To Sub Or Not To Sub....

There is a fine line between maintaining the unadulterated recipe that has been true blue for you, or has come to you with high accolades, or to substitute where you either see fit, or need to. Now there are substitutions which allegedly are for the betterment of usually the health of the individual; substituting apple sauce for butter, or adding carrots or zucchini. However, if they truly do not affect the taste, why wasn't it an option from the original recipe? Why did it have to be an ammendment by a vegetarian or nutritionist. Don't get me wrong; I am very big into health. I walk, or jog, and ride a bike. I will climb stairs, as opposed to taking an elevator or escalator, and get as many of my family to accompany me as possible. I love to eat all kinds of veggies and fruits, and whole grain breads. However, if I want ice cream, it is something full of fat and goodies...if I want pizza, it has real cheese, and pepperoni, and sometimes even sausage on it. I love pieogi, kielbasa, and a thick t-bone steak with a baked potato dripping with butter and sour cream, so why am I going to mess with, and mess up a beautiful chocolate chip cookie, or banana bread recipe? Some fitness guru once said, that if you wanted to lose weight, "...move more, and eat less." If that doesn't make sense, what does? I prefer to go that route, as opposed to shoving stuff into my chocolate chip rum cake that just shouldn't be there.
Of course there are some exceptions, and I don't want to hear you diabetics who need to substitute stuff or eat a very boring menu, and mothers who are trying to trick their husbands and kids by shoving minced up veggies into your baked goods crying out at my blog and saying, "easy for you to say!" To that I would say, "yes...it is easy for me to say." It's always easier said than done, and we pick our battles, and I am not trying to start a fight nor insult anyone. I am just offering an opinion in taste. Also, not to hoodwink you, but I have substituted in the past as well. My substitutions, however, have usually been by necessity, not design. I have substituted cola or root beer for vanilla extract in early years, and no one knew. I guess it was because of the bit of vanilla taste in those beverages, and the fact that it was such a minute amount of vanilla called for in the recipe anyway. I have also substituted, oleo for butter(not as good), fat free sour cream for regular(not as rich), and oatmeal put through a food processor for flour. This final substitution worked I believe because in the end I was using oat flour instead of wheat flour...more or less.
So, substitute if you wish. That is your choice. Me, I will wait until I can run out and get more buttermilk, rather than substitute skim milk for it in my banana bread recipe I'm making today.

GIngerbread Isn't That Difficult

So, I guess I should have entitled this "Good Gingerbread...." Ihave tasted

way too many sub-par, or not tasty gingerbread cookies, and I really don't see the problem? It's a basic recipe that must be chilled til firm then rolled out on on a floured board, with flour between the dough and rolling pin as well. Yes, it can get sticky and messy if you don't have the patience or willingness to listen. I make gingerbread very often throughout the year, and although it's not always Christmas time, they are often shaped like snowmen, and Christmas trees, as well as ghosts and the men themselves. Now and again, when my kids are not present, and I am making them for people outside of my family, I will do simple circles. However, notwithstanding the shapes, let us delve into the difficulties of gingerbread making.

First off, I start out with a basic recipe, of which I measure as much as possible by weight. I have a small digital kitchen scale which can measure things in your choice of grams, kg, ounces, or pounds and ounces. I find this to be more accurate than outright measuring or flour sugar, and such by the cup. Therefore, if the recipe comes in weight measurement, that is what I use.

I combine 4oz of brown sugar with 4oz of softened, unsalted butter and beat til light and fluffy, or well blended...about 2-3 mins. I then blend in at medium speed, 6oz(not fluid oz) of molasses and one egg. Combine well and set aside.

In a separate bowl, I wisk together 12oz all purpose flour, 1tsp baking soda, 1/2tsp salt, 2tsp ginger, 1tsp cinnamon, 1/2tsp nutmeg, and 1/2tsp cloves. Two things to note here: first I use a wisk, others have used a food processor, but the main idea is to combine all of these ingredients together as homogeneously as possible; second thing is to use fresh ingredients. Most spices shelf lifes deteriorate more rapidly than they are used in a common kitchen, therefore your cookie's taste may be weaker than you want(particularly if you use clear/see through spice bottles and they are exposed to the light.) I know this sounds trite, but I think that every little bit of information helps when you are seeking the perfect cookie.

Now while the mixer is on low, add in the dry ingredients slowly, so as not to create a floury smoke screen. Make sure you pause periodically to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure total combining, AND DO NOT OVERMIX! When a recipe says to add the flour mixture until "JUST" combined, then do so. When you continue to mix, you are toughening your cookie. You don't want this. So, now it's all combined and you scrape out this sticky dough onto plastic wrap, where you try to wrap it in somewhat of a disk shape and put it into your refrigerater until it is chilled enough to be firm. Do not put it into the freezer, this will add to moisture separation and a bad product.

After a couple of hours, not 10 minutes, set oven to 325 degrees F, pull out dough and roll it out onto a well floured board, to about the width of a pencil. almost 1/4 inch. Dip cookie cutter into flour and cut out shapes as closely together as possible. This is very important for the fact that the more you have to reroll the dough, again the tougher the cookie will become. You want as few rerolls as possible. With an offset spatula carefully lift the shapes, and place them onto a parchment lined sheet pan, dusting off as much excess flour as possible. When placing cookies, please allow an inch or so between cookies for expansion while baking. Place the full cookie sheet either onto the "C" rack of your oven for almost 13 mins; until the edges just start to brown; or if you are alternating with another sheetpan of the same, place one on the "B" level rack, and the other on the "D" level rack. If you do it the second way, after 6:20 seconds, switch the sheet pans on the racks, turning each pan 180 degrees; cooking for about another 6:20. {The rack levels are based upon a five level, rack adjustable, oven, where there top level is level "A", and the bottom is level "E"}

Once these cookies are removed from the oven, allow them to cool on their pans for about two minutes, then carefully, using an offset spatula, transfer them to a wire cooling rack. {they will still be soft} Once they are thoroughly cooled, you may look to frosting them. I prefer to use a mixture of powdered sugar, egg whites, lemon juice and water...a variation of "Royal Icing." If you make these cookies, using this blog, and you do not get the best gingerbread cookies ever, I need to hear about it. Happy Baking:)

The Attempts Continue

How delinquent am I! When your in charge of the household for a wife, four boys, and a dog, I guess you need to be a little more diligent about your blogs, huh? Sorry for the lapse and I will attempt to be more attentive in the future.

Attempting to find new and nutritious foods for my wife and children, not to mention meals they will want to eat, is always a challenge. I love them all, but aside from my eldest son Thomas, my family does not have what you would call a broad palate. Hershey bars and a coke was my wife's breakfast while she pushed through college, and I think, if she had her way, she wouldn't have changed. However, giving respect to trying to teach the children how to eat right, that and Mother Nature playing her usual mean tricks on women who bear children in their late 30's and early 40's, my wife is really trying to follow my lead in eating more nutritiously. Of course old habits die hard, and Rome wasn't built in a day, and all that.... Nonetheless, this past week or so, I opened my Mexican cook book, and after a few days of chili con carne, I presented my family with Chicken Flautas. Now, although this isn't exactly the most nutritious of meals, what with the frying of the finished product, and serving it with guacamole, it at least was a different dish than the usual boring fare my family has allowed me to serve them with successful devouring. Alas, my home made salsa was ignored, and as for the flautas themselves, although they were delicious, were only enjoyed by the three eldest; me, my wife, and Tom.

Ok, so I'll attempt breakfast. Yesterday I made baked apple pancakes. I thought it turned out a bit flat, but tasty nonetheless. This opinion was shared with my wife and Tom. You know, someday, my three littlest just might surprise me and like something the rest of us do. Until then, I've grown to expect dissappointment without depression. Oh well, school starts in three short weeks and then, for the most part, it's back to cereal and toast for their breakfasts, and and egg and cheese muffin sandwich for my wife, that is if she gets a job by then...but that's another story.