mrs617 | Entries tagged with cooking

Whoo-hoo! Hilary said that she can help me make cookies! First we put in the eggs. Hilary tells me to give it two bangs on the bowl, then put my thumbs in and pry it open, she even shows me with one. I think it would work better if I banged it five or six times. Oops! It opened and fell into the bowl!

( A picture's worth a thousand words, right? )

( Before inverting the pie )

( After inverting the pie )

P.S. As to the question about the continuous apple peel, this is what I googled:

Peeling apples for a prediction has been popular for ages. This method was used if someone had a very important question. The apple was peeled very carefully so that the questioner ended up with a long unbroken peel. The question was asked and the peel was thrown over the shoulder. The answer was "No" if it fell in the shape of an "U" or an "O" and it was "Yes" if it was anything else.

Another very popular form of a peeling prediction was one that allowed a girl to find out who her future husband would be. The apple was peeled, again in one long continuous piece, and thrown over her left shoulder. If the peel remained unbroken, it would fall in the shape of the initial of her future spouse. If the peel broke, she would remain unmarried.

Now if I had only known about throwing it over my shoulder...

Homemade french fries for dinner tonight, and I made way too many...anyone want to come over?

Edit: And I forgot to mention the hamburgers and root beer floats.

I like brothers. They eat the rest of my hamburger and drink the rest of my root beer float because I'm too full and I want just one more garlic french fry.

This is so yummy, it'll knock your socks off!

Topsy Turvy Apple Pie

Glaze and
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
1 Tablespoon corn syrup
1/4 cup pecan halves

Crust
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup oil
1/3 cup milk

In 9-inch pie pan, combine brown sugar, butter and corn syrup; spread evenly over bottom of pan. Arrange pecans over mixture in pan. Mix crust ingredients and divide in two. Roll half out between plastic shrink wrap, and place over mixture in pan. Preheat oven to 425 F.

Filling
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons flour
3/4 teaspoons cinnamon
8 cups peeled, thinly sliced apples

In small bowl, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon; mix well. Arrange half of apple slices in crust-lined pan; sprinkle with half of sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining apple slices and sugar mixture. Roll out remaining crust like bottom crust, place on pie; seal and flute. Cut slits in several places.

Bake at 425 F. for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 F. Bake an additional 45 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown (place pan on foil or cookie sheet during baking to catch any spills).

Loosen edge of pie; carefully invert onto serving plate. Serve warm [yum!] or cold with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

I need to make me a baking/cooking icon...

Pain de Campagne
Country-Style French Bread

Day 6
The loaf and baking

The dough is now ready to be shaped and given a final rising. The most foolproof way to determine if the loaf is sufficiently risen and ready to bake is to set aside, when you make up the loaf, a small piece of dough that is about the size of a walnut. Round it up tightly and put it in a Mason jar filled with room-temperature water. Make sure that the ball of dough does not stick to the side of the jar and that you have set the jar right next to the loaf so the temperature is the same. When this test piece of dough rises to the top of the water, the loaf is ready to bake.
Shape the dough into a rounded loaf [Holly's note: I've made it mostly in a French bread shape...this time 'round though, I made it in regular loaf pans...makes it easier to make toast. :)] by flattening it and then folding the edges over 4 or 5 times into the center, each time sealing it with the heel of the hand. Place the loaf in a banneton, a basket lined with a dish towel and dusted lightly with flour, and set it to rise in a warm place for between 8 and 10 hours. The times given for the rising periods for the dough and then the loaf may seem a bit vague but they are best left up to the baker's judgment because it is hard to predict the activity of any one person's refreshments. The overall proofing time should be around 16 hours. If you shape the dough after it has been allowed to rise for 6 hours, the loaf will probably need another 10 hours in the final proof. You may apportion the rising times evenly, taking 8 for each, or 10 hours for the dough and 6 for the loaf.
The final rising will take forever if the dough temperature is too low and the consistency too moist. If the dough is below 75 F, allow the loaf to rise in a very warm place, perhaps in the oven with only the pilot light on (remember to remove the loaf before preheating the oven.).
To bake the loaf, place a baking stone in your oven [Holly's note again: We don't have a baking stone, so don't let this step thwart your plans for making the bread] and preheat it to 450 F. When it is ready, gently empty the loaf onto a rimless cookie sheet that has been sprinkled with a little flour or cornmeal. With a sharp razor blade, slash the top of the loaf in a tick-tack-toe pattern. Slide the loaf onto the baking stone. If your oven bakes very hot, you may want to turn the heat down to 400 F or 425 F after the loaf has gone in.
Bake the bread for 1 hour or until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom. To give it a thicker crust, leave the loaf in the oven with the door open and the gas off for 5 minutes more.
Cool the loaf on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Pain de Campagne
Country-Style French Bread

Day 6
The dough

3 cups organic, unbleached white (or all-purpose) flour
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces; about the size of a large orange) levain from the previous step
1 1/4 cups very warm water
2 1/2 generous teaspoons salt

They have you do the whole fountain thing on the counter again, but as many times as I've made this bread, it always is too messy at this stage, so I cheat and use our Kitchen-Aid.

To mix the dough, make a fountain with the flour, add all of the levain, in little pieces, and the the water, a little at a time.
As the water is added, dissolve the levain in it and gradually pull in some of the flour to make a sticky paste. As the flour is added, the paste will become more and more elastic and should be stretched and pulled vigorously with the fingers of one hand. When all but about 1 cup of the flour has been incorporated, the dough will be moist and sticky. Clean your hands with the back of a knife blade or a plastic dough scraper and work those little bits into the dough.
Sprinkle the salt onto the wet dough and incorporate it by kneading it in, together with the remaining flour. Knead the dough for 5 more minutes until it is firm and springs back when touched.
Or:
Pour the warm water into the bowl with the levain, and dissolve it by working it with your fingers. Put flour in a mixing bowl, and add the dissolved levain, and begin mixing. After it has become a paste, sprinkle in the salt, and work in. Knead according to your mixer's instructions, or, knead by hand five minutes.

Let the dough rise, covered with a damp cloth, for between 8 and 10 hours. The dough will become noticeably inflated and will have risen to nearly double its original size.

Pain de Campagne
Country-Style French Bread

Day 5
The second refreshment

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup organic, unbleached white (or all-purpose) flour
1/2 cup (4 ounces; the size of a tangerine) levain from the previous step
1/2 cup water

The second refreshment is made in much the same way as the first. Use the entire levain, discarding any crust that has developed on top. Combine the 2 types of flour and hold back 1/4 cup for kneading the final dough on the table. The dough should be moist to the touch but firm enough not to stick to easily to the hands.
Let the levain rise, covered in the container, for between 10 and 12 hours. At this stage you will see the levain take on a new life. After about 4 or 5 hours, it will sit up nicely in the container. By the end of about 10 hours it will have almost doubled in bulk, and, eventually, it will stop springing back when touched with a finger. At this stage it is ready to be mixed into a bread dough.

Stay tuned for Day 5 part 2, Tuesday evening!

Pain de Campagne
Country-Style French Bread

Day 4
The first refreshment

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons chef from the previous step
1/3 cup warm water

For the first refreshment, remove the outer crust of the chef and use a piece of the moist dough that is the size of a large walnut (about 2 Tablespoons).
Pour the flour onto the workbench and make a fountain. Break up the chef into little pieces and place it in the middle of the fountain. Pour in the warm water; stir and work the chef with your fingers until it is completely dissolved. Then, with several fingers of one hand, start pulling in some of the flour to make a paste in the middle of the fountain. Gradually work in most of the flour. You will see that the dough becomes more and more active as it is worked. Use the dry hand with some of the remaining flour to clean off the mixing hand and incorporate every little bit into the dough, which is now called levain.
If the levain will not take all the flour, you can leave out a Tablespoon or two. If the levain is too moist and does not come together as dough, add a little flour, a teaspoon at a time.
We describe the final dough as "firm," but it should not be too dry. Rather it should be moist and feel sticky and should stand up in a little ball and spring back when touched.
Let the levain rise in the container, covered with a damp cloth, for between 18 and 24 hours. When ready the levain will have noticeably risen and fallen a little. It will still have a pleasing, alcoholic aroma. Inside it will be inflated with tiny bubbles.

Stay tuned for Day 5, Tuesday morning!

This afternoon I begin a six day loaf of bread. This bread, nicknamed, 'the nutty bread' by the kids, has no yeast (or any normal form of levening), and yet rises and makes a lovely bread. The method used for this bread is several hundred years old and from France.

Pain de Campagne
Country-Style French Bread

Day 1
The Chef
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
Scant 1/4 cup warm water
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon milk

Place the flour in a mound on the worktable and make a fountain or well in the middle. Into the fountain pour about two-thirds of the warm water and add the cumin and the milk. With 1 finger, start mixing the liquid with a little of the flour from the outer ring. Pull in more and more of the flour to make first a paste and eventually a firm dough. If the mixture is too dry, use some of the remaining water, adding it gradually until you have a pliable dough. The chef should be the same consistency as a bread dough, firm but somewhat sticky, and should spring back a little when touched.
After kneading the dough on your work surface for between 5 and 8 minutes, place the ball of dough in a ceramic or plastic container, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rise in a warm place, out of the way of drafts, for 2 or 3 days. A heavy crust will form on top of the chef, but inside it will be inflated and moist. The consistency will be spongy. The aroma of cumin will still be evident and the dough will smell slightly sour but fragrant and appealing.

Stay tuned for Day 4, Monday afternoon!