Basic White Bread

My brother had a good idea and suggested that a blog on learning how to make basic white bread would be a good idea, I agreed. Bread has been part of our life for centuries, there are different variations of breads, in the Middle East it's Pita, the Arabic's have Saj, India is Naan & Chapatis bread, the Persians have Lavashs, Mexico is the Corn Tortilla and the Ethiopian Injera. Of course the Europeans have their breads, like the Baguettes, Croissants, Ciabatta, Brioche, Focaccia, Hearth & Italian breads. The Germans have their heavy brown bread of Pumpernickel, the Danish with their Rugbrød, another type of heavy dense rye, Scottish Oatcake and all the American type breads, including...yes, the American white bread. I am not a Food Historian (I know there is a proper name for that?) I know i have missed a lot of other examples, the point is that from what I understand wheat revolutionized civilization, it is a high energy food for just a little amount, that along with rice made it possible not to starve! More bang for the buck sort to speak. There is a lot of information on the impact of wheat and rice on our civilization, I just wanted you to realize that Wonder bread is not the only game in town...by the way it's back!! So I will be attempting to help you to learn how to make a simple loaf of bread. For all you bread bakers out there be patient, and for you first timers, I will be posting with the help of video's from King Arthur Flour to show you how to make a basic white bread. Why you ask? Read about the 1930's depression, look at our situation now, you can make a 1 1/2 lb. loaf of bread, not counting the gas or electric to bake it, for about .75cents, That's correct .75 cents and i can guarantee you it will taste a lot better! I hope I can make it easy enough that you will see it really is fun, the kids can help and it makes the house smell so good=)

Guest Blog of the Week: Becca's Bakery

Hello this weeks "Blog of the Week" is Rebecca Varidel of Becca's Bakery beccasbakery.blogspot.com She has a lot of experience in the food business as a Chief, a private chef and a special events caterer, amongst other things she is also a free lance writer and does food research. She is 6th generation Australian and lives in Sidney, she has a lot of great recipes and living in Australia a different twist on some of the stuff we make here in the U.S....Lamingtons anyone?

Dip or Scoop?

"Heya" everyone=) That's my new word "Heya," sorry it's been awhile since I have posted anything. Have you ever made bread and it was real heavy or it fell before it got to the oven? Or your cookies were supposed to be nice and chewy but were hard as a rock=( I realized that there is a lot of variance on how much a cup of flour weighs. Let me give you an example, I Googled "How much does a cup of all purpose flour weigh?" I got a lot of hits, and let me tell you I got a lot of different weights for a cup of flour! OK in a bakery all dry ingredients are weighed, that's because 8 oz. of flour is 8 oz of flour today, tomorrow, and next week, the only variance would be if you measure inaccurately. Not so if you measure flour in a cup, it all depends how you put it in the cup! Do you scoop or pour? Do you dip the cup into the flour then swipe off? Or do you scoop into the flour then pour into a measuring cup? Do you like to sift your flour? If so do you measure and then sift or do you sift then measure? Oh boy now I am getting a headache=( Most home recipes are measured in cups & measuring spoons. If you notice the real good baking books from top authors, pastry chiefs or featured bakery's will give you both in weights and cup measurements. A good book will give you a little segment of "Baking 101" in the beginning, not only to teach you, but to let you know the authors point of reference of measuring and using the ingredients. King Arthur Flour says a cup of all purpose flour, using the scoop and pour into the measuring cup then swipe is 4.25oz Cook's Illustrated says dip and swipe and the flour weighs 5 oz. That's a big difference when you need 6 cups for bread, that would be 25.5oz. vs. 30oz. That's a difference of 1 cup of flour! Ok so you see what I mean, here is what I think and do.
1. Buy yourself a digital scale if you can afford one.
2. If you are using a recipe from a book read the beginning to know what the author says is their point of reference with flour, in other words do they consider a cup is 5oz. or a cup is 4.25 oz. measure like they did to get that weight when using their recipes.
3. Scoop and pour or dip and swipe, decide which one you're going to use as your own reference, if you get a recipe using weights then you can adjust. If you have a scale measure the flour yourself to see what it weighs.
4. I use 4.5oz. as a reference point for recipes I get from the Internet, newspapers, friends or magazines. And if I'm converting from cups to ounces.
5. Use dry measuring cups, not liquid measuring cups, they have a pour lip, the dry cups have straight edges so you can use a knife to swipe and clean.
7. here are some links to explain more on flour and measurements, I hope this helps.
Cooks Illustrated tips on measuring dry ingredients: http://bit.ly/hCSDV
King Arthur chart on weights of different ingredients: http://bit.ly/x1j2J
King Arthur weighing and measuring ingredients: http://bit.ly/V9IYr

Confession of a Baker

Ok I have a confession=( I do have some pictures from making my Sour Cream Coffee Cake, but to me they were not that good, and on my recipe I posted I made adjustments so that it would use a 9x13 pan, but actually when I make my batch it is about 50% more and I use 4- 9"x 2" round cake pans! I was trying to make it simple, and I use several ingredients with the streusel topping: walnuts, choc. chips, strawberry or raspberry preserves! OK I feel better now=) I do this to make a variety of flavors and they are just the right size to give to my family, take to work or give to friends. So here are some pictures that I took when I made the batch about a month ago. I still need to learn how to take good food pictures.

Ingredients for the batterMixing the dry ingredients and butterAfter I added the eggs, flavors and sour creamExample of using raspberry before topping with streuselWalnut and streusel before dusting with powder sugar

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Just talking about this makes my mouth water and want a cup of coffee! This recipe was developed by my Dad, who I thought was one of the best Bakers I knew. There are a ton of recipes out there for the same thing, is mine any better, I don't know I have tried a lot and a lot of them are very good, but I do like this one, and since it's my blog.....well you know:) Sorry no pictures
Coffee Cake
Ingredients:
1 cup + 2 Tbs. granulated Sugar
2 cups Cake Flour
1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
3/4 cup Butter
1 lg egg + 2 egg yolks
1 cup Sour Cream
2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1/2 Teaspoon Almond extract*
1/2 Teaspoon Rum extract*

Streusel topping:

1/2 cup Brown sugar

3/4 cup Granulated sugar

1 cup Butter

11/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

3 full cups Cake flour

Pre-heat oven to 360'
grease a 9x13 pan
In a mixing bowl with a paddle add together all the sugar, cake flour, all purpose flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and mix together. Then add the butter and mix together in low speed until it is Incorporated, it will be crumbly, like pie dough. Mix the eggs, sour cream and flavors together first then add to the dry ingredients and mix in low speed until just mixed together, scrape down the bowl then mix at medium speed until creamy, about 2-3 min on a stand up mixer and double that with a hand held mixer. Pour all the batter in the well greased 9x13 pan and spread evenly.
*rum & almond optional
Streusel topping:
cream together all the sugars and the butter until creamy, then mix all the dry ingredients together then add to the creamed butter/sugar and just mix together to make it crumbly, Don't Over mix!! Otherwise you'll have a kind of a dough. Mix the rest with your hand rubbing your hands together, trying to have nice big pieces=) top onto the sour cream batter as much as you want or lightly. Put into the oven in the middle rack and bake about 35 to 45 min. check with a toothpick for wetness or light brown in color. remove from oven and let cool "away from oven" sprinkle powder sugar when cooled all the way and enjoy=)

Guest Blog of the Week: Bakerella

Hello everyone this weeks "Blog of the Week" is Bakerella, Ms. Bakerella is a shy one http://www.bakerella.blogspot.com/ Even thou she is shy she is very nice and I am in awe of her photographs, they are "Beautiful" or as the Italians say "Bello" Actually she helped me in understanding that I need a good camera in order to take "Bello" pictures, it helped but only a little bit because a new and very good camera is not in the budget, sooooo you will have to put up with my old camera. OK, not only does she take fantastic pictures she has some very good recipes, a lot of "fresh" great ideas, she is very gracious in posting other blogs and baking web sites, a great source of information and ideas=)

Guest Blog of the Week: Eric Theard

OK everyone this week's Blog of the week is
Eric Theard at: www.whatsinthepot.com Eric is a Chief in the "Big Easy" New Orleans, he loves going to different restaurants and posting his experience, and he has a lot of great recipe's. I met him on twitter and he asked me for a recipe for croissants, so in reading his blog and Nanny Annie's Kitchen Blog, another twitter friend from England, I decided to do my own blog, so thanks Eric and Annie. OK in my correspondence with Eric he is very gracious with his knowledge and time, so for me he is a OK guy=) Now this is were I really have a lot of respect for him.....He is teaching his wife how to cook, and not only that he is putting it on video!! This man knows no fear! I was married for 18 yrs, my wife never let me teach her how to bake, "That's why I have You" she would say.....no more....but that is another story=) So Eric my friend my hat is off to you, I was hiding behind the door when she was cutting the carrots but I can see you still have your 10 fingers! Oh ya, your right, the size of the "meat" does matter=)

Puff Pastry with Chief Ms. Glaze

Puff pastry is easy. It really is. And it tastes better and bakes lighter than store bought dough. The ingredients are simple: flour, water, salt, and butter. There are so many uses for puff pastry from easy fruit tarts to pastry shells for savory dishes. I borrowed the video from Chief Ms. Glaze, link is on the sidebar, and the recipe I made a few changes and converted to our measurements, if you want to see the original recipe go to her blog. Good Luck!
Puff Pastry
Ingredients:
3 "full"cups all purpose flour sifted
1 cup water room temperature
2 tsp. salt
3 oz. (6 tbs.) butter, melted and cooled to room temp.
For the turns:
8 0z unsalted butter
Instructions:
1. Watch video!
2. In a bowl put flour and salt.
3. Pour over water and melted butter and mix quickly to form a ball.
4. Knead dough on marble or in bowl until it has a smooth surface.
5. Rest dough for 10 minutes in refrigerator covered with saran wrap before starting pastry turns.
6. Dust workspace with flour. Put dough ball on surface and make a cross with a slight lump in the middle by rolling out the edges.
7. Place butter in a square on top of mound and fold flaps over it like an envelope.
8. With a rolling pin, press down in an "X" on top of envelope.
9. Roll out dough carefully the length and width of the rolling pin. Fold in thirds. Turn dough towards you like a book. Repeat the process: roll out dough the length of rolling pin and fold in thirds. Cover with parchment paper and chill in refrigerator for 10 minutes.
10. Take dough out of fridge and repeat turns twice to complete the 3rd and 4th pastry turn. Chill again for
10 minutes.
11. Take dough out again and finish 5th and 6th pastry turn. Roll out 1/8" and cut to desired shape depending on the recipe.
12. On it's own puff pastry only takes about 10-12 minutes to bake in a convection oven set at 375˚F
1. Fresh fruit tart: cut pastry to desired shape and brush with apricot jam and cut fresh apricots on top. Sprinkle some sugar on top (or don't) and bake until pastry is golden brown.
2. Apple turnovers. Cut pastry out into 3" circles. With rolling pin, roll center of circle so it becomes an oval (leave edges thick). Dices apples and flash fry in some butter and sugar with cinnamon and vanilla spice. (you can heat the sugar and butter together first to create a nice syrupy caramel before adding apples) Fill one half of pastry circle with a tablespoon of apples. Brush a little water on the half and fold the other over and press down to seal. brush with wash.

Rustic Peach Tart

This recipe is from King Arthur Flour and I can say that it really looks good, here is the link if you want to go to their site: http://bit.ly/wAIdp

Ingredients:

Crust
1 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon buttermilk powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
Filling
4 to 5 large ripe peaches, peeled and sliced; or 2 pounds frozen sliced peaches, partially thawed (about 5 to 6 cups)
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons Instant ClearJel
1/2 teaspoon ascorbic acid; optional, for added flavor and to preserve color
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of salt
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
Directions:
1) To make the crust: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, buttermilk powder, and salt. 2) Mix in the cold butter and shortening until the dough is crumbly. 3) Sprinkle ice water over the mixture 1 tablespoon at a time while tossing with a fork. After adding 3 tablespoons of water, gather the dough together into a ball. Add more water if it crumbles and won't hold together. 4) Flatten into a disk, wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer. 5) Preheat the oven to 450°F. 6) Whisk together the sugar, Instant ClearJel, ascorbic acid, nutmeg, and salt. 7) Add the peaches and a few of the raspberries, tossing to combine. Set aside. 8) Roll the chilled dough on a well-floured work surface into a 14" circle. 9) Use a knife or pizza wheel to trim the edges in a scalloped design. 10) Move the crust to a baking pan or pie pan; a giant spatula works well here. 11) Fill the center with the peach mixture. 12) Fold the edges of the crust up over the peaches, leaving the center uncovered. 13) Bake the tart for 40 to 45 minutes, until the crust is golden. 14) Remove from the oven, and sprinkle with the remaining fresh raspberries. 15) Serve warm, with whipped cream or ice cream.

Guest Blog of the Week: Nanny Annie's Iced Apple & Cinnamon Cake

Now here is a great recipe from my friend across the pond, Annie is a great gal and has a lot of experience with baking, She really knows her stuff with a wealth of experience and with all the heritage from Ireland and the U.K. I posted the recipe here but you can go visit her blog: http://annieblax.blogspot.com/

Nanny Annie's Recipe:
This recipe is straight from and as old as the greenest of Irish hills. I've added Nanny Annie's variation to my dear old mother's recipe. It is my belief that variety is indeed the spice of life and of course a little of what you fancy does you no harm at all. It's why at funeral wakes & weddings you often hear the old ones mumble underbreath so as not to be heard - ah go on then - just a little more - whilst they're tipping the elbow of the one that's pouring the drop of fancy...tee hee! Sure it's a grand life - is it not?
Ingredients:
8oz Self Raising Flour
8oz Butter
8oz Caster Sugar (fine Sugar)
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
4 Eggs
2 1/2 tblsp Milk
3 Eating Apples

Nanny Annie's Variation
Icing Sugar
Hot Water

Method
Sift the dry ingredients (flour & cinnamon) into a mixing bowl. Add the butter, sugar, eggs & milk - beat with an electric mixer until a thick dropping consistency is formed. Into a greased lined lasagna dish or small roasting tin pour half the mixture. Peel, core, quarter and slice thinly the three eating apples. Distribute evenly the slices of apple on top of the mixture. Cover with the remaining half of mixture and pop into a preheated oven for 15 mins at 180 C (360 F) then reduce heat to 170 C (340 F) for a further 30 mins or until the sponge springs back when pressed. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. When sufficiently cool spread glace Icing on top. Stick the kettle on and make yourself a well deserved cuppa and sample your own delights. Enjoy!

Welcome!!

Hello everybody, how are you all doing, I just started this blog and so I'm still fixing it up and getting it were I want it, I'm still learning how to work this thing so be patient, any suggestions would be appreciated:) Any recipe you want on here would be welcomed, a link would be easier and if you have a Blog for Baking or Cooking I will post your link on my list. All comments are welcomed I have learned more from other people and so I love to hear your idea's Thanks, Jim

Guest Blog of the Week: Amy Glaze

This Gal has a Blog and she post recipes and methods and her experience about working in a 3 star restaurant, that's right a 3 star restaurant! She is classically trained in France as a Sioux Chief and is now putting in her time, she just got promoted and I just love her stories, please check her out I think you will be surprised.
Ms. Glaze's Pommes d'Amour http://msglaze.typepad.com/

Making Pastry Cream

This is a good example on how to make Pastry Cream, which is real good for different items such as Eclairs, Cream Horns, cream pies and different types of pastries, you can use a different recipe but the method is the same, let me know what you think, leave a comment.

Tasty Sticky Buns

OK here is a real good quick way to make one of America's favorite foods, Sticky Buns! This recipe and video is from our friends at King Arthur Flour, now if you have never used them they are fantastic and have a great catalog, enjoy!
Video & Recipe: http://bit.ly/ElSmA

Blueberry Muffins

Hi everyone, as you can see I am a big fan of King Arthur's web site, mainly because they have a great support system, any questions you have for them they will do their best to help you find an answer, saying that here is a link to their standard Blueberry muffin recipe, and believe me this guy will take a lot of abuse when mixing up, it has a good taste and I think it's great for Sunday morning breakfast. http://bit.ly/hmz6P

Sugar Cookies

This is my recipe for a easy ice box sugar cookie and because you put them in the refrigerator you can take them out anytime and cut them up and bake them fresh. This recipe is originally from a large Bakery batch, so the reason for the extra large egg is because extra lg. weighs 2oz. and that's how it breaks down from a large batch, 1/4 cup eggs =2oz. I am new at this writing down recipe's for people to read, so if I'm not to clear on something let me know, hopefully I will get better at it :), this recipe can be doubled and if you need it in metric I can do that also.

Ingredients:
1 cup + 2tbs. sugar

1 cup butter

1 extra lg. egg (2oz.)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon orange extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Set your oven to 375 F

1). In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 2). In a mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 3). Beat in the vanilla, orange and almond extracts, and the egg; scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. 4). Add the flour mixture, and mix at low to medium speed until the mixture is evenly mixed. Dump out the dough onto a working surface and knead the dough just a little and divide into half and roll out into 2 logs about 12" long you will need some flour so it won't stick to the surface, try not to use to much. Put them on a pan and refrigerate for about 45 min. take them out and cut them about 1/4 inch thick, sprinkle a generous amount of sugar into a bowl or pan and dip one side of the cookie into the sugar, or if you want you could sprinkle after you pan them. Place on prepared baking sheets leaving 1" between them and bake about 10 min. I only bake my sugar cookies until there is a hint of browning on the edge, because cookies always bake a little more when you take them out and because I like chewy sugar cookies, enjoy!!

Doughnut Time is all the time!

OK, who does not love donuts, or is it doughnuts?, both are correct! Here are two different kinds of Doughnut recipes, one from Alton Brown of Food Network, (2 parts) love him or not he has a pretty impressive resume, is a very good cook book writer with 1 or 2 James Beard awards, (food writers equivalent to an Oscar) this is a very good basic recipe for yeast raised donuts and some good basic tips.
#1 http://bit.ly/Try2D #2 http://bit.ly/4m146

OK I got this from YouTube, just a gal making some donuts, the recipe is the equivalent to a curler, it's a good recipe and she does a good job, made me hungry, which if you know me it don't take much :) Not sure why she adds poppy seeds I guess she thinks it makes it more healthy? This is not too different from a funnel cake recipe except some recipes add baking powder. The make-up is like cream Puffs, but with milk instead of water and half as much fat. You can put them in the freezer for a few to set up, it won't hurt them, that way they won't look so funky trying get them off the pan, and I would turn up the heat to about 365 to 375, remember the temp goes down when you start to fry, keep a watch on the temp so they don't come out to greasy, thou that won't stop me from eating them either! Good luck :) http://bit.ly/19Ii5y