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Hey, it’s Bread!

Bread

After making a small loaf of bread I made this massive loaf of bread. I’m kidding of course, though this bread is twice the size of the last one. (Laser-cut banana for scale.)

Here’s the ingredients list:

  • 240 grams flour (bread flour or all-purpose flour)
  • 6 grams kosher salt
  • 2 grams instant dried yeast
  • 200 grams cool water

Bread

You can see it fills out the 2 quart Dutch oven a bit more. This is probably a good size to make in the little pot. I could probably go a little larger but then I’d need to do some real math and I’m not a fan of that.

But honestly, this might be the appropriate size for our household. In the past when I’d suggest to Dana we get a loaf of bread for grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup we’d grab a loaf from the grocery store and it seemed like we could never get one the right size, or the right shape, or just a loaf that seemed to fit our modest needs.

This was a great sized loaf that lasted just over two days and was enough for two good-sized sandwiches and some left over for a couple of pieces of toast.

Bread

Obviously I need to start making a bread like this the night before (or perhaps first thing in the morning) but I’d prefer making my own bread—with just four simple ingredients—over buying a loaf at the store.

When I make it at home I know exactly what goes into it and how it was made… and that’s worth something to me.

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Aldi Cast Iron Dutch Oven

Aldi Dutch Oven

I picked up this little 2 quart cast iron Dutch oven from Aldi. I think I saw this blog post and knowing how expensive high quality cast iron Dutch ovens are, I figured for $20 USD I’d give it a try. I made this Small Batch Crusty Bread because it was the smallest loaf I could find. (And I was too lazy to do baker’s math for other loafs.)

Bread in Dutch oven

I’m not big on many of the meat recipes you find for a Dutch oven, but I have been making a lot of bread lately, so I thought I would give that a try.

(Note: I did bake in on/in parchment paper, though I pulled it out for the photo.)

Bread

Tiny loaf! This only used 120 grams (1 cup) of flour. I let it rise overnight, about 12 hours, and it’s one of those “no knead” recipes. It turned out pretty good! I may try to double the size for the second attempt.

Bread

I was pleased with the crumb on this loaf. I ended up eating the whole thing in one day, not surprising I guess. I toasted up two pieces for a sandwich at lunch and damn, it was good! I look forward to making more bread and possibly exploring other recipes with this thing.

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Pretzel Buns

Homemade Pretel Buns

One of the ways I’ve been dealing with the pain is by spending time in the kitchen baking when I am able to. It often helps me focus on something besides the pain my body is in. And it keeps me vertical and moving around instead of just lying down.

I’ve made soft pretzels in the past but always skipped the boiling part, and wow, it makes quite the difference. I’m comfortable now with it, though I still make quite a mess, but that’s sort of my style.

The recipe for these is Pretzel Buns from King Arthur. I’ve become a fan of many of their recipes, party due to the fact it’s not some recipe web site with a very long story and dozens of advertisements.

Seriously though, I absolutely love these buns! I’ve had them toasted with just a bunch of cheese, with an egg, with some cheese and leftover taco meat (surprisingly good!) and even with cream cheese. I plan to make more of these. They also freeze pretty well.

Homemade Pretel Buns

I know what you’re saying, what about the beloved Pretzilla from Miller Baking in Milwaukee? Well, those are/were my go-to for many years, and I do like to support Milwaukee companies. My niece even used to work there, but in 2020 they sold out to a private equity firm, and of course any store-bought bread-based product is going to have additives and preservatives.

One of the reasons I am trying to make/bake more at home is because I want control of what goes into things. Flour, water, yeast, and salt (and sometimes olive oil or butter) is pretty much all you need for most dough. Be it pizza, bread, pretzels, or bagels. No additional ingredients are needed if it’s not going to sit on a store shelf. (Though honestly Pretzilla is probably better than most others, and is Non-GMO, Vegan, and Kosher.)

Homemade Pretel Buns

(Apologies for the vastly different color temperatures of the photos in this post. Our kitchen lighting is weird.)

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DIY Peanut Butter Hack

Remember back when I Made Peanut Butter? Here’s an update!

First, I wasn’t processing it enough. My daughter pointed out we should run the food processor longer. That definitely helped make better and smoother peanut butter.

I had previously said:

I really just need to work out a scheme to get free nuts now and I’ll be all set!

I’ve not yet figured out how to get free peanuts, but I just got a 16 once container of peanuts for $2.09 USD from Aldi. Last time I bought on (a few months ago?) it was $2.19 USD. Still, not bad!

I’ve found 16 ounce containers of peanut butter for around $2 USD but they contain palm oil, or hydrogenated oil, or other additives that are not needed or desired.

To get natural peanut butter, free of additives, you’re probably looking at $6 to $10 (or more!) for a 16 ounce jar…

So yeah, if I can get a container of peanuts for around $2 then I’m getting a jar of all-natural (no additives) peanut butter for around $2, and that’s a good deal.

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Crumpets – First Attempt

Crumpets - First Attempt

I just returned from Scotland where I remembered my love of crumpets. Crumpets are much better than “English” muffins here in the states, but difficult to find in the shops. Trader Joe’s sells them, but most places do not.

Crumpets - First Attempt

I decided to use the Warburtons recipe which seemed a little weird compared to some of the others I’ve read. It also seems like there are a ton of different versions of crumpet recipes so I will need to explore others.

Crumpets - First Attempt

The final results were not amazing though… I think I had the heat too high, and I used olive oil instead of butter so the household vegan could try them as well.

Crumpets - First Attempt

Oh, I used these 3.5″ Wrenbury Crumpet Rings, which seemed to work quite well. Someone suggested not using rings at all, though I don’t know how that would work. If greased properly the rings slide right off the crumpet, which is what you want. I may need to find other uses for the rings in the kitchen.

So how do they taste? Well, I had one immediately and just had it plain (while I was making the second batch) and the consistency seemed right, though without a topping (butter or jam) the flavor was lacking. I made one a bit later by putting it in the toaster and then covering it with some Irish butter and hot damn it was good! I really need to perfect the holes in the future though to improve things.


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