Come all ye self-styled chefs and kitchen users, we must talk.

Pick up some of these for proofing in. Make bread that has these nice lines of flour running around it:

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/AHhONYs.jpg)

Cool!

Grilled cheese sandwiches with that bread are heavenly. Holy cow. Best grilled cheese I've ever had. Used Tillamook butter and medium cheddar to keep it classic.

staygold wrote:

Trying to make some potato buns for pulled pork tonight. Yikes there was no yeast in the store! Who knew so much of the population were all of a sudden bakers!?

My brother and his wife just flew in from DC tonight. They brought yeast with them for my wife. They went to over 5 stores just to find some.

-BEP

I made the Kenji Food Lab buttermilk pancakes today. Wow. So moist and delicious. Best pancakes ever. I ended up making the buttermilk out of greek yogurt and whole milk. I actually had all the other ingredients. The pancakes had a nice hint of tang. Out of maple syrup now, so that's a problem.

I planted some seeds today for herb garden starters! Hope they grow inside. We did 4 basil starters and a starter each of Thai basil, chives, thyme, and rosemary. We're creating a herb planter out of an old concrete double sink. Got the drainage issue worked out with a couple types of rock below and inside. Will post pictures when the starters are planted!

Any time I have tried to grow basil the leaves have always gotten black spots that grew and then the plant died. I hope you have better luck!

ActualDragon wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

Yes, you should! It's great therapy, and you've got a lot of time!

Question: my usual sandwich bread recipe calls for dry milk, but I'm out and cannot find any anywhere in town. The shelves here are picked clean. Anyone know a good substitute? Can I just replace some of the water in the recipe for milk on a 1-to-1 basis?

I can't recall if I've made this specific recipe before, but I've had good luck with King Arthur Flour, and this one calls for milk. They can fall into the trap of not explaining a recipe enough, but sometimes they'll have good tips for what your dough should look/feel like.

I did end up finding some dry milk, but I went ahead and made the recipe you linked anyway. It was so delicious! I made it for sandwiches, but my family ended up eating half the loaf plain out of the oven.

2nd loaf! Dough was a little funky this time as you can see in the finished loaf. I have a fancy thermapen now (got it mostly for cooking salmon), so I was able to take internal temp and make lots of temp and time notes. I went a little under, threw it back in for a couple minutes, then I think I went a smidge over. Looking forward to the next loaf. This is that King Arthur Country French recipe again.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/8nGs1uo.jpg)

Another attempt at that sandwich bread recipe. It didn't rise as much as expected, so it's a bit squat. But it tastes delicious.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/ayiKY4H.jpg)

Yuuuum!

Edit: I want a PB&J with that bread.

I've worked and lived close to the Franz bakery in Portland, and every time I walk by there, I get the smell that makes me super nostalgic for a loaf of sliced, plain white bread.

Joining the bread parade.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/cycLuYj.jpg)

Yummers

How do you use those ringed proofing bowls? Do the second rise inside of them then turn the dough out and bake it without shaping? It's a very attractive rustic effect.

Correct. Shape and place into the basket for the second rise (~1 hour here in Hawaii, maybe longer in cooler climates). When ready, dump it out onto the counter and place immediately into a pre-heated cast iron pot for cooking.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

ringed proofing bowls

Just want to provide that the term (for searching and sounding fancy to your friends) is a banneton, and if you get a nice once it does eventually become seasoned with flour and use. The one I have has a linen liner (which works well and goes in the wash but doesn't leave the cute rings) and I'm a little worried that the banneton itself might give off splinters in the bread.

The ones I have also had a cloth that came with it but I've never used it for anything other then a cover when I'm not using it. I just covered them with flour before putting the loaves in and it's been working fine.

Great to see all the breads. I'm also doing some bread baking during the social distancing. I tried croissants today.

IMAGE(https://scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-15/e35/s1080x1080/91984979_588648981731650_3404761096231799931_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com&_nc_cat=110&_nc_ohc=8brvuCdXZ30AX_xPzUV&oh=1982ccca0d8ce9fddc5193cb993eae14&oe=5EB2D7A2)

Overbaked and I think they were underproofed but they taste pretty good. Turned out a lot better than I expected since I don't really know what I'm doing.

Yum! Nice!

I smoked up some of our Oregon Chinook and Coho salmon today. Still have a bunch of last year's catch in a chest freezer.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/atH3abY.jpg)

Gonna eat some more of that soon with that bread and some cheese here soon.

Also made sausage, mushroom, onion, thyme, and cheddar omelettes this morning. Didn't need lunch.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/bcWqHIp.jpg)

The tear is there to give you a hint as to what's inside.

Made some hamburger helper without the hamburger helper in a instant pot. Oddly it was the first time I had hamburger helper or egg noddles with beef.

1. Brown the 1lb beef in the instant pot using saute setting. Also used some random seasoning, salt, pepper, onion powder, other stuff.
2. Once beef is done added 1 cup of water.
3. Added egg noodles. I added way to much. I put in the entire bag I had. I think I should have use less than half the bag. Easy to fix though.
4. Added in 1 and 3/4 cups of milk. Almond milk in my case.
5. Mixed it up a bit.
6. Pressure cooked it all setting time to 0. Yes zero is correct
7. Once done do a quick release.

Since I used way to much noodles about a fourth of the noodles weren't done. So I added in a cup of beef broth and cup of milk. I think any liquid would have worked. Also put in some soy sauce and pre cooked.
bacon bits.

Pressure cooked again at zero. Turned out perfect. Oh I put shredded cheese in also after it was done pressure cooking. Super good and quick. Also easy to fix if you mess up like I did.

Fish sauce is the best thing. Made some some sauteed veggies doused in teriyaki sauce and then added to that Oregon bay shrimp sauteed in fish sauce and a little anchovie paste. Smelled so good. My partner thought it smelled like wet dog. She thought it all tasted great, though.

Fish sauce IS the best thing. I've been putting it in scrambled eggs recently.

If you want other umami/salty seasonings I can also recommend Thai White Soy sauce and/or Thai Seasoning Sauce (typically Golden Mountain brand). They give you different spins on the flavour profiles you get from salty fermented seasonings that you get from fish sauces and other soy sauces.

And if you're following a westernised Thai recipe that calls for soy sauce then substituting Thai White Soy or a mix of white soy sauce and seasoning sauce will give it a flavour profile much more inline with thai cookery.

I’ve been playing around with sourdough for a while now but I’ve been trying to expand my horizons a little bit lately. Attempts at Pain de Mie and brioche cinnamon rolls are my latest creations. Brioche is a PITA but the cinnamon rolls are heavenly. I used The Perfect Loaf recipes as a guide for both.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/gUWQEx5.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/LYmOLL8.jpg)

Those look really good!

The pain de mie is particularly good when lightly toasted with a generous slather of Nutella!

Yum! Cinnamon rolls have been on my list to cook recently. Maybe this weekend as I actually get a little time off... It's also time to try another loaf of bread now that we've figured that the countertop has probably been sapping all the heat from the dough.