Feeding Starter

Don't forget to feed your starter about once a week.  Just use or dump out 1 cup of starter and replace with 1 cup of warm water, 1/4 cup of potato flakes and 1/4 cup of sugar.  Mix well and allow starter to sit in a warm place for at least 12 hours.  It should foam back up.  If it doesn't, it has died.  Start a new one.  Place back in the refrigerator.

Bread Starter Use

I have been using the bread starter I posted earlier.  I actually made one dough that I used used part of for a couple of strombolis .  I froze the rest then made this bread with it on Saturday.  It turned out well. The dough recipe is below.

Ingredients:

• 852 g (6 cups) Bread flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 cup starter
• 2 tbl olive oil

Directions:

Place all ingredients into a mixer with a dough hook.  Kneed for about 15 minutes.  You can do this by hand too, but it takes some work.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow dough to double in size.  This could take 8 hours.  Punch down.  Divide into 3 equal pieces.  I made 2 large strombolis from one of these.  The other two I oiled well and placed in Ziploc bags and refrigerated for a couple days before transferring to the freezer.  When I was ready to use them, I took them out of the freezer the night before and placed back in the refrigerator.  I made two baguettes with them.

Bundt Pan Update

I made a pound cake with my new pan.  Take a look.

Perfect! New pan is a keeper.  I knew it was not the baker last time ;)

Maple Pecan Praline Ice Cream.

What could make the pecan pralines better?  If you answered put them in ice cream, move to the front of the class.  For my last ice cream recipe that I posted here,  I made a healthy ice milk.  This time I went in the opposite direction take a look at these ingredients.


Ingredients:

• 3 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups whole milk
• 10 egg yolks
• 90 g (6 tbl) sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups pure grade B maple syrup
• 2 cups broken up pecan pralines

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, bring the milk, cream and maple syrup to the scalding point.  Meanwhile in a bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy.  While constantly beating gradually poor the hot mixture into the eggs.  You want to temper the eggs.  Poor the custard mixture back into the saucepan and cook over low heat stirring constantly until the mixture reaches 170 degrees F and coats the back of a spoon. 

Remove from heat and add in the vanilla.  Transfer to a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap.  Make sure the plastic wrap actually touches the custard.  This prevents a film from forming.  Refrigerate for at least 8 hours.  Freeze according to your ice cream makers instructions making sure to add in the pralines during the last couple of minutes of mixing.

Pecan Pralines

This is my take on a Stan Strickland recipe I found online. The most important thing is getting mixture to the soft boil stage, so a good thermometer is imperative.  Also, I made a large quantity because well they taste good, so you might want to cut the recipe in half.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups granulated cane sugar
• 1 cup cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2/3 stick butter
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 4 cups of toasted pecans
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Combine the first five ingredients in a heavy sauce pan.  Over medium heat stir the mixture until it comes to a boil.  Turn the heat to medium low and continue to stir until it reaches the soft boil stage 238 to 241 degrees F.  Remove from heat and add in the vanilla and pecans.  Continue to stir until the mixture thickens and becomes cloudy.  Drop by spoonfuls onto parchment. to cool.  Store in refrigerator.

Cookie Dough Balls

Like cookies?  Like cookie dough?  This is my spin a Paula Dean recipe for cookie dough truffles.  Caution: these things can be addicting.  Allow at least a couple of hours for this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (284g) AP four
• 1 stick (4oz) butter at room temp.
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tsp of vanilla, almond, mint, or whatever extract
• pinch of salt
• chocolate chips
• chocolate for coating

Cream butter, sugar, and salt together.  Add extract.  I used mint for the one's pictured above. Add flour alternatively with condensed milk.  Add chocolate.  I used a combination of semisweet, white, and chopped up Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark.  You can add as little or much as you want.  Nuts work well.  Roll dough into any size balls you wish.  These were on the smaller side.  Place on wax or parchment paper and chill for at least an hour.  Melt chocolate for coating.  Again, be creative and use whatever you want.  I used about a pound and a half of Trader Joe's semisweet chips.  Using two forks dip balls into chocolate to coat and place back on parchment.   Allow chocolate to harden and enjoy.  Store in refrigerator.

Food Find: Gundersen Chili

I found an odd location for some good chili, Gundersen Lutheran Hospital.  Hands down, this the best chili I have had in Wisconsin.  It has a very nice balance of flavors.  Also, at only 210 calories for a 12oz serving, dare I say its healthy.  I have asked the chef for the recipe.  I will post it if I receive a reply.

Sourdough Starter

Here is a unique sourdough starter given to me by my grandmother.  She uses it to make only bread.  I use it for many things including, bread, pizza dough, and pancakes.  It uses potato flakes, a bit unusual.  I have tried to make other starters, but most of them take day's or weeks.  This one is just overnight.  It can be kept alive if it is fed weekly.  It smells so nice.

• 2 cups warm water
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of instant potato flakes
• 1 package of active dry yeast (8g)

Mix ingredients together, loosely cover with a lid and leave overnight.  I use plastic almond container.  It can be used the next day.

Spotlight: Cocoa Powder

I discovered this while working at a bakery.  Since today is Valentine's Day, I had to mention some kind of chocolate.  This stuff is expensive, but trust me, you get what you pay for. 

Spotlight: Kernel Season's Barbecue

I have tried nearly all the variety's the great Kernel offers, but I can't get enough of the BBQ.  It has a nice balance of flavor's.  You will probably not find this in stores, but you can order it online.  I get mine though amazon in bulk.

Spotlight: Trader Joe's Freeze Dried Fruit

While I am thinking about Trader Joe's, I wanted to also showcase their freeze dried fruit.  Good stuff.  My favorite is the banana.  It reminds me of marshmallows in cereal.

Spotlight: Trader Joe's Pulled Chicken Breast

Need some healthy BBQ in a hurry? I recommend this stuff. It heats up in 3 minutes and surprisingly has a good taste.

Bridal Shower Eats

My wife asked me to make some goodies for one of her friends bridal shower last week. I made a couple of different cookies and by request, some more sausage cheese balls. The first cookies I a made were Mexican Wedding cookies. I followed The American Test Kitchen's recipe with the exception that I toasted the pecan's for about 10 minutes. These are one of my wife's favorite cookies.

I also made up my own cookie with a little help. I found a tart dough recipe on Chef Eddy's website, then turned it into cookies. After chilling, I rolled out the dough very thinly and cut it with a heart shaped cookie cutter. I baked them for about 10 minutes, cooled them, spread the hazelnut paste I made on half of them, sandwiched them, then dipped them in both white and semisweet chocolate. They turned out great.

Hazelnut Paste

Do you like Nutella? If so you might be interested in this stuff. I have made some hazelnut paste, not to be confused with hazelnut praline paste. I never caramelized the sugars, hence this is not a praline. I have made the caramelized version before. I like this version better, plus it's easier to make.

Ingredients:

hazelnuts
powdered sugar
hazelnut oil

Toast hazelnuts in a 350 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes. Don't over toast. Once out of the oven, cover with a towel for about 20 minutes. This step makes removing the skins easier. To remove the skins rub vigorously with the towel. If some skin won't come off, don't worry, it doesn't matter much. Next, weigh the nut's. Place in a food processor and turn on. Once you have hazelnut butter, add in an equal amount (by weight) of powdered sugar. Continue to process for about 3 minutes. If the mixture looks dry, add a tsp or two of oil until the paste looks like hazelnut butter again. That's it, you now have hazelnut paste. Next mission: don't eat it all at once. May not be as easy as it sounds.

Invert Sugar

I mentioned yesterday in my post about gelato that the next time I make it I will try using some invert sugar. To be prepared, I made some today. I found Eddy Van Damme's website using Google. He does a great job explaining its uses. Check it out if you are interested. I halved the recipe since I wanted to do a test run first. You can buy the stuff, but with the right tools, its very easy to make. I think it will come in handy.