Variations on a Theme

So, I went into the kitchen planning to make my 'fucking good' (as once reviewed) sugar cookies so that I could ice them and do various things with them for christmas (i.e. put them in stockings, give them to friends, serve them at parties). But, when I pulled up the recipe, it turned out I was missing a couple of minor ingredients. So, I decided to improv and change the recipe a bit. What follows is the original recipe and the new one:

Michelle's 'Fucking Good' Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup margarine or butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of cream of tartar
granulated sugar
cinnamon

Mix powdered sugar, margarine, egg, vanilla and almond extract. Mix in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Heat oevn to 375 degrees. Divide dough into halves. Roll each half 3/16 inch thick on lightly floured cloth-covered board. Cut into shapes.

Sprinkle with granulated sugar; place on lightly greased sheet. Bake until edges are light brown, 7 to 8 minutes.

(If using self-rising flour omit baking soda and cream of tartar)

So that recipe was a minor variation on a Betty Crocker recipe from the red 1959 cookbook. Here's what I did tonight.


Michelle's Holiday Cookies

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup shortening (butter flavored)
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of honey
2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

Mix flour, sugar, shortening, vanilla, egg and honey in large bowl until mixture is consistent (it will look like a bunch of pea-sized balls). Add Baking Soda, Cinnamon and Nutmeg and mix. Mold dough into a ball, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably no more than 24. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Separate dough into manageable chunks, roll out (3/16" thick) and cut shapes. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Baking time will vary depending on the thickness and size of your cookies. Ice with whatever frosting you choose.

So it's in the fridge tonight and I plan to bake them tomorrow afternoon. I'll let you know how they turn out!

Balls Out Thanksgiving

Here is a list of the Thanksgiving Fare sorted by who made it. Hopefully we'll get some actual recipes up later.

Keir:
- Squash Rolls
- Buttermilk Scones (with help from Chinzi)
- Stuffing
- Tofurkey Bake
- Tea Ring

Michelle:
- Pumpkin Pie
- Spinach Balls
- Mashed Potatoes (with help from Keir)
- Gravy

Jaime:
- THE TURKEY!!!
- Sugar Drop Cookies

(We also had some prepackaged stuff including vegetarian stuffing, corn and cranberry sauce as well as two excellent tasting but low priced wines. More on that later. If I have forgotten anything I hope my accomplices will feel free to edit my post.)

Peace!

Twist off of the basic

Alright, so making shakes and smoothies aren't something too difficult to do. You take some stuff, throw it in a blender, and make it go liquid (or near liquid). I call it Blender Alchemy because I have no idea about the exact proportions of what I use. Make sure you note what you did and what you would change, because blender alchemy is kind of finicky.

So a typical standard is the Strawberry Banana.
Ingredients: Strawberries, 2 Bananas, Milk, Ice
Directions: Put ingredients into blender. Blend.

So our variation today wasn't anything extreme, but it was interesting.
Ingredients: Strawberries, 2 Bananas, A little ice, Some Honey, Some Cinnamon, A little milk, A third container of Vanilla Chai Tea with Soy protein, A can of mango nectar
Directions: Put ingredients into blender. Blend.
Notes:
1. Can of mango nectar: 50 cents, found in the foreign foods section of Meijer by the Jarritos
- gave it a really nice tangy feel. A lot better than orange juice in my opinion. Tang without the citrus bite.
2. The vanilla chai tea: It was some organic concoction that came in a tiny bottle. It was very amazing by itself. Had a smooth, warm, and spicy taste to it.
- makes a great substitute for milk
- didn't thicken it up like vanilla yogurt does
3. I added the tea and the milk at the same time without a taste in between. Be careful that it doesn't overpower the mango. I could still taste the mango nectar, but it was very subtle, instead of a major force. I think the milk can be done without, personally, and the tea can be lessened.
4. Scratch the cinnamon out. The chai is spicy enough to warm up the shake's taste. Add only after a taste. Use sparingly.
5. You really don't need it, but honey is a great sweetener that isn't too overpowering.

Flour Weight/Volume Conversion

Weight of flour PER CUP:

4 3/8 ounces or 125 grams all-purpose flour (USDA)
4 5/8 ounces or 130 grams all-purpose flour (Gold Medal)

4 1/4 ounces or 120 grams whole wheat flour (USDA)
4 1/2 ounces or 128 grams whole wheat flour (Gold Medal)

4 1/2 ounces or 127 grams bread flour (USDA)
4 3/4 ounces or 135 grams bread flour (Gold Medal)

3 5/8 ounces or 102 grams rye flour (USDA)

[Source]

Basic Bread

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces* flour (bread or all-purpose), plus extra for shaping
• 1 teaspoon rapid rise yeast
• 2 teaspoons honey (or sugar)
• 10 ounces bottled or filtered** water
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  

Functional:

• 2 quarts hot water
• Vegetable oil, for greasing the rising container

*Volume is a fairly inaccurate method of measuring flour. Food scales are cheap, but hard to find in some areas. We have a chart of flour weights if you need the conversions.

**Tap water tends to contain chemicals (such as fluoride) that work against things like yeast. Bottled or filtered water, therefore, works best. However, tap water will work in a pinch.


Steps:

1. Combine 5 ounces of the flour, 1/4 teaspoon of the yeast, all of the honey, and all of the bottled water in a straight-sided container; cover loosely and refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours (overnight is best).

   Why do we do this? Well, yeast does two things for bread: it leavens the bread and it adds flavor/texture to the bread. The problem is that to properly leaven the bread, yeast needs to reproduce quickly (to produce the gasses inside the bread), and to provide the proper flavor/texture it needs to reproduce slowly. The way around this is to make the pre-ferment or "sponge." By putting the yeasty mixture into the refrigerator, you slow down the fermentation process. This lets the dough absorb some of the gasses let off by the yeast (yielding a softer dough later on) and gives the bread an aged flavor. (You may think that "aged" doesn't sound good for bread, but it is.) And lastly, the extra time and hydration helps to form the gluten strands that are so very important for bread dough.

2. Place the remaining 11 ounces of flour, remaining yeast, and all the salt into a large bowl, and add the pre-ferment from the refrigerator. Using a wooden spoon, mix just until it comes together. Cover the dough in the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 10-20 minutes. After 10-20 minutes, hand-knead the dough until you are able to gently pull the dough into a thin sheet that light will pass through. The dough will be sticky, but not so sticky that you can't handle it.
3. Pour one quart of the hot water into a shallow pan and place on the bottom rack of your oven. A glass baking dish works well.
4. Grease the inside of a large straight-sided container with the vegetable oil. Place the dough ball into the container and set on the rack above the pan of water. Allow to rise until doubled in size, approximately 1 to 2 hours.

   The hot water does two things: It warms the dough to let it rise faster and it keeps the air inside the oven moist, keeping the dough from forming a dry skin on top.

5. Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it onto a counter top, lightly dust your hands with flour, and press the dough out with your knuckles; then fold 1 side in towards the middle of the mass and then the other, as if you were making a tri-fold wallet. Repeat the folding a second time. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for another 10 minutes.
6. Flatten the dough again with your knuckles and then fold the dough in onto itself, like you are shaping something that looks like a jellyfish. Turn the dough over and squeeze the bottom together so that the top surface of the dough is smooth.
7. Place the dough back onto the counter and begin to roll gently between your hands. Do not grab the dough but allow it to move gently back and forth between your hands, moving in a circular motion. The point of this is to tighten up the skin of the doughball as much as possible.
8. Move the dough ball to a pizza peel or a cookie sheet. Cover with the kitchen towel and allow to bench proof for 1 hour, or until you poke the dough and it quickly fills back in where you poked it.

   If you experience trouble removing the dough from a cookie sheet, a sprinkling of cornmeal on the sheet should do the trick.

9. Place an unglazed terra cotta dish upside down into the oven and heat the oven to 400°F. Be sure to put the dish into the cold oven. Terra cotta needs to heat and cool slowly and evenly or else it will crack. To ensure a properly pre-heated oven, turn it on while you let the dough bench proof for the final hour.

   The point of the dish is that terra cotta is made of earth. While metal conducts heat, earth will absorb and radiate heat. The physics behind the amount, rate, and direction of the heat need not be fully understood to appreciate that it helps your bread come out right. Also, don't worry if you don't own a terra cotta dish; almost any ceramic dish-pie, casserole, quiche, etc.--will work just fine.
   

10. Gently slash the top surface of the dough ball in several places, approximately 1/3 to 1/2-inch deep.

    The slashes let the bread rise one last time in a situation where it can't expand in all directions, and the water provides steam that will prevent the crust from forming too quickly. Be creative. Making bread is an art. Try Roman or traditional Chinese/Japanese numerals. If you're making eight loaves, slash them to look like Lucky Charms.
    

11. Add more of the hot water to the shallow pan if it has evaporated. Slide the bread onto the terra cotta dish in the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes (This can vary in practice depending on how hot and what size your oven is. Most are fine at about 50 minutes. Ideally, you should remove the bread once it has has reached an internal temperature of 205-210°F. If you have baking/cooking thermometer that measures that high and is safe to use in the oven, use it. If you're not sure, go by time.) Remove to a cooling rack and allow to sit for 30 minutes before slicing.

    The idea behind the water is that while it bakes it will expand and the crust will form. If the crust forms a shell, it will make the bread too dense.

[Adapted from a wikiHow article]

Oh Herro

Here shall be where we reside.
For now.