The Bakery

Cooking recipes, and various other food related stuffs. Hey, a wolf's gotta eat.
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What's Your Poison?

Cake
1
8%
Pie
3
23%
2 - Doesn’t really care either way
2
15%
3 - They’re pretty cool I guess, but they aren’t an obsession
3
23%
4 - I like werewolves a lot but wouldn’t want to become one
4
31%
 
Total votes: 13

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vrikasatma
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The Bakery

Post by vrikasatma »

I have to admit, I started this thread because I wanted to crow about a new acquisition, and I couldn't find a suitable topic in here.

But let's make a topic here: Baking isn't represented, here we go!

I stated before I'm a serious dough-girl. Savoury's good, but at the California Culinary Academy we had more fun in the baking kitchens because, well, we dispensed the goodies. Cookies, yummy cakes, petit fours, custards, caramel, godlike breads, pastries, ice cream, it's all good. And I am of the opinion that fresh yeast is a mood-altering substance. Ever met a surly baker? I've met some anti-social chocolatiers but every baker I've encountered was the love child of Santa Claus and a teddy bear.

So here's what I just picked up. A castle-shaped cake pan! It's at King Arthur Flour and yeah, it's pricey, but I saw it in the catalog, said "Okay, that's just too cool;" I had an e-mail coupon for discounts, and I'm running low on saffron and good vanilla so I got this, that and the other and saved a few shekels. Here's the link:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/detail.jsp?id=5695

I'm not a great one for cakes — prefer pies — but I immediately thought of a dozen things I could do with it. I picked the lowest shipping cost and it should be in my kitchen in a couple weeks. I'm thinking about baking a cake with it here, and taking it and whatever decorating niceties out to Burning Man with me and treat my camp to a fun cake on Burn Night.
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Post by RedEye »

I'm a bread-type myself. Some friends got me a "Bread-baker" and that got me really started.
Now, I use the proper pans, or the terra-cotta damn-huge tile in my oven for making breadstuff.
So far, I've made about a hundred loaves of various breads, and while everyone gripes "not one of those wierd breads again"...there ain't any left by the end of the evening. :wink:
Yeah, King Arthur Unbleached is my favorite flour as well, and Trader Joe's carries it.
Most recently, I made my usual brown bread recipe, but added a couple of Tbs of Molasses and a couple of Tbs of Brown Sugar (plus a scant quarter tsp of extra salt, for the yeast).
I hate it when I have to bake a second loaf because I ate the first one...
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Post by vrikasatma »

Yeah, my oven's lined with terracotta tiles, too. Nobody knows about those! Forget the $18 pizza stone from the kitchen boutique, just go to Home Depot, plunk down $5 and you've got yourself enough tiles to line one rack of your oven! They're no different.

Market of Choice (local chain) has King Arthur Flour and they also carry the local equivalent, Bob's Red Mill. I have both in my baker's cupboard.

My dream is to build a woodfired brick oven in my kitchen when I have a house of my own.
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Post by Kaebora »

I dislike most candy, and am not quite addicted to chocolate. Therefore my number one treat is pastries! So I just voted for Cakes. Cookies and pies would have been equal choices for me.
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Post by RedEye »

You're right about Home Depot, that's where I got my Terracotta. Special order, I think ( there were only six)...it was about 20" X 20" and Heavy!

Looking at the catalog- that covered french bread pan works for salmon as well...yummmmmm!

PS to all: DO NOT try to use Glazed tiles in your oven. They're glazed with a lead-based glaze that's fine for floors but toxic for food. UNglazed suff is what to use, terra cotta (flower pot red) is best. Bake them first before using them.

And Kaebora: if you have access to a stove, and like pastries; try making them! They're easier than you'd think, and taste twice as good as the store stuff.
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Post by vrikasatma »

A group of us Obama supporters decided to treat the National staff in town for the state campaign to some good home-cookin'. So about five or six of us foodies got together and we're gonna be making deliveries of the good stuff through the week. Subsisting on stale pizza, Diet Coke and Doritos just ain't kosher. No sir, not on my watch!

I've got a nice crock of sourdough barm bubblin' merrily away in the corner of my kitchen and I'll be treating the Obama office to some Eugene sourdough in a few days. I also have some apple slices macerating in local mead and that's going into a semi-sweet apple-honey-cinnamon stromboli with havarti. lck

Next week I'll whip up some of my Thai Chicken soup in the slow cooker and take that down.

Disgustin', innit? I'm having Campbell's and Quizno's for dinner while my candidate's campaign staff get the best o' me kitchen... ??
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Post by Shilo »

My folks have a bread baker - and I so need to learn to bake my own bread. Finding vegan bread is such a pain >_<, and I actually crave wheat bread if I go too long without it so... heeh. Yeah. Me and my grains - I so need to loose weight ... LoL
Amazingly though - I'm not much of a sweets person, so it's only whole grains, and really not cake, cookies or things like that I eat any more. Oh well ^_^
Do not fear the things that go bump in the night, they probably only came to raid your 'fridge ^_^
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Re: The Bakery

Post by vrikasatma »

Well, it's been awhile, but I'm back. Time to get this kitchen howling again.

I took my baking passion and skills and turned it into a bonafide business. I'm running a small-scale artisan bread operation. I rent the (awesome) kitchen at my local food bank and sell at farmers' markets. I specialize in focaccia but I'm diversifying into other semi-flatbreads, like Ekmek, Pain Tunisien and Broa, and baguettes in their various forms. Focaccia is basically baguette dough with olive oil added to it so they're not entirely different to work with.

About 50% of my basic ingredients come from within 100 miles from me. I found out how to process sea salt, it's appallingly easy, so I'll be making my own. And I'll be starting a barm using local cultures for the yeast early next week. What's really exciting is that I know my wheat farmer and I can introduce my customers to their farm. They mill their flour onsite and package it in cotton floursacks that they sew themselves. How cool is that?! :D

Right now I participate in three farmers' markets, and the plan is to be in five by year's end. I bake once a week on Thursdays.
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