Any Home Bakers Here?

[OrganicFarmWife]

 Soon we will move upto French toast.

and then pancakes..... drool.

Definitely
I cannot remember what my parents taught me to make from that point. It may be because she just started having me help with a lot of things. Gravy would be a good start, same me from standing there stirring. Mashed potatoes are one of her favorites, we could start that now too i would suppose.

 

[wyoDreamer]

My sister has a photo of her son making spaghetti sauce, standing on a chair with nothing but a diaper on. That was his specialty though he could make a couple of other things.

 

[room onthebroom]

Me too! I just wish I had one of the avid bakers at my house to do the cooking for me.

I was sent a book of New Orleans recipes and I've been wanting to make muffaletta (sp?) Has anyone ever had that? Is it nice?

I've never had an authentic muffalatta, but I do love a chopped olive salad on crackers. This thread puts my taste buds in overdrive... I just went from craving pancakes to craving an olive sandwich.

 

[Loc20chick]

@ronott1 the sourdough bread turned out good It was all gone in 2 days, I would love it to have some more sour flavor, Maybe next time I will remove the starter from the fridge 2 or 3 days before, feed it daily then use it and compare.

 

[ronott1]

@ronott1 the sourdough bread turned out good It was all gone in 2 days, I would love it to have some more sour flavor, Maybe next time I will remove the starter from the fridge 2 or 3 days before, feed it daily then use it and compare.

The Kaf recipe has a stronger sour flavor. You can make it have even a stronger flavor by adding the sour salt.

Extra-Tangy Sourdough Bread

At a Glance

Prep
15 mins. to 20 mins.
Bake
30 mins.
Total
23 hrs 45 mins. to 23 hrs 50 mins.
Yield
2 loaves
Overnight

This bread, with its mellow tang, is perfect for those who like their sourdough bread noticeably sour, but not mouth-puckeringly so. For extra-sour flavor, add 1/4 teaspoon sour salt (citric acid).

• 1 cup "fed" sourdough starter
• 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
• 5 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon to 5/8 teaspoon sour salt (citric acid), optional, for extra-sour bread

Directions

1. Combine the starter, water, and 3 cups of the flour. Beat vigorously for 1 minute.
2. Cover, and let rest at room temperature for 4 hours. Refrigerate overnight, for about 12 hours.
3. Add the remaining ingredients: 2 cups of flour, sugar, salt, and sour salt, if you're using it. Knead to form a smooth dough.
4. Allow the dough to rise in a covered bowl until it's relaxed, smoothed out, and risen. Depending on the vigor of your starter, it may become REALLY puffy, as pictured; or it may just rise a bit. This can take anywhere from 2 to 5 hours. Understand this: sourdough bread (especially sourdough without added yeast) is as much art as science; everyone's timetable will be different. So please allow yourself to go with the flow, and not treat this as an exact, to-the-minute process.
5. Gently divide the dough in half.
6. Gently shape the dough into two oval loaves, and place them on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap and let rise until very puffy, about 2 to 4 hours. Don't worry if the loaves spread more than they rise; they'll pick up once they hit the oven's heat. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425°F.
7. Spray the loaves with lukewarm water.
8. Make two fairly deep diagonal slashes in each; a serrated bread knife, wielded firmly, works well here.
9. Bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes, until it's a very deep golden brown. Remove it from the oven, and cool on a rack.

Tips from our bakers

• For a tasty loaf using commercial yeast (for faster rising), check out our recipe for Rustic Sourdough Bread.
• What makes the sour in sourdough bread? It's a combination of lactic and acetic acids, created as the dough rises and ferments. Refrigerating the dough encourages the production of more acetic than lactic acid; and acetic acid is much the tangier of the two. Thus, sourdough that's refrigerated before baking will have a more assertive sour flavor.
• Adding citric acid gives your bread an extra hit of "sour;" but don't be tempted to go beyond about 5/8 teaspoon in this recipe. A good rule of thumb for ultimate sourness, without too much deterioration of the crust and bread's structure, is 1/8 teaspoon sour salt for each cup of flour used.
• Depending on the thickness of your sourdough, you may need to add additional water or flour during the kneading stage. Your goal is a soft, elastic (but not sticky) dough.

 

[appps]

My sister has a photo of her son making spaghetti sauce, standing on a chair with nothing but a diaper on.  That was his specialty though he could make a couple of other things.

Too cute . My kids have always cooked, it helped with picky eaters too. IVe seen parents of school age kids asking if it's safe to let kids cook yet sigh. My kids were using forks and spoons at 18 months, my brothers daughter was still using her fingers 90% of the time at 4. Sometimes they are more capable than we give them credit for lol as long as you are watching them kids can be pretty good little cooks . My kids loved when they got to do a three course meal for dinner, though there was always a bit of an argument about which of the three got desert lol. My sister called over in the middle of it once and was blown away that the kids were cooking rack of lamb with herb bread crust. Hers were doing macaroni cheese from a packet at about the same age lol

 

[appps]

@ronott1
 the sourdough bread turned out good It was all gone in 2 days, I would love it to have some more sour flavor, Maybe next time I will remove the starter from the fridge 2 or 3 days before, feed it daily then use it and compare. 

I found mine got sourer the older it got. My problem was the opposite, I like it sour but the kids didn't so I needed less sour flavour. I gave up in the end because nobody but me was eating it.

 

[appps]

Ha ha ha found this little gem . Here is my youngest cooking French herbed chicken at age 9

(They were huge Masterchef fans lol)

 

[ronott1]

Too cute . My kids have always cooked, it helped with picky eaters too. IVe seen parents of school age kids asking if it's safe to let kids cook yet sigh. My kids were using forks and spoons at 18 months, my brothers daughter was still using her fingers 90% of the time at 4. Sometimes they are more capable than we give them credit for lol as long as you are watching them kids can be pretty good little cooks . My kids loved when they got to do a three course meal for dinner, though there was always a bit of an argument about which of the three got desert lol. My sister called over in the middle of it once and was blown away that the kids were cooking rack of lamb with herb bread crust. Hers were doing macaroni cheese from a packet at about the same age lol

My Daughters(we only have daughters. Three of them) started cooking as babies--well as supervisors--I would put them into the Jerry Carrier on my back and they would watch from over my shoulder as I cooked. They started using chefs knives at an early age and that really freaks people out.

I took my youngest daughter with me to a Church social I was working at. It was at a place with industrial cook tops. You would not believe the number of people that told her to leave the kitchen since it was too dangerous for her to be in there. I told them that she was very familiar with stoves and would not have a problem. She was 12 then. Needless to say I resigned from that committee. All three of my daughters are very good cooks and have made some amazing things!

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Too cute . My kids have always cooked, it helped with picky eaters too. IVe seen parents of school age kids asking if it's safe to let kids cook yet sigh. My kids were using forks and spoons at 18 months, my brothers daughter was still using her fingers 90% of the time at 4. Sometimes they are more capable than we give them credit for lol as long as you are watching them kids can be pretty good little cooks . My kids loved when they got to do a three course meal for dinner, though there was always a bit of an argument about which of the three got desert lol. My sister called over in the middle of it once and was blown away that the kids were cooking rack of lamb with herb bread crust. Hers were doing macaroni cheese from a packet at about the same age lol

My Daughters(we only have daughters. Three of them) started cooking as babies--well as supervisors--I would put them into the Jerry Carrier on my back and they would watch from over my shoulder as I cooked. They started using chefs knives at an early age and that really freaks people out.

I took my youngest daughter with me to a Church social I was working at. It was at a place with industrial cook tops. You would not believe the number of people that told her to leave the kitchen since it was too dangerous for her to be in there. I told them that she was very familiar with stoves and would not have a problem. She was 12 then. Needless to say I resigned from that committee. All three of my daughters are very good cooks and have made some amazing things!

12? I was cooking full meals alone at 12