You might have noticed that in my posts so far, I have emphasized the importance of scaling the heavier ingredients. Especially when I am baking, I weigh my heavier ingredients EVERY time. Well…not quite EVERY time…let’s stick with ALMOST every time (I’ll cover one exception in an upcoming post). This short post examines WHY that … Read More →
Reading the history of how the Nestle Toll-House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe sprung into kitchen consciousness in the 1930’s is like reading a culinary Hallmark card. Unfortunately, a single Hallmark card is seldom appropriate for all occasions. What I’d like to do in this post is see what I can do to make this famous … Read More →
In my second posting on bread fundamentals, I made a couple of 9″ pan pizzas. Although they were delicious, the individual pizzas were a little petite for my taste and my crusts were too thick. In this post, I want to remedy both of those problems. The solution isn’t rocket science: (1) use a bigger … Read More →
Now that we have examined the basic ingredients in a loaf of bread and experimented with using some milk and oil to soften the texture of bread, I want to follow-up with a short post on how to adapt this information to the baking of whole wheat and rye breads. In order to do this, … Read More →
From the summary I gave in the previous post: Instead of using a recipe, I decided how much bread I wanted to bake and then worked backwards to determine how much of each ingredient (by weight) I would ultimately use. I determined that I would need to use 16 oz. of flour as a starting … Read More →
I get the impression that most home cooks are scared of bread. I think the two primary contributing factors involved in this fear are (1) a daunting array of recipes and approaches…what works and where do you start, & (2) a less than stellar personal bread-baking experience based on a desire for instant bread gratification. … Read More →
Most definitions of a “Meatloaf” get the basic outline technically correct: (1) ground meat, (2) with other ingredients, (3) and seasonings, (4) baked in the shape of a loaf. By changing the last part of that definition to (4) formed into patties and pan-fried, you have essentially defined “Hamburger Steak.” Since I don’t believe that … Read More →
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