The Well Floured Kitchen

6 Tips to Improve Your Baking

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6 Tips to Improve Your Baking at TheWellFlouredKitchen.com

If you are an experienced baker, the tips following may be old hat. People in real life, as well as on this blog, ask me for advice about their baking troubles fairly regularly. This blog post cannot address the millions of tiny issues that may occur in all recipes, however these hints will hopefully help to prevent some problems from occurring at all.

I’ve baked a lot. Tons. There is not a baking technique that I have not attempted, flubbed, and eventually succeeded at. For years I ran a small business from home, baking cookies and cakes. Tens of thousands of cookies. Yes, it was good to live in our house.

Aside from that, I geek out a bit at food science books such as Cookwise , or I’m Just Here For More Food. (Ahh.. Good Eats.. sometimes I do miss cable tv..) I like to understand the cause and effect of ingredients in a recipe. If you are curious as to the hows and whys recipes work I highly recommend these sort of books.

No worries, I won’t bore you to tears with science here. Even without understanding any of it, there are some basic steps you can take with any baking recipe to ensure you succeed…. 

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Italian Meatballs in Red Sauce

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Surely I can’t give you a recipe for meatball sandwiches, without providing a recipe for the meatballs themselves. I know it’s May, and you may be thinking that you don’t want a pot of meatballs and tomato sauce simmering all day in a hot kitchen. No worries, this recipe is for your slow cooker to do the work.

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Eggplant Stuffed with Quinoa and Goat Cheese

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Eggplant-Stuffed-with-Quino

I love stuffing vegetables! It keeps things interesting. This stuffing can also be eaten on it’s own, made vegetarian, or used to stuff different veggies. Served with a nice green salad, it’s a meal on it’s own.

This is a great way to stretch your meat budget. I only used 1/2 lb to create a very hearty filling meal. Quinoa is also an excellent source of protein.

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Baked Whole Wheat Maple Donuts

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I like donuts.. alas we don’t have a donut pan so we rarely have them. A little creativity led to the use of our mini bundt pan for this recipe. Nothing against real fried donuts (especially ones fried in healthy coconut or palm oil), but who has time to fry in the morning? Too much mess for me.

An avid baker may notice the resemblance of the recipe proportions to that of your average everyday muffin.. well, let’s just keep that our secret…. 

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Orange Chocolate Muffins

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A quick easy and yummy treat. Mini muffins for our mini friends coming over for a playdate. Shh.. don’t tell them how healthy they are!

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/4 cups (10 oz) White Whole Wheat Flour
  • 1/3 cup Sucanat (or sugar)
  • 1/2 cup Melted Coconut Oil or Butter
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1/2 Cup Organic Milk
  • 1/2 Cup Orange Juice
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1/3 cup Chocolate Chips
  • Zest of one Orange (optional)
  • Unsweetened Shredded Coconut (optional)


Mix Dry Ingredients. Make sure you very lightly scoop and level the flour. I recommend weighing ingredients whenever possible.

Mix Orange juice, milk and egg together. Also zest if using.


Add the Milk/Juice/Egg mixture to dry ingredients.

While mixing, slowly drizzle in melted oil. The reason for this is that coconut oil is a solid below approx 76°. Since your egg, juice and milk are cold, if you try to mix them with the oil, the oil will solidify into little chunks. This does not make for good muffins.

This is the batter after it is mixed:

Add the chocolate chips.

Five year olds like to “mash” the chocolate chips in good.

Scoop into lightly greased mini muffin tins. Sprinkle with shredded coconut.

Bake about 15 minutes at 375°. They are done when toothpick comes out clean. Remove from pan as soon as possible to finish cooling.

Tips and Substitutions:

  • Coconut Oil can be replaced by melted butter.
  • Muffins can be topped with all sorts of fun stuff: flax seeds, oats, sunflower seeds, cinnamon sugar..get creative!
  • Can be made into regular size muffins. Bake about 20-25 minutes at 375°.

Shared with Melt In Your Mouth Monday.

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Sausage and Rice Soup

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Although I love to spend time in the kitchen, there are those nights when I need a “mindless” meal that I can make on autopilot. Sausage and rice soup is one of those meals. I first had it at a Bertucchi’s restaurant, and could not believe how delicious and easy it is to make at home.

  • 1 lb Italian Sausage
  • 2 Quarts Chicken Stock
  • 10 oz Pkg Frozen Chopped Spinach
  • 1 Can Organic Diced Tomatoes
  • 1 Large Onion Diced
  • 4 Cups Cooked Organic Brown Rice

Take the sausage out of it’s casing, and crumble into your stockpot. Add the onions and saute until they are cooked through. The sausage should have enough fat that you will not need to add any, but if it seems dry add a drop of olive oil.

Add chicken stock and can of diced tomato(with juice). Yes, I understand that canned tomatoes are not the best. I try to avoid them and BPA when at all possible. But on occasion, if you haven’t canned your own, or have the budget to buy the organic brands in glass jars, I consider this an acceptable shortcut item.

Don’t forget the spinach! Use what you think is a good amount, I don’t always use the whole package.

Allow to simmer for about 15 minutes. You can certainly simmer longer and serve at your convenience. I cook (or reheat ) the rice separately. If you try to cook (or even reheat) the rice directly in the soup, the rice will overexpand and eventually get mushy.

Tips and Substitutions:

  • If there are leftovers, store the rice separately, to avoid mushiness.
  • Other greens could be subbed for the spinach.
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Gnocchi

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First off, let me say that this is truly a foodie indulgence. As far as real foods go, most people have fairly easy access to 100% whole wheat organic pasta, which I believe is an excellent compromise convenience food. It is probably not realistic to make your own pasta for the average family dinner, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a fun and worthwhile endeavor from time to time.

I was fortunate to grow up around my great-grandmother, who came over from Italy in the early 1900’s. I was able to watch the expert make gnocchi, so it was not an intimidating idea for me to make my own. But I want to reassure you, it is not as difficult as it seems, and my 5 year old helped quite a bit. We made these for a special birthday dinner for my mom, as they remind her of her grandmother.

Bake Potatoes at 400° for approximately 1 hour, or until they can be easily pierced with a fork. Allow to cool for as short a time as you are comfortable handling them. The hotter they are when you rice them, the fluffier your gnocchi will be. I cut the potato in half, holding it in an oven mitt, and scoop the flesh out into the ricer.

See those potato skins in the background? You weren’t going to throw those out, were you? If you do, you’ll miss out on this chance to make a delicious snack. Top them with butter and shredded cheese, and pop in the toaster oven to crisp. You deserve a reward for all this hard work.

Allow the riced potatoes to cool. Here’s a close up:

Beat the two eggs.

Pour the eggs over the potatoes.

Be sure not to pour the entire bowl of eggs in the same spot. 🙂

Mix salt into flour. Sprinkle flour over potatoes, stop at 3 cups. Again making sure not to pour it all in the same spot.

Now have some fun.

Carefully knead ingredients together until they form a cohesive ball of dough. If it is too sticky, add more flour. The temperature of your kitchen will dictate how much flour you use. Try not to overwork the dough, as it will toughen your gnocchi. Also resist the urge to use too much flour, as that will also toughen your gnocchi. We used approximately 3 cups, plus more for shaping.

Cut off a piece of dough and roll it into a snake.

Cut your snake into small (about 1/2 inch) pieces using a bench scraper(or sharp knife). We call them pillows. Don’t they make the cutest little pillows?

Now take each pillow and roll down the tines of a well floured fork.

Continue with the remaining dough.

Place each finished gnocchi on a lightly floured cookie sheet. Cook in a large pot of salted boiling water until gnocchi float to the top, about 3 minutes. Only cook a few handfuls at a time so they are not crowded. I use a skimmer to remove each batch. They can be frozen before cooking. Freeze directly on the cookie sheet for a few hours, then transfer to another container. They can be cooked directly from the frozen state, until they float to the top. Either way you cook them, be sure to brush as much flour off them as possible.

This recipe made about 3 lbs of gnocchi. Serve with your pasta sauce of choice!

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Gnocchi

Yield: About 3lbs Gnocchi

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs Organic Russet Baking Potatoes
  • 2 Cage Free Eggs
  • 3-4 cups (12-16 oz)Unbleached White Flour
  • 3/4 tsp salt

Instructions

  1. Special Equipment needed: Potato Ricer
  2. Bake Potatoes at 400° for approximately 1 hour, or until they can be easily pierced with a fork. Allow to cool for as short a time as you are comfortable handling them. The hotter they are when you rice them, the fluffier your gnocchi will be. I cut the potato in half, holding it in an oven mitt, and scoop the flesh out into the ricer. Allow the potatoes to cool.
  3. Beat the eggs and pour over the potatoes. Stir together the flour and salt, then sprinkle the flour over the potatoes.
  4. Carefully knead ingredients together until they form a cohesive ball of dough. If it is too sticky, add more flour. The temperature of your kitchen will dictate how much flour you use. Try not to overwork the dough, as it will toughen your gnocchi. Also resist the urge to use too much flour, as that will also toughen your gnocchi. We used approximately 3 cups, plus more for shaping.
  5. Cover the dough with plastic. Cut off a piece of dough(leaving remaining dough covered), and roll into a snake. Cut your snake into small (about 1/2 inch) pieces using a bench scraper(or sharp knife). Now take each pillow and roll down the tines of a well floured fork. Repeat with the remaining dough.
  6. Place each finished gnocchi on a lightly floured cookie sheet. Cook in a large pot of salted boiling water until gnocchi float to the top, about 3 minutes. Only cook a few handfuls at a time so they are not crowded. I use a skimmer to remove each batch.
  7. They can be frozen before cooking. Freeze directly on the cookie sheet for a few hours, then transfer to another container. They can be cooked directly from the frozen state, until they float to the top. Either way you cook them, be sure to brush as much flour off them as possible.

Notes

If you don't own a potato ricer, you can mash the potatoes, however the gnocchi may not be as light.

This recipe can be doubled, or even halved if you want (although if you are going to the trouble- may as well do the whole thing and freeze the extra).

http://thewellflouredkitchen.com/2011/03/23/gnocchi/

 

This post is a part of Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday.

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Breaking Bread

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The idea of changing your families diet is overwhelming for many people. Most people have been born and raised during this era of increasingly processed food. It is a little unnerving when you realize that most products in the grocery store are not real food at all, but just a hodge-podge of chemicals. After reading The Omnivores’s Dilemma, I admit I was a little freaked out. What were we supposed to eat? Where was I going to buy it? How will I feed my babies!

Now that I have been down this path for several years, I feel I can offer some encouragement to some real food newbies. First, relax, take a deep breath, it does get easier. You do not need to change everything you eat tomorrow. In fact, I would recommend baby steps. Make one change and stick with it until it doesn’t feel like a “change” anymore. Then pick something else and so on.

The first food I changed for my family was bread. I don’t remember exactly how I decided on bread, but I remember reading the back of the (plastic) package one day and feeling ill. Now mind you, I wasn’t buying wonder bread. I was buying “100% whole wheat” bread, or “7 Grain” or some similar type of hearty bread. Then I found out about what they put into the breads to make them shelf stable.

It makes sense when you think about it. If you buy (or make) a loaf of fresh bread, it certainly doesn’t last longer than a day or two. When did we get to the point where we assumed bread should last weeks?

For our family of five, I bake approximately 6 loaves of bread a week, along with the occasional batch of bagels, tortillas, rolls etc. Yes it is a labor of love. I won’t lie and tell you it takes no time at all. What I will tell you that there is nothing better than fresh bread out of the oven slathered with butter. Even if you just made a couple loafs on sunday (they freeze great), it would be a important start in your food journey.

Here’s my favorite family “sandwich” style bread that I make the most often:

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

This post is a part of Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday.

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