

They say that you can change the ingredients in a good recipe and still wind up with a good product so I thought, why not. I didn't have any English muffins so I used whole wheat bread. I can't possibly find Canadian bacon so I did have these hot dogs... Mayonnaise has, kind of, sort of, the same ingredients as Hollandaise. The processed cheese is my own touch to add a little bit of luxury and I served my friend, Lenora, Eggs Benedict for breakfast this morning. Oops! I forgot the eggs.

I'm slightly visually impaired and I had to do a double take. That is a dessert to say carefully.