To break up the monotony of online school, my son and I made Bittman’s no knead with some fresh rosemary and it looked so good. As of a year ago I must be gluten free and seeing and smelling this bread was hard. Hadn’t made it in a long time. Does anyone know of a good and easy crusty bread like Bittman’s that’s GF? I’ve not been very good about exploring in this regard.
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Ugh didn’t know you’re GF - surely there must be some great GF-bread making recipes for you. I know USA people who have said that they’ve eaten bread in Europe. Maybe some European flours could work for you? I’ve seen imported 00 flour from Italy for “pasta” and surely other uses.

last question on Costco - would you be able to let your adult child do the Costco shopping so that you don’t have to feel stressed when you go there? I’ll never ask again and I did sense strong levels of stress and anxiety when you went to Costco.

I sought 00 flour and bought an Italy-made Semolina flour. No idea if it’ll be a decent substitute and I bought 3 more frozen dough balls at 1.99 (multigrain) and 2.49 (WW) as a hedge.

but I saw so many GF options in the flour section - would these work for any GF people?


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That’s quite a selection of GF flour!!! I’ve only just begun baking with GF flour. The cookies I made were good (cream cheese ingredient seemed to help). It was very hard for me in Europe last summer with all the baguettes and croissants! Italy was actually okay bc everywhere has GF noodle option. I just haven’t explored enough for bread. I want a crusty one. Worried I won’t find one. May try this tomorrow. https://www.foodiesofnewengland.com/...e-flour-blend/

About Costco. My adult child could do it but I’d end up with prob half of what I wanted LOL. Plus, I canceled his car insurance bc he wasn’t driving anywhere! A friend went on Monday late afternoon and said it was quite quiet. So next time I need to go, I will strategize better. Thankfully are stocked for a good few weeks. I can still do curbside from grocer.

More baking of roll-ppang last night while playing online poker with friends. The whale who beat me with a better flush was making the Tartine country loaves - he made 4 loaves and has 4 kids. We were both baking while playing online poker but I started late and finished my own buns way after the game ended at 11; I didn’t get to bed til past 1. But boy did the roll-ppang taste so great.
I have to try making sourdough since it’s a favorite. That’ll be a new adventure.
big thank you forever to LapLap for this user-friendly recipe. I still can’t believe it.
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I hope that everyone finds a yummy baking option for GF when needed. I initially made a cinnamon loaf in paleo / GF with almond flour on that BritanyAngel site. But yeah, at Gus’ Market, all I could do was think of your GF comment. I know it’s not safeway but I’ll assume there are even more options out there!

may your future Costco visit have less stress :-)

Still practicing scoring the loaves. Didn't get deep enough on the round loaf, apparently, but the oblong one developed a nice ear. This was the inaugural use of the oblong Dutch oven I recently ordered, and aside from the dents on the side from my excessive parchment paper, it worked great.

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The Dutch oven was an Amazon Basics model, like my round one, and about 1/6th what the similarly-sized cast iron bread loaf baker I considered cost. ($40 vs. $250)

We had lobster rolls today as part of my spouse’s birthday.
how can I make the hot dog bun in the lobster roll style, and can I use the roll-ppang dough?


and how do I make sourdough - I’m a noob at it.

Yes you can. Use a proofing cloth (cotton or linen covered in flour). There are also baking “trays” with grooves designed for French bread batons that could be ordered online, but these aren’t necessary.

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This adaptation of a Jim Lahey method/recipe is stunningly simple, so much so that it has become a lockdown habit. I measure out and stir together the ingredients in a large pot with a lid on it the evening before and finish it off the next morning, ready by lunch time.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/...no-knead-bread

As for the sour dough starter... it was straightforward for me as I had a 50pound (25kg) sack of 80% extracted flour delivered straight from the millers, couldn’t have been fresher, and the yeast cultures within it bubbled into life within a couple of days - it was more than ready by day four.

I would strongly suggest you first master the Bittman recipe for no-knead bread before going down the sourdough route.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/...no-knead-bread

This is my 10 year old’s first loaf using the Bittman recipe and baked in an AirFryer. It was made with standard, all purpose flour (our miller’s flour sack hadn’t arrived at this point)
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Well done! That’s a skill that has completely eluded me. Have never ever managed to make a decent score in a loaf.

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thanks to LapLap and everyone for the bread inspiration.
how can I make these $3.49 corn cherry scones? I assume dried cherries.
i know how to make simple cream scones from an online cooking class taught for free from another mom on our sports team. I made chocolate chip scones and will never ever buy it again. Plus quiche.
the class was so great that I contributed $50 instead of suggested $10/20 for the joint teacher gift.

recipe below for reference.

Cream Biscuits
Preheat the oven to 400F
2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1⁄2 tsp. salt
1 1⁄2 cup heavy cream, plus 2 Tbsp for brushing the top of the scones before putting them into the oven.
For sweet biscuits add 1⁄4 c. sugar.
For chocolate chip scones add 1 c mini chocolate chips
For currant scones add 1⁄2 c currants.
You can make these add of time, cut them, freeze them and bake them frozen. This is the ultimate easy peasy recipe.
1. Combine the dry ingredients.
2. Add the heavy cream and stir gently until a shaggy dough forms.
3. Turn the dough out onto a counter top and knead a couple of times.
4. Pat the dough into a circle, 1⁄2” thick. Using a biscuit cutter, cut circles out of the
dough and place on a baking sheet pan.
5. Brush the top of the biscuits with heavy cream and bake for about 15 minutes, until
golden brown.


i

Scones either have egg or just milk/cream. The scones you want to replicate are rather golden, that suggests eggs to me. Also, eggs might help “hold” dry fruit in them better than a non-egg scone recipe.

Egg or no egg, secret of scone recipes is to touch the flour and fat as lightly and as little as possible. Use refrigerated fat, cut the fat into tiny pieces before mixing it in with the flour so that you can do this with as few finger pinches as possible, once you introduce the wet ingredients work on keeping contact to a minimum as you encourage it into a dough, the cooler your hands the better.
I’ve never used cherries in a scone, but I have used dried blueberries. You might want to cut up the dried cherry pieces if they are bigger than raisins.

Delia Smith has been the go to chef for English families wanting guidance since the 1970s, she covers all the classics and for things like this is completely reliable.
https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/...h-fruit-scones

Bear in mind that in this recipe Delia seems to have found a “cheat” allowing novices to incorporate cold butter easily into the flour - she lists softer “spreadable butter”. In the U.K. this might be 70% butter with canola/rapeseed oil blended into it which allows it to be spread straight from the fridge. I personally would use normal butter.

Saying all that, the golden colour may well be cornmeal/polenta. And if that’s the case these have no relation to English scones. You’re in American “Biscuit” territory there, much too foreign for advice from me!

Thank you LapLap. I remain blown away.

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These roll-ppang are amazing warm. Again, until April 2020, I had never truly baked or used yeast or used ingredients that were true ingredients. I only knew box mixes. I will never again buy a box mix or buy things that I know how to make. One day I’ll make croissants and chocolate croissants. I know to buy MINI CHIPS instead of chocolate chips.

all thanks to LapLap and flyer talk.


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My go-to cherry scones recipe is in Bo Frieberg's The Professional Pastry Chef cookbook. It's probably overkill unless you're already weighing everything (and I double the amount of dried cherries it calls for). You toss the dried cherries in part of the flour before folding in as the last step.

His recipe uses cream, honey, flour, baking powder, and a cream wash dusted with sugar IIRC. Pretty much like the recipe you posted, though by weight instead of volume, and with the honey to give just a little sweetness (they're definitely not super-sweet).

thanks! Do you use regular all-purpose flour? Would you use corn flour or cornmeal for a corn cherry scone?

I googled this and found a Slate article that specifically mentioned Arizmendi’s and this recipe.

Cornmeal-Cherry Scones

https://food52.com/recipes/34873-cornmeal-cherry-scones

Ingredients send grocery list

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups cornmeal (medium grind, but fine is fine too)
• 1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks), cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3/4 cup dried sweet cherries
• 1 cup buttermilk

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 425° F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add the salt, sugar, and cornmeal and mix together.
3. With a pastry cutter or a couple of butter knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it is the size of peas. Mix in the cherries, and then make a well in the center and pour in the buttermilk. Mix briefly, just until the dough comes together; it should be stiff and still a little sticky. (Don't worry about getting every last bit of flour.) Let rest for 5 minutes.
4. Form the dough into balls about 2 inches in diameter and place them on the baking sheets a couple of inches apart. Place in the oven and immediately turn down the temperature to 375° F. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the scones are golden. Cool on a wire rack.

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Semi-inspired by mention of cornmeal cherry scones, corn bread is about the easiest thing you’ll ever bake. I like mine Yankee-style, with extra sugar and in muffin form. Serving tonight with glazed ham, sweet potatoes and sautéed Brussels sprouts.

fantastic!! Thanks for the inspiration :-)

I used my sharpest knife until very recently (a Japanese white steel one that I hone before every use and sharpen about every 2-3 weeks depending on usage). I recently obtained a bread lame and thus use razor blades.

The keys are in having the gluten property developed (you should be able to make a windowpane), a sharp blade, and making a decisive cut. You can also go back over the prior cut if it's not deep enough.


I use AP I believe for those scones, yes.

On corn meal, I would recommend the finest grind you can get (unless you want slightly-gritty scones--that might be desired), and you will likely need to up the amount of liquid a bit. I know my cornbread dough is wetter than scone dough, anyway.