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Bakegab: The Bellgab Bakeshop

Started by Roswells, Art, May 06, 2019, 02:53:36 PM


pate

Quote from: K_Dubb on October 08, 2019, 12:40:05 AM
Haha yeah that is the most famous story, probably a myth.  I don't think it's an accident, though, that, as you head east from Vienna, you get phyllo dough and then, in Turkey and down into the Levant, the fantastically elaborate forms of baklava with pistachios and rosewater that make the usual Greek-restaurant stuff (which the idiots insist on microwaving, turning it to mush) seem like peasant food -- that whole laminated-dough thing has an eastern feel to it.

You can buy gluten to supplement grocery-store flour -- I dump a little Bob's Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten in practically everything which makes the dough stretchier and hold more liquid so less flour is necessary.  For the sweet doughs I make I am always trying to get by with as little flour as possible.  I don't measure anything but I know when I overdo it the dough resembles rubber cement so the effect is perceptible, not just some mysterious take-it-on-faith thing.

I find that lard is the essential ingredient to a heavenly leaven'd-ough...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-3ESjm9iQ8

pate

"Orange Man Bad Souffles"

[attachment=1,msg1367379]

Made a dozen of the bad boys today.  I have to say they were damn good.  It's a sweet potato soufflé garnished with a toasted marshmallow gastrique and candied pecans on the side, there is also some chiffonade sage.

I made my sister the saucier and put her in charge of the plates, I wanted whole sage, but she insisted on chiffonade.  It was really there for color, although I have a theory that sage is pretty good with sweet potatoes.

It went over pretty well, most of the family tried it.  There were two complete abstentions, a few samplings but most ate the whole thing.  The toasted marshmallow gastrique was awesome.  I think this is restaurant quality, with a few caveats:  I made the sweet potato custard base really thick because I wanted a lot of sweet potato flavor.  SO there were a lot of mashed sweet potatos in the custard, which made it pretty heavy.  I think if the custard base was played with a bit more there would be even more loft to the soufflés.  The plus side to this is that they didn't tend to collapse too much.

Unfortunately the color of the designs on the plates we used was roughly the color of the gastrique, so it doesn't show up very well...

Here's the basic recipe for anyone who wants to attempt making these for themselves, if you love sweet potatos I think you'd really like it.

Sweet Potato Souffle
yield 2 soufflés (425F oven)
1 egg yolk
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup mashed sweet potatos
2 egg whites.

For the mashed sweets lightly oil whole skin on sweet potatos and baked them for an hour in a 350F oven, allow them to cool then squeeze the cooked "meat" out.  About an hour before service make a custard out of all ingredients except the egg whites; a double boiler is recommended so as not to curdle the custard reserve the egg whites.  Allow the custard to cool.  Right before putting the soufflés into the oven whip the egg whites to stiff peaks, but still slightly moist and fold in the custard.  Have 2 oven proof ramekins lightly buttered then coated with sugar, divide the "batter" between the two and immediately place in a 425F oven for 15-20 minutes.  When they are done serve immediately, because the soufflé will collapse within a few minutes.  It will still be edible, but it much better when it is puffed up.  Jorches need to be aware that it is really hot and can burn that dangly thing in the back of your throat.

Marshmallow Gastrique
2-4 toasted marshmallow
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
dash of Quatre Epices (white pepper, nutmeg, cloves and dried ginger all ground up)

Toast the marshmallows over the burner on the stove.  In a small pan heat up the apple cider vinegar and quarter-spice, melt the marshmallows in the vinegar one at a time until the sauce just coats the back of a spoon.  Can be served warm or cold, easier to serve warm.

Candied Pecans
Butter
Sugar
Dash cayenne pepper
Whole pecans

Melt the butter, sugar and cayenne pepper until the sugar dissolves.  Toss pecans and evenly coat, bake in a 350F oven until toasted.

----------------

I am wild ass guessing on the Gastrique & Pecan recipes as my sister made both of those.  I watched her make the gastrique, but she doesn't measure things so that one is an approximation, the Candied Pecans?  NO clue, she made those ahead of time.  But she was instructed to put just a little cayenne pepper on them.  Not to make them "spicy" but to just give them a mild almost un-noticeable "bite."  I could only taste the cayenne when I ate the pecans by themselves (which was really easy, they were delicious).  Grate Job, Baby sister!

I actually made all of the soufflés at once, so if you multiply everything by 6 in the soufflé recipe you'd get a dozen.  They were really good, got a family 75% approval rating.  Most people would not normally eat sweet potatos.  I think my mother and I were the only ones who do eat them, so I'd say a crowd pleaser but a bit of a hassle to make...

Happy Thanksgurving evrahbody!

-p

ediot: You don't have to, but my sister actually went to the trouble of actually making marshmallows from scratch.  They were very square:

[attachment=2,msg1367379]

WOTR

Quote from: pate on November 28, 2019, 07:31:29 PM
"Orange Man Bad Souffles"


Your post made me smile... Happy thanksgiving, Pate.

ediot: Happy thinks giving Bellgab...  ;)

albrecht

Quote from: pate on November 28, 2019, 07:31:29 PM
"Orange Man Bad Souffles"

 

Made a dozen of the bad boys today.  I have to say they were damn good.  It's a sweet potato soufflé garnished with a toasted marshmallow gastrique and candied pecans on the side, there is also some chiffonade sage.

I made my sister the saucier and put her in charge of the plates, I wanted whole sage, but she insisted on chiffonade.  It was really there for color, although I have a theory that sage is pretty good with sweet potatoes.

It went over pretty well, most of the family tried it.  There were two complete abstentions, a few samplings but most ate the whole thing.  The toasted marshmallow gastrique was awesome.  I think this is restaurant quality, with a few caveats:  I made the sweet potato custard base really thick because I wanted a lot of sweet potato flavor.  SO there were a lot of mashed sweet potatos in the custard, which made it pretty heavy.  I think if the custard base was played with a bit more there would be even more loft to the soufflés.  The plus side to this is that they didn't tend to collapse too much.

Unfortunately the color of the designs on the plates we used was roughly the color of the gastrique, so it doesn't show up very well...

Here's the basic recipe for anyone who wants to attempt making these for themselves, if you love sweet potatos I think you'd really like it.

Sweet Potato Souffle
yield 2 soufflés (425F oven)
1 egg yolk
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup mashed sweet potatos
2 egg whites.

For the mashed sweets lightly oil whole skin on sweet potatos and baked them for an hour in a 350F oven, allow them to cool then squeeze the cooked "meat" out.  About an hour before service make a custard out of all ingredients except the egg whites; a double boiler is recommended so as not to curdle the custard reserve the egg whites.  Allow the custard to cool.  Right before putting the soufflés into the oven whip the egg whites to stiff peaks, but still slightly moist and fold in the custard.  Have 2 oven proof ramekins lightly buttered then coated with sugar, divide the "batter" between the two and immediately place in a 425F oven for 15-20 minutes.  When they are done serve immediately, because the soufflé will collapse within a few minutes.  It will still be edible, but it much better when it is puffed up.  Jorches need to be aware that it is really hot and can burn that dangly thing in the back of your throat.

Marshmallow Gastrique
2-4 toasted marshmallow
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
dash of Quatre Epices (white pepper, nutmeg, cloves and dried ginger all ground up)

Toast the marshmallows over the burner on the stove.  In a small pan heat up the apple cider vinegar and quarter-spice, melt the marshmallows in the vinegar one at a time until the sauce just coats the back of a spoon.  Can be served warm or cold, easier to serve warm.

Candied Pecans
Butter
Sugar
Dash cayenne pepper
Whole pecans

Melt the butter, sugar and cayenne pepper until the sugar dissolves.  Toss pecans and evenly coat, bake in a 350F oven until toasted.

----------------

I am wild ass guessing on the Gastrique & Pecan recipes as my sister made both of those.  I watched her make the gastrique, but she doesn't measure things so that one is an approximation, the Candied Pecans?  NO clue, she made those ahead of time.  But she was instructed to put just a little cayenne pepper on them.  Not to make them "spicy" but to just give them a mild almost un-noticeable "bite."  I could only taste the cayenne when I ate the pecans by themselves (which was really easy, they were delicious).  Grate Job, Baby sister!

I actually made all of the soufflés at once, so if you multiply everything by 6 in the soufflé recipe you'd get a dozen.  They were really good, got a family 75% approval rating.  Most people would not normally eat sweet potatos.  I think my mother and I were the only ones who do eat them, so I'd say a crowd pleaser but a bit of a hassle to make...

Happy Thanksgurving evrahbody!

-p

ediot: You don't have to, but my sister actually went to the trouble of actually making marshmallows from scratch.  They were very square:




A credit to your race and a man of both ambition and intellect, willing to try new things. And help solve the schisms in our country. Bravo! NPR, JNTimes,etc all hand-wringing about politics over holidays. Instead. You solve by baking!Having a second Thanksgiving today (we switch off etc with inlaws n what-not.) My contribution is basic. Green bean casserol. But I watch it like a hawk or like when I bbq. Excuse to drink. And in keeping with Midwest Scandahoovian forebearers...what can be better than something made with condensed soup?

WOTR

I have been waiting to hear that K_Dubb served perfect Yorkshire puddings, and beef Wellington for dinner this year...

K_Dubb

Quote from: WOTR on December 01, 2019, 08:24:42 PM
I have been waiting to hear that K_Dubb served perfect Yorkshire puddings, and beef Wellington for dinner this year...

Oh no I come from a big family and am still far down on the rungs.  I was upgraded from sweet potatoes to pie this year, though, and I did pretty good -- crust was crispy, not soggy, even underneath, though I baked them a few minutes too long and the fillings had a few cracks.

WOTR

Quote from: K_Dubb on December 01, 2019, 08:36:04 PM
Oh no I come from a big family and am still far down on the rungs.  I was upgraded from sweet potatoes to pie this year, though, and I did pretty good -- crust was crispy, not soggy, even underneath, though I baked them a few minutes too long and the fillings had a few cracks.

It sounds to me that you missed a golden opportunity to "wow them" with you culinary skills and leap-frog a few rungs ahead this year. Serving perfect, individual pies to your family members might have won them over...



*For reference- it is a butter tart.  ;)

K_Dubb

Quote from: WOTR on December 01, 2019, 09:09:50 PM
It sounds to me that you missed a golden opportunity to "wow them" with you culinary skills and leap-frog a few rungs ahead this year. Serving perfect, individual pies to your family members might have won them over...



*For reference- it is a butter tart.  ;)

Hahaha yes butter tart!  But commit an innovation?  I would have had a revolt -- let no new thing arise!  I inherited the pies from my mom and was already skating on thin ice roasting and mashing (and reducing -- otherwise it's too watery) my own pumpkins instead of using Libbys canned and using fresh heavy cream instead of nasty evaporated milk.  I think that old recipe is a conspiracy between canned-goods manufacturers perpetuated since it's about the only reason for evaporated milk to exist these days.  I was on tenterhooks all during dinner and held my breath when dessert was served but nobody said a word.  Which is the best outcome I could have hoped for.

pate

Quote from: K_Dubb on December 01, 2019, 08:36:04 PM
Oh no I come from a big family and am still far down on the rungs.  I was upgraded from sweet potatoes to pie this year, though, and I did pretty good -- crust was crispy, not soggy, even underneath, though I baked them a few minutes too long and the fillings had a few cracks.

I saw ny sussTarr attempt a Betty Croker crust pie..,.

Lardy?

-p

K_Dubb

Quote from: pate on December 01, 2019, 09:47:30 PM
I saw ny sussTarr attempt a Betty Croker crust pie..,.

Lardy?

-p

No, pate sucree with butter, yolks and cream, not pre-baked.  I think the sugar helps it brown on the bottom quicker and hold up to the custard.


VC

What's your favorite Christmas and/or New Year's baking recipe that you love most to eat if possible?

Link to download K_Dubb's Nordic Baking Podcast with Artisan Music is here:

[attachment=1,msg1370188]

OP is here:

Quote from: VC on December 24, 2019, 12:05:32 PM
A perfect complimentary rise to Roswells, Art and K_Dubb's baking thread. Well worth its pan-spermia even if you don't shake and bake or eat it. This is an amazing production about historic Nordic and Northern European baking and mythos with recordings of K_Dubb's handmade artisan music too! Download and save it here:

[attachment=1,msg1370188]

Inspirational to bake some historic and traditional breads and whatever else K_Dubb is up to in his shape shifting impish hard-on baking thread. :D

pate

So tonight I come home from the bar wanting some sort of sweet pastry or something to eat, and the kitchen is bare.  No worries, I have been wanting to make those Peanut Butter cookies with the Hershey's kiss chocolate smashed on top for a few weeks, and thought I had all ingredients needed on-hand.  Apparently, I have allowed Lard stocks to run too low (note to self), and I am well short of the amount of Lard required to "whip" up 1 cup of my custom shortening blend.

My thoughts turned to a Christmas favorite that my mother makes every year, known as "Danish Bar Cookies."  I have made these before, as a child, and they are incredibly simple:  basic shortbread of flour, butter, & sugar.  Rolled out into long strips, which one makes a trough in the center of and fills with raspberry jelly.  Bake that then when it comes out of the oven it is topped with a basic glaze of milk(water?), confectioner's sugar & almond extract.  Then you cut the long strips into 1" wide bars;  each one with a little square of the raspberry in the middle.  Really tasty, and simple as hell.

I have the ingredients to make that, only don't seem to have the recipe.  So I figured I'd look online, searching for "Raspberry Danish Bar Cookies."  The closest I can find seems to be some thing called Hindbærsnitter.  Looks awesome, but calls for eggs in the dough which I do not recall in the recipe my family uses.

Anyhow, this Hindbærsnitter dough looks promising, although I think I will replace the 3 cups AP flour(3g protein/30g flour) with my custom "Pastry Flour"(2.5g protein/30g flour) to make it a bit lighter.  Forget completely the fresh raspberry filling with whatever it calls for, and replace it with a smear of either Meyer Lemon Marmalade or Kumquat Marmalade(depending on what is in the fridge), and whip up a basic glaze of confectioner's sugar, water and perhaps heavy cream (no milk at the moment) and kludge the whole mess together in the style of my family's "Danish Bar Cookie" recipe.

It will surely be edible, and maybe I will take a picture of the mess.

As I grow older, I realize that what my mother makes and we call "Danish Bar Cookies" aren't probably all that close to whatever originally inspired the recipe, and if my current theory of this Hindbærsnitter being the root of it all, it would make sense;  that shit is way too complicated to make and my family's simplified recipe is a lot easier;  you just eat the damn things, the flavors are all there they just aren't as "pretty."

It's either that or pass out, as my research for the recipe I was looking for and writing this post have taken up valuable sleep thyme.  Maybe just a cup of my home-made cocoa mix and bed.  I might make this tomorrow, or next week.

I figured young K-Dubya might get a kick out of the whole idea;  I assume that the inablility for Google to find what I was looking for means that it is some Cajun/Louisanna/family bastardization of an actual thing.

Yeah, I think I am going to bed instead.

Cheers!

-p

K_Dubb

Quote from: pate on February 12, 2020, 11:52:32 PM
I figured young K-Dubya might get a kick out of the whole idea;  I assume that the inablility for Google to find what I was looking for means that it is some Cajun/Louisanna/family bastardization of an actual thing.

Sure, every country in Europe must have its variation on shortbread with jam -- the Linzer (probably the most famous), the Polish tart-shaped thing with different-colored jams painstakingly put in each square whose name escapes me, the Jewish hamantaschen, our own thumbprint cookies -- but the inclusion of almond extract in the icing as opposed to baked in the dough (where the flavor will be far more diffuse) argues in favor of an origin in that corner of the continent.  I've only encountered that in Holland on their ubiquitous almond tarts, though my travels aren't as extensive as would be necessary to speak definitively on the topic.

I have borrowed this trick for icing my almond kringle and everyone always marvels at how potent it is.

In form your cookie resembles a Norwegian bringebærstang (raspberry stick -- hindbær or deer-berry is more Danish but you will still see it) though of course that is a species of wienerbrød made with laminated yeast dough like a croissant, and we freely acknowledge its Danish (and ultimately Viennese as you might guess by the name) origin.

I appreciated your Danish recipe's use of "snitter" since in Norwegian this is commonly altered to "snipper" due to unfamiliarity with what, according to my mom, is a technical sewing term she illustrates by putting her fingers together at an acute angle -- I suppose it is something like a dart.  I suspect the hindbærsnitter were originally cut into diamond shapes, like our sirupsnitter.  We might call them "points" in English like our toast points, but people don't make those any more either.

pate



Tonight I thought about this recipe, but I apparently in a drunken bout destroyed my kitchen scale (wanted hot chocolate from my pre-mix powder and poured on the reading side apparently, story at 11 {midnight CST}, Nautiical shore)...

I have a bit of lardy, but to waste such a byte ion s hesitant test with no documentations & suck...  As a good and faithrul X-massian, this being Lent;  I have no intention of giving op lard for the lawd.  I think that recipe for the "shortbread" dough could be improved by scaling down the amounts of butter (low smoke point) for a more beaker fiendly lard/butter ratio.  Home-bakers prooly no undersintanique...

Allaews;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVakHZp5ZBE

(Always sleep though it all...)

-p




pate

Was looking for the "I am watchin/just watched" thread and saw that my sweet cookie's thread has fallen far.

I still have not made those Peanut Butter Cookies yet, although my recipe is out on the counter and waiting for me to attend.  I feel its pain, but wait a moment longer it must.

I will skip the Hershey's kisses now that the appropriate season has passed;  although I may add milk chocalate chips to the dough, maybe.

I drank the last of the milk the other day, a rare occurance as I usually end up making ricotta cheese with the last half-gallon if it is showing signs of going sour.  My appetite for milk has mysteriously returned of late?

So my sweet Peanut Butter Cookie recipe will wait patiently until I have time to resupply the milk.  I suppose I could use powdered milk, but that has an "off" flavor that would not allow perfect enjoyment of my sweet Peanut Butter Cookies!

We shall wait.



-p

K_Dubb

Quote from: pate on August 09, 2020, 03:12:49 AM
I suppose I could use powdered milk, but that has an "off" flavor that would not allow perfect enjoyment of my sweet Peanut Butter Cookies!

Not that it should affect your execution of this recipe at all but I note that some Asian bakers seem to have cultivated a taste for powdered milk used on its own merits.  It is the main ingredient in the unfortunately named burfi, an Indian fudge usually scented with cardamom, and along with coconut gives Hong Kong-style cocktail buns their dense, rich filling.

pate

Quote from: K_Dubb on August 09, 2020, 11:07:43 AM
Not that it should affect your execution of this recipe at all but I note that some Asian bakers seem to have cultivated a taste for powdered milk used on its own merits.  It is the main ingredient in the unfortunately named burfi, an Indian fudge usually scented with cardamom, and along with coconut gives Hong Kong-style cocktail buns their dense, rich filling.

Oh, I use powdered milk mainly in the baking/cooking arena, that is the primary reason for having it onhand;  it doesn't really spoil.  My sweet Peanut Butter Cookies' only dairy product is the butter used for shortening.

I brought it up in this situation due to my lack of "fresh milk" to enjoy with my sweet Peanut Butter cookies.  I could mix up a batch of powdered milk specifically for drinking.  I have done this before, but it has a taste that I do not like.  It can be improved when mixed for this purpose, very slightly mind you, but a small improvement in flavor can make a big difference when drinking powdered milk.  I have after mixing up the mess added a small amount of heavy whipping cream to it.  You have to use a handheld-blender or similar device to attempt to homogenize the cream into it, and it is not like the commercial homogenization process (which I am familiar with, but not really equipped to do, and do not wish to describe at this time) in that it doesn't stay mixed up for too long and separates out again fairly quickly.

My other "dirty trick" with powdered milk for drinking is to add in chocolate milk powder, chocolate syrup, and perhaps a small amount of heavy whipping cream and "whiz" the vile concotion up.  This is actually not too bad.  The addition of fats AND the whipping in of air to this mix decreases the holding time before consumption a little, as this will promote the fat in the cream to oxidize or go "rancid."  Whatever you do, make sure the the finished mix is placed into the very back of the fridge and allowed to get as close to ice cold as possible.  Room temperature powdered milk is awful, I do not know why the temperature of the liquid should have a profound affect on the flavor, but it does.  Perhaps the taste-buds are numbed to the point of insensitivity by the cold temperature?  I am not sure, and really am not interested in carrying out ongoing flavor trials at varying temperatures to find the reason.  Yuck!

This may be something that you might look into when you take over after the first 100 days?  I am sure you could use the people in the "Fat Kamps" as a captive test-market for flavor trials on different powdered milk formulations at different temperature levels.  In the package directed formulation it is a high-protein, low fat and nutritious beverage at any temperature!  You could film some scenes of the test-subjects in the flavor-trails for grainy, black and white Public Service Announcements that could edify the Wondering Public on what goes on in these little Kamps of yours.

That is just a thought, and in no way an order, by the bye!

pate/K_Dubb 2020
"We are going to fix this shit"

albrecht

Quote from: pate on August 09, 2020, 11:44:33 AM
Oh, I use powdered milk mainly in the baking/cooking arena, that is the primary reason for having it onhand;  it doesn't really spoil.  My sweet Peanut Butter Cookies' only dairy product is the butter used for shortening.

I brought it up in this situation due to my lack of "fresh milk" to enjoy with my sweet Peanut Butter cookies.  I could mix up a batch of powdered milk specifically for drinking.  I have done this before, but it has a taste that I do not like.  It can be improved when mixed for this purpose, very slightly mind you, but a small improvement in flavor can make a big difference when drinking powdered milk.  I have after mixing up the mess added a small amount of heavy whipping cream to it.  You have to use a handheld-blender or similar device to attempt to homogenize the cream into it, and it is not like the commercial homogenization process (which I am familiar with, but not really equipped to do, and do not wish to describe at this time) in that it doesn't stay mixed up for too long and separates out again fairly quickly.

My other "dirty trick" with powdered milk for drinking is to add in chocolate milk powder, chocolate syrup, and perhaps a small amount of heavy whipping cream and "whiz" the vile concotion up.  This is actually not too bad.  The addition of fats AND the whipping in of air to this mix decreases the holding time before consumption a little, as this will promote the fat in the cream to oxidize or go "rancid."  Whatever you do, make sure the the finished mix is placed into the very back of the fridge and allowed to get as close to ice cold as possible.  Room temperature powdered milk is awful, I do not know why the temperature of the liquid should have a profound affect on the flavor, but it does.  Perhaps the taste-buds are numbed to the point of insensitivity by the cold temperature?  I am not sure, and really am not interested in carrying out ongoing flavor trials at varying temperatures to find the reason.  Yuck!

This may be something that you might look into when you take over after the first 100 days?  I am sure you could use the people in the "Fat Kamps" as a captive test-market for flavor trials on different powdered milk formulations at different temperature levels.  In the package directed formulation it is a high-protein, low fat and nutritious beverage at any temperature!  You could film some scenes of the test-subjects in the flavor-trails for grainy, black and white Public Service Announcements that could edify the Wondering Public on what goes on in these little Kamps of yours.

That is just a thought, and in no way an order, by the bye!

pate/K_Dubb 2020
"We are going to fix this shit"

"Fat Kamp" meals will only be of an "add water" variety. Powdered Eggs, powdered mashed potatoes, Tang, powdered milk, and instant coffee (Tang and coffee only for those who have lost a yet unspecified number of points off of their MBI and have already pledged a "no fatties" loyalty oath.) Powered Gatorade for those dehydrated because they refused the loyalty oath and so are breaking rocks and digging/filling-in holes in the hot sun.

pate

Quote from: albrecht on August 09, 2020, 12:21:58 PM
"Fat Kamp" meals will only be of an "add water" variety. Powdered Eggs, powdered mashed potatoes, Tang, powdered milk, and instant coffee (Tang and coffee only for those who have lost a yet unspecified number of points off of their MBI and have already pledged a "no fatties" loyalty oath.) Powered Gatorade for those dehydrated because they refused the loyalty oath and so are breaking rocks and digging/filling-in holes in the hot sun.

I find nothing wrong with those suggestions, al.  These little Kamps are entirely under K_Dubb's aegis and I believe ShayP's as well.  I urge them both to take your wise suggestions to heart.  There is nothing inherently wrong with Powdered Shit Fixins', so long as the base is nutritious, high in protein and shelf-stable for at least ten years.

pate/K_Dubb 2020
"We are going to fix this shit"

pate

Last night I managed to mix up a batch of these Peanut Butter Cookies I have been talking about for months now.  Apparently, there is no lard at all in the recipe, butter is the shortening and I have had no excuse to not make the damn things other than having placed the actual recipe I use under some unfolded socks on the dining room table and pure laziness.

Speaking of Laziness, I did not bake them, I just put the lid on the mixing bowl and stuck them in the back of the refrigerator with the intent of dealing with them today, which I still have not done.  Here is the recipe I use:


    Peanut Butter Cookies
    375 degree oven
    1/2 Cup Butter (113g)
    1/2 Cup Sugar (99g)
    1/2 Cup packed Brown Sugar (99g)
    1/2 Cup Peanut Butter (128g)
    1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract (2g)
    1 1/4 Cup AP Flour (178g)
    1/2 tsp Baking Soda (2.4g)
    1/2 tsp Baking Powder (2.4g)
    1 egg (50g)

Bake 10-12 minutes ungreased sheet pan.  Form 1" balls (14g), and flatten with a fork (I like to stick the fork in some sugar between each flattening maneuvre, of which each 14g ball receives two creating a sort of #hashtag).  Nominal yield is 4 dozens with this recipe.

I added some amount of Milk Chocolate Chips to this particular batch, and will probably bake off 1 dozen and freeze the rest, as I spent most of the day yesterday defrosting my big freezer while I drank beer at the bar and hit on the bartender and waitress while waiting for the ice to melt.  It is back up and ready for restocking.  I have fixed up all the old shit into Jambalaya and Gumbo, although there are still about 15lbs of beef bones that need to be made into stock...

I may report on the addition of Milk Chocolate Chips to the dough, but this one is a pretty simple and straightforward Suzy Homemaker recipe so I probably will not.  It is about impossible to fuck this one up.

Cheers!

-p

pate

Quote from: Roswells, Art on May 31, 2019, 01:19:41 AM
Boy, did you ask the right person. I used to make them almost every day in Key West. I used a graham cracker crust and a meringue top.

Roz, when the old lady that kidnapped me as a teenager and I lived there August(ish?) 1992-Inaugation Day January 20th 1993 (when I had to leave the deceitful woman) I first worked as a teenage dishwasher at the TGI Fridays (terrible place) but after a month or so found a wonderful dishwashing home at the renown Hotel Marquesa!

They made some of the most awesome layered cakes and desserts, when one fell over and couldn't be served the chefs would bring it back for me to enjoy.

That place was fun, a table in the dining room was only sat once during Lunch/Dinner service.  The silverware was actual silver, their dishwasher was a smoking hot young sex-machine favored by the ladies of Duval Street and his smoking hot mid-twenties girlfriendkidnapper.  I also did some minor prep work because there really weren't that many dishes to do, stemming spinach, de-veining shrimp and other things.

I think that is what inspired me to go to chef's school, although I have had a life-long love affair with making complicated food and baking.  When I bought my house at the tender age of 24 I quickly realized that a chef's apprentice wage was not going to pay the mortage so I had to quit.  At an early age I impressed my mother with my biscuit making skills:  she sucked at making them, and we never had biscuits because of this but my love of the biscuits drove me to "find a way."  Hey, why do they call cookies "biscuits" in Angleterre?  I digress.  I intend finish the formal chef's school once I have this house paid off, all I need is to find a good chef that will not abuse me to apprentice under.

We lived in Old Town near the Naval Station, and I think that bouy thing that says "90 miles from Cuba"?

I miss Key West, it was fun, but a little gay in the early nineties.  When were you there?



-p

pate

Quote from: pate on August 17, 2020, 09:06:30 PM
...I may report on the addition of Milk Chocolate Chips to the dough, but this one is a pretty simple and straightforward Suzy Homemaker recipe so I probably will not.  It is about impossible to fuck this one up...

Well, guess what?  I burnt 'em!  Hah!  They were still good though, I am going to blame the addition of the chocolate chips, and perhaps going for the full 12 minutes instead of the sober and cautious 10 minutes.

Please ignore the filth of my office desk around the plate of slightly burnt cookies, oh the shameful infamy of my Prideful words.  I should never have taunted the goddess "Suzy Homemaker," for she is cruel and swift in her punishments.

Behold:

[attachment=1]

-p

K_Dubb

Quote from: pate on August 17, 2020, 09:58:26 PM
Hey, why do they call cookies "biscuits" in Angleterre?  I digress.

I have dealt with this question at some length on my podcast, and will summarize it here:

Because of deep-seated feelings of inadequacy that probably go back to the Norman conquest, or even the Roman invasion, the English like to import foreign words because they are foreign, and you can tell this because their usage often reflects the uncomprehending drool of a self-conscious suck-up rather than the knowing distinctions of a connoisseur.

It is the case with "biscuit", which means "twice-baked" -- the "bi-" is the key.  Biscotti are a classic biscuit:  shape into a loaf, bake, slice, then bake again to essentially toast, both for preservation (where moisture is the enemy) and toothsome delight, since as with toast, browning gives flavor and imparts a delicious crunchiness.  Romance languages that originated the word largely preserve this distinction but in British English all manner of sweet baked things are subsumed under this exotic word.

You may object that our word "cookie", a diminutive of "cake" via Dutch, is equally flawed since they are not small cakes, but the original sense of "cake" (which is native to English) just meant a cooked thing, and tiny cookies are still called cakes ("kaka") in Norwegian, which is of course related to Old English.  So "a small cooked thing" is accurate.

So once again the English go a-whoring after the exotic foreign import and look like fools.

pate

Quote from: K_Dubb on August 18, 2020, 10:13:16 AM
I have dealt with this question at some length on my podcast...

You have a podcast?  I had no idea, where can I find it?

-p

AZZERAE

A li'l birdy told me there'll be a second edition hitting our shores very soon.

K_Dubb

Quote from: pate on August 18, 2020, 11:23:45 AM
You have a podcast?  I had no idea, where can I find it?

-p

I posted it on Azzgab since it is in many ways a tribute to Azz's high production values, but I think there is still a thread for it here VC made under podcasts.  It is a Christmas edition for seasonal listening.  I'd suggest you save your review for the new episode which should come out sometime in the next 3-6 months.

AZZERAE

Quote from: K_Dubb on August 18, 2020, 12:29:18 PM
I posted it on Azzgab since it is in many ways a tribute to Azz's high production values, but I think there is still a thread for it here VC made under podcasts. It is a Christmas edition for seasonal listening.

Awww, you're far too kind. I just like noodling with sound files.

For Pate, and anyone else who's keen to hear 'Panspermia, the podcast Episode 1':

*CLICK HERE*

K_Dubb

Belgian Waffles (also plums!)



What passes for a Belgian waffle in this country is a patent fraud.  Belgian waffles are a rich yeast dough (really more of a paste) with cookie-like ratios of butter, sugar, and eggs to flour, into which lumps of sugar are worked just before they hit the iron.  As the sugar melts in the heat, it suffuses through the dough remaining sufficiently separated to collect on the grilling surface, coating the waffle in a crunchy burnt-sugar glaze.  They are good enough to eat out of hand, best still barely warm.  The entire point of a waffle iron is to maximize the surface area exposed to the heat, not to make extra big holes for the syrup or whatever dreck you have to put on the tasteless thing just to choke it down.

Here is a giant closeup in the sunshine which I have enhanced to show the brittle and not sticky (despite the shine) glaze -- zoom in to view the lusciousness!:



If you have a Belgian waffle iron, it's worth it to try just once to see what it is actually for.  Pearl sugar is the usual key ingredient but you can crush sugar cubes, the older and harder the better, with a hammer or a marble rolling pin and sift for the larger chunks.  You are looking for sugar bits between the sizes of a shelled and unshelled sunflower seed.  Recipes which reference Gaufres de Liège are the ones you want.




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