My grandfather’s birthday was yesterday. Chris and I baked a cake for him.
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Cooking
Biscuit Perfection
I finally managed to make biscuits that were light, soft, and don’t crumble when you touch them. I’ve been trying for weeks and kept getting closer, but always had some problem or another, but now I think I have figured it out. Its all in the way you integrate the shortning.
Hot and Yeasty
Lately I’ve been having fun with a new ingredient in the kitchen…yeast. I have never really tried making breads before recently, I’ve always been told that making bread is hard, and that it is difficult to get them right. I have since discovered that while my mother does not seem to posses the bread making talent, I do. I have recently been making a wide variety of breads (sticky buns, apple cinnamon bread, braided bread, yeast rolls). I am almost as fascinated with making yeasty breads as I am with working with clay.
Lately something has been puzzling me a bit though… the difference between “dry active yeast” and “quick rise yeast”. It is almost an endless wait for normal yeast (active dry) to do its work, but there is almost no wait with the quick rise. A recipe I made last night requires about 2 hours to rise (first proofing, then shaped rise) but when substituting in quick rise, it took 10 minutes for the first proof, and then only about 20 minutes for the shaped rise (only had 20 minutes to let it rise is how I found out), but the recipe ended up being almost the same as with the 2 hour wait. The texture was a little different, but the bread was perfectly leavened. Yeast, its amazing stuff 
Making Biscuits
I attempted to make biscuits for dinner this evening, but I seem to have inherited my mother’s ability to screw them up. Her biscuits always came out hard and completely inedible, but mine are a little different, they are very soft and crumble when you touch them. Unlike my mother’s, which taste like chalk, mine actually taste like biscuits, so maybe there is hope for me yet.
Spicy Chicken Seasoning
This evening I tried my own attempt at making a chicken seasoning. I was going for something mildly spicy with a bit of a bite, but nothing too hot for my dinner guests (my parents and Chris). I overshot and ended up with something very spicy, but that was considered to be a good flavor by all who attempted eating it. The mixture is listed below.
Equal parts:
- Ground red pepper
- Ground white pepper
- Ground Italian seasoning
- Garlic Powder
- Mrs. Dash Chicken Seasoning (yes, I cheated some)
One-half part:
- Ground cumin
Three parts:
- Cornmeal
After mixing the seasoning I spooned a single teaspoon into a shaking bag (any light-weight plastic bag, gallon or larger, will do), tossed in a half-breast of chicken and shook aggressively. Once each piece was seasoned I placed them inside a turkey bag (laying flat) on a 13×9 baking dish. I added some sliced Italian sausage on top of the chicken. Tied the bag with butcher’s string and tossed it in the over at 350° for 45 minutes.
I believe the level of heat of this dish can be controlled by adjusting the amount of seasoning placed in the bag, perhaps next time only about a half of a teaspoon per piece of chicken.
Have A Cookie
Out of a burst of craving and a bit of bordem I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies last night. It is an odd thing that the cookies you make yourself don’t taste quite the same as those you remember from your childhood when someone else made them, even if the same recipe is followed exact. My attempt (aided by Chris) satisfied my craving for chocolate chip cookies, but there was still something missing, some element I was expecting was not present.
What to do with ground beef?
Lean ground beef is rumored to be one of the most versatile foods available, but I am having difficulty with this theory. I was encouraged by Chris last night to prepare something this evening based on beef. My first thoughts were something with a tomato sauce and a pasta, second thoughts were with something like stroganoff. I went to my usual recipe resource (Cooks.com) to find some ideas, but all I could find for ground beef was pasta and stroganoff. There are no interesting foods that can be made with ground beef. If you pair beef with beans it becomes a chilli, if you pair it with anything tomato is turns into a pasta based dish, or something mexican. Beef with a cream sauce turns into a stroganoff, so I guess I’m screwed. Beef Stroganoff it is for tonight…
Lunch – My Sandwich Process
Some of my photographic adventures are boring, some are redundant, this one leaves me still feeling empty. Maybe I should have taken more time to take more pictures from more angles and not been in such a rush to eat.
Recipe: Chicken-Alfredo Pizza (quick version)
Chicken-Alfredo Pizza (quick version)
2 prepared pizza crusts, thin crust
2lb Prepared Chicken
16oz Alfredo Sauce (1 jar)
12oz Pepper Jack (or Monterey-jack w/jalapeno) cheese, shredded
black pepper, fresh ground
dry basil
Preheat oven to 425°F, with stoneware pizza stone in.
Place crusts on a pans that are easy to slide them from. Pour half of the sauce on each of the crusts. Break up chicken with fingers while sprinkling one pound on each pizza. Place about 6ounces of cheese over each pizza. Grind (or shake) pepper directly over the pizzas in a smooth action, moving from side to side while moving down the pizza. Repeat the same procedure with the basil. Remove stone from oven and carefully slide the first pizza on the stone. Return stone to oven for 12 – 15 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling and starting to turn brown around the edges. Remove stone from oven, slide pizza on another pan using a wide serving tool. Slide second pizza on the sheet and repeat the cooking procedure. Expect second pizza to take 2 – 5 minutes less than the first.