KitchenAid sixty minute rolls

1/2 cup low-fat milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons butter
3 packages active dry yeast (2 tablespoons + 3/4 teaspoons)
1 1/2 cup warm water
4 1/2 cups (600 grams) + 1/2-1/1/2 cups (<200 grams) all purpose flour.

Heat milk, sugar, salt, and butter over low heat until butter is melted and sugar dissolves.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in mixing bowl. Add 4 1/2 cups flour and lukewarm milk mixture. Mix with dough hook for 1 minute at speed 2.

Add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time and mix about 2 minutes until dough cleans the side of the bowl. Continue about 2 minutes more until dough is smooth and elastic.

Place dough in oiled bowl, turning to oil top. Cover and let rise in warm place about 15 minutes. Turn dough on lightly floured surface. Shape as desired and cover. Cut into 24 balls or strips and roll up. Let rise 15 minutes at 90 degrees F.  Bake at 425 degrees F until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Notes:

The KitchenAid mixer manual does this as a modification of the basic white bread recipe. I find it easier to  have it all modified in one place.

24 balls on a half baking sheet make fairly tall dinner rolls. The curlicue version need two half sheets to spread out properly.

Pickled carrots

From Food in Jars: pickled carrots.

Small-Batch Pickling Brine

1 cup filtered water
1 cup apple cider vinegar (make sure it’s commercial vinegar that is at least 5% acidity)
1 tablespoon pickling salt (or 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt)

A palmful (each) of at least a few of the following:

• crushed bay leaves
• peppercorns
• hot pepper flakes
• allspice berries
• coriander seeds
• whole cloves

Homemade Crackers

Homemade Crackers from Food in Jars

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon salt (add a bit more if you like a saltier cracker)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup water

Pre-heat over to 450 degrees.

Combine the flours and salt in a bowl. Add the olive oil and water and stir until you have a cohesive ball of dough (you’ll need to use your hands to really get it all together). Set aside for 15-20 minutes.

While you wait, mix up an optional spice/seed blend  Here's an example.

2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons poppyseeds
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon fennel seed

After the dough has rested a bit, divide it into two pieces, flour a board and rolling pin and roll the dough out until it’s as thin as you can get it. Put on a parchment-covered cookie sheet, brush with water and sprinkle with your spice/seed mixture or salt (kosher or a coarse sea salt is best here). Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into squares or diamonds and bake for 10-12 minutes).

Let the crackers cool completely and then store them in an airtight container. If you don’t eat them all up, they’ll last at least a week on the counter.

They are also delicious sprinkled with parmesan cheese. Each recipe makes between 40-50 crackers, depending on how small you make your cuts.

Rich cinnamon rolls

Another recipe book mark.
Cinnamon rolls

I've been making a version nearly identical to these for many years. They are very rich and have a very strong cinnamon flavor, similar to a mall brand.

Dough:
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F / 45 degrees C)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Filling: 1 cup brown sugar, packed 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon 1/3 cup butter, softened Frosting: 3 ounces cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup butter, softened 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/8 teaspoon salt

Make dough and let rise.After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll dough into a 16x20 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 18 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together Frosting ingredients. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Notes: The second rise doesn't seem to be necessary. I think the butter helps leaven the dough during baking as much as the yeast. I've tried mixing the butter into the filling instead of buttering the dough. It is a little hard to spread evenly but it is a little less messy. It takes longer than 15 minutes for my oven. You might want to double the frosting recipe, and you can use 1/3 less cream cheese. (The original recipe used 1 oz of cream cheese and 3/4 cup powdered sugar, a pinch of salt with 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 t vanilla. I think I like this version better.) I have cut 24 rolls out for smaller servings. 12 rolls makes a very loose packing. I found my original recipe which called for cutting 18 rolls and that makes a better fit than 12.  A layout of 3x6 doesn't work well for 18 in a 9x13 inch pan, it turns into 3 rows of 4 and 2 rows of 3 so cutting them is a little awkward.  24 allows a 4x6 layout that makes for a very tight fit. 20 rolls in a 4x5 might work a bit better. My rolls tend to end up irregular anyway, so I haven't worried about getting regular rows. I've replaced half the sugar in the dough with Spenda and use Neuchatel in place of cream cheese to help minimize the calories, but it's probably a drop in the bucket.

Easy Whole Grain Flatbread

Another Mark Bittman recipe I want to bookmark: Easy Whole Grain Flatbread.
http://content.markbittman.com/node/27

I made this bread once a long time ago without the optional flavorings.

Olive oil matzo

From Mark Bittman in the New York times a recipe for Sardinian flat bread. This works well as a base for serving tomato sauce poached eggs.

Here's the related article

Olive Oil Helps Produce a Classic Flatbread.

2 cups flour1/2 teaspoon salt1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup water

Sea salt, optional.

Heat oven to 500 F. Add flour, salt and oil to food processor and start it. Add water and mix until a firm ball forms. Cut into 12 pieces, flatten and bake on a cookie sheet until golden brown and puffy, about 5 minutes. Flip and finish browning. These can burn quickly, so keep an eye on them.

One pot bread trial 2

One pot bread trial 2

A follow up to: one-pot-bread

3/4 scale
400 ml water
455 g flour
1.5 t salt
1 t yeast

I started with 355 g flour by mistake. added 100g after 10 minutes.
First rise 2 hours mixed down and placed in oiled pan with wheat bran lining.

Started baking in 425 F oven after 10 3/4 hours refrigerator rise. Checked at 40, 45, 50, done at 55 minutes?

It still needed a knife around the sides, but it popped out with a sharp rap on the bottom of the pan.

Should try a cold oven start.

Thanksgiving smoke

Just some notes about smoking a pork shoulder with a Traeger grill Thanksgiving south of Portland.

The pork shoulder portion was around 8 pounds. It was on a V rack with a pan underneath. I used Kansas City rub within 30 minutes of smoking.

 The weather was cloudy with variable winds gusting a times with temperatures in the low 40's I think.  I had a thermometer placed along side the meat pan farthest away from the built in thermometer of the grill. The internal temperature of the grill would be stable after warm up until the winds gusted, when it would drop 25-30 F or more from the temperature at the built in Traeger thermometer. The thermostat was set first to Smoke then 225 when it was calm and from 250 to 300 when the wind came up with the resulting temperature of 220 to 270. The meat temperature varied from 165 to 180 when I removed it. It was allowed to rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing.

The meat took 8 hours to get to a pork roast state without the resting period.

The roast was moderately smoky and fairly tender with good flavor.

Bread sticks

From http://www.kqed.org/w/morefastfoodmyway/episode209.html

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread about 2 tablespoons good olive oil evenly on a cookie sheet. Cut 1/2-inch slices from a 6-ounce piece of country-style bread. Cut each slice lengthwise into breadsticks about 1 inch wide. You should have about 2 dozen. Arrange the sticks in one layer on the oiled pan and press on them lightly. Turn the sticks over on the pan and press on them lightly again so they are oiled on both sides. In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese and 1/2 teaspoon each paprika and ground cumin. Sprinkle over the breadsticks. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they are nicely browned and crisp.

My results:

One pot bread

Jacques Pépin one pot bread. From more fast food my way.

2 1/4-2 1/2 c tepid water
1 t yeast
2 t salt
4 c flour (scoop and level ~3 cups / pound)

Mix in non stick 3-4 quart oven proof sauce pan. Cover and let rise 60-90 minutes room temp. Stir to "break" the dough. Cover, and optionally refrigerate overnight (8-16 hours) to develop flavor. Let rise (until double?). Bake in preheated 425 - 450 degree oven 30-40 minutes with the lid off. Allow the pan to cool and the bread to pull away from the sides.

Notes.

There are a lot of variables here. I used 2 1/2 cups of water. My 4 cups weighed a little over 20 oz (585g). I used a bowl for the first rise and spray oiled a stainless steel pan. The first rise was 90 minutes. The second about 45 with no refrigeration. I baked in a toaster oven with convection on at 425 for 30 minutes. A bamboo skewer came out clean. I took the pan out to cool. The bread didn't pull away after several minutes and the bread was still stuck. I ran a knife around the edge and After pressing on the sides the bread came free. The bottom was quite moist. I used the skewer on the bottom and it came back gooey. The hard top crust must have cleaned the skewer the first time. I placed it upside down out of the pan in the toaster oven for 10 more minutes. The interior is still quite moist.

Try scaling by 3/4 for 3 quart sauce pan. Use less water. Weigh flour for 3 cups per pound ratio. Don't use convection. Use regular oven. Use wheat bran with oil spray for easier release.

Follow up post here: one-pot-bread-trial-2.

Kansas City dry rub.

Here's a basic Kansas City rub.

http://bbq.about.com/od/rubrecipes/r/bl91211a.htm

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup paprika
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients together and transfer to an air tight container. Maybe stored up to six months.

Banana yeast bread

This is a light banana bread made with yeast. It has a subtle banana flavor. It is improved with a small amount of cinnamon or allspice, but it the banana flavor is easily over powered so go lightly.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Banana-Yeast-Bread

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 5-1/4 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 teaspoon water

Congratulations.

Congratulations to my opponent  Evelyn Lemoine in her winning the chair of the Standing Nominating committee.

Senior Caucus Forum opening remarks

My opening remarks at the Senior Caucus candidate forum:

Hello members in Olympia, Spokane and Seattle. Thank you for giving me this time to speak to you. 

My name is Jay Sundahl and I am running for the chair of the Standing Nominating committee because this is an office that is vital to the membership.

I have received my health care from Group Health for over 30 years.
I have been active in consumer governance for about 10 years as part of the
• Northgate Medical Center Advisory Council,
• the Assembly,
• the Senior Caucus Executive Committee,
• the Cooperative Development Committee,
• and the Standing Nominating Committee.

I am a retired software developer. I've been a lead developer. I've had experience with contract service providers and have been a contract developer myself. At Group Health I've chaired the Assembly and am currently chair of my Medical Center Advisory council.

The Standing Nominating Committee was formed in 1979 to nominate a slate of diverse candidates. It is composed of members like you.
Our bylaws ask the Standing Nominating Committee to make every effort to nominate a competitive slate of candidates. I believe it is important to give members a meaningful choice in candidates.
Recently the Standing Nominating Committee has been given the duty of setting the compensation for the Board. Previously the Board set its own compensation. As a new process I think we are still working out the kinks. The committee can and should be more transparent to the cooperative about proposed changes and solicit opinions about trustee compensation from the membership as well as outside advisers.

You are probably aware that Group Health is not a cooperative but is legal organized as a not for profit corporation. However, it has traditionally aspired to reflect cooperative values. I believe that keeping the cooperative spirit alive requires action by all of us, including our board members. It is important to continue to consider the candidates support for the cooperative nature of Group Health.
To reiterate what I wrote in my candidate statement, I intend to
• make sure all the Committee members can participate,
• get our work done on time,
• conform to the Cooperative Bylaws,
• keep the process fair,
• make the process as comfortable as possible for everyone involved,
•and keep out of the way when others are doing their job.

I'd appreciate your vote to help me keep the Cooperative Spirit alive.

Senior Caucus Candidate Forum

The 2011 Senior Caucus Candidate forum is Thursday September 8 as part of their annual meeting. The meeting starts at 4 P.M. and the forum is scheduled to start at 4:55.

Location details are here:
https://member.ghc.org/public/classesAndEvents/class.jhtml;jsessionid=RXX4WFUFU034RJCISQ3SKTQ?reposid=/common/news/events/20110726-srcaucus.html&type=calendar&region=2

Quick Greek olive yeast bread recipe

This bread takes about 90 minutes from start to out of the oven with another 15-30 minutes to cool.

You can mix and knead this with a heavy duty mixer or by hand. I've done it both ways, and it seems to be easier over all to do this by hand, especially if you consider clean up. It's a very wet dough, so mixing by hand isn't that difficult.

My GHC ballot arrived yesterday.

The Group Health Cooperative ballots are arriving now. Don't forget to vote!

Welcome

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