Blog posts

The restaurant in Petty Harbour Nfld that always made the best lobster rolls I have ever eaten disappointed me for the first time this past July.  Because of that, I decided I wanted to make rolls that I could use to make shrimp rolls.  Lobster is crazy expensive at the moment and my partner isn’t a fan of it, so why bother with lobster.  I wanted to make the rolls so that two sides could be toasted in butter on my cast iron skillet.  The slice in each roll would be vertically cut rather than horizontally so these would not be hotdog buns.

Well, after three test batches, my English Muffins were proclaimed ready for prime time by the taste testers here at my place!

 In my new mixer first cab off the rank was 1800g fruit dough so about half as much again as usual. the new mixer managed it easily. I have been eating a few date recently and they are the cheapest dried fruit at our local Aldi store plus i love them  i got to think if i blitzed them in the liquidizer i could get a paste that i could use in scrolls so thats what i did, i did need to add a little water to obtain a workable paste.

 You Often see CHRISTMAS IN JULY themes  which seem to especially appeal to some of us that have moved from cold winter climates to the other side of the Equator. A better time to  enjoy a hot roast dinner and its trimmings rather than December days here  when a salad and an early morning swim at the beach which is more the norm .

Still working on these.  Getting close, but not quite there yet.  My formula is essentially unchanged from last time, though I did remember the butter this time!  Used my Ankarsrum mixer to get these mixed up, and that was a breeze.  Overnight cold bulk followed by about a 2 hour RT proof after shaping.  I experimented with cooking these in the oven, on a stone, covered @ 350°......that worked fine, except that they got NO color (even with no cover for half the time.)  I ended up firing up the griddle on the stove pretty hot to just quickly get them some color.

 So I was up at 5am, starting my polenta sourdough. Bubbly starter, in with flour and polenta from the polenta tin. Hmmmm, dough is really tight, add more water. 30 mins later, dough even tighter. More water. Another wait, then.... yep, more water. Three hours with stretch and folds, tighter and tighter, finally give in and bench rest sad little lumps of partially risen dough.

Puzzled,  check polenta tin. Funny, the label says Powdered Gelatine. So That’s where the water went. 

At work we where buying that burger buns description from outside now they want those rolls to be made on our own how can I decode that bun recipe to create a soft potato burger rolls recipe close to or more than please help 

I make a delicious masa harina skillet cornbread.  The masa harina vs cornmeal brings a tasty, subtle flavor. because I like it so much, I've been thinking about trying a sourdough bread with masa harina, and now I've tried it.  I was surprised how easy it was.

There have been some other posts on this site about cornmeal or corn flour bread, and now I'm adding my own.  First, some pictures, then the formula.

Inspired by Tony (CalBeachBaker) I decided to make a batch of taralli this evening.  I made minor changes such as subbing in 10% whole red fife flour and using rosemary and ground peppercorns instead of fennel seeds.  They are really easy to make and quite enjoyable to eat.  I’d reduce the rosemary from 8 g to perhaps 6 g in the next batch as the rosemary was quite strong.

I made up a large batch of my Cheddar/Thyme bread Sunday for customers.  I just love this bread!  I find it fun to mix in the inclusions, as it breaks up the monotony of just folding. :)  I had to add an extra baking day this week, as this formula has become quite popular!  My daughter made sure that I baked an extra for us to have, too. :)

Formula (percentages inclusive of flour/water in levain):

Bread Flour (CM ABC+) 60%

AP Flour (Ardent) 30%

CM Red Spring (fresh milled) 5%

CM White Winter (fresh milled) 5%