What Have You Cooked Recently?

Gave the gluten free bread another shot and it didn't form into a dough at all. I struggled with my normal people bread a few days earlier and I suspect it's because of the temperature? Would it be safe to let all of my doughs rise in the oven with the light on regardless of kitchen temperature?

Made chilaquiles for breakfast today. 2 eggs, a pile of tortilla chips, some salsa and shredded cheese. One of my favorites.
 
PositiveMonk said:
Gave the gluten free bread another shot and it didn't form into a dough at all. I struggled with my normal people bread a few days earlier and I suspect it's because of the temperature? Would it be safe to let all of my doughs rise in the oven with the light on regardless of kitchen temperature?
Click to expand...
The dough can be super finicky. I made gluten free pizza again using a recipe I've made countless times before and the dough was basically liquid until I dumped a handful of flour in. The temperature thing is weird, it should be kept around 75-80 degrees ideally but my pizza didn't rise at all and still baked ridiculously fluffy? Thickest pizza I've made so far.
20250121_183926.jpg20250121_185005.jpg
Gloves were due to making a normal people pizza while eating, didn't want cross contamination.
I usually set my oven on broil for a few minutes to warm it up and crack the door to cool it enough to put the dough in since my light is broken but I assume that'd work well as long as the oven doesn't get too hot to kill the yeast. I also put a damp cloth over the dough or a sheet pan/bowl with some water on a lower rack to keep it humid.

Typically when making my bread, my issue is that the dough is too soft. In that case, I'd risk a few extra tablespoons of flour until it comes together. I don't think you can "overmix" gluten free doughs since there is no gluten to overmix so no need to worry about that. And of course dry dough can be fixed by adding warm water/milk so you don't kill the yeast.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vect and PositiveMonk
Bronze Age Baddie said:
Typically when making my bread, my issue is that the dough is too soft. In that case, I'd risk a few extra tablespoons of flour until it comes together. I don't think you can "overmix" gluten free doughs since there is no gluten to overmix so no need to worry about that. And of course dry dough can be fixed by adding warm water/milk so you don't kill the yeast.
Click to expand...
The first time I made the gluten free bread the ingredients formed a batter, which the recipe said was expected, but I immediately gained confidence in it after the first rise when it had become dough like. This time, it did not reach that dough phase. So I gave it an extra 20 minutes. Then tried kneading it. Let it rise for the recipe time and an additional 30 minutes. It was still batter. There was no way I was shaping it into bread at that point, but I still tried.
Bronze Age Baddie said:
Gloves were due to making a normal people pizza while eating, didn't want cross contamination.
Click to expand...
I ended up using gloves for that GF bread attempt. But only because I could see it was very much a batter and I didn't want to deal with having that all over my hands.
Bronze Age Baddie said:
And of course dry dough can be fixed by adding warm water/milk so you don't kill the yeast.
Click to expand...
I didn't really consider the yeast. I used a different brand than I usually do. I wonder if possibly it was a different type of yeast I should have handled differently. I believe it was still instant yeast so it should have been fine.

Baking is so temperamental, every little change can radically impact the outcome. Makes me more interested in learning how it works though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mandy Stroyer
PositiveMonk said:
The first time I made the gluten free bread the ingredients formed a batter, which the recipe said was expected, but I immediately gained confidence in it after the first rise when it had become dough like. This time, it did not reach that dough phase.
Click to expand...
I know there's batter and dough based gluten free breads but never heard of one that went from one to the other. That batter one I made with my soup a while ago did get thicker after it rose but definitely wasn't a dough consistency that I could shape. It sounds like you did everything you could to save it but bread is very temperamental and sometimes just doesn't want to cooperate because it's a weekday that ends in a Y. I'd throw it in a loaf pan anyway and see how it works out. I do like the dough ones more since the bread has a better texture and flavor but they are much harder to deal with.
It formed a dough I could shape and rose really well but ended up pancaking itself.
20250112_133150.jpg20250112_144922.jpg20250112_154118.jpg
Preferable to batter breads even with the extra work but it would not have cooked through in a loaf pan so I was stuck with oddly shaped bread that was maybe at most 2 inches thick at the center.
PositiveMonk said:
I didn't really consider the yeast. I used a different brand than I usually do. I wonder if possibly it was a different type of yeast I should have handled differently. I believe it was still instant yeast so it should have been fine.
Click to expand...
Red star has always been my go to, but I use the natural active dry yeast since I can't have sorbitol. I bloom it in some 100-110F water with a half teaspoon of sugar for a couple minutes. The issue is it's easy to kill so everything else I add to my dough can't be too hot or cold. Instant yeast worked most of the time but I think the times it didn't were again due to adding something too hot or cold. Also make sure you're storing it somewhere away from the oven since the temperature fluctuations can kill it in the package.
 
  • Informative
  • Feels
Reactions: CallmeCicada and PositiveMonk
souschef said:
Try hollandaise with steaks, they pair great
Click to expand...
I think especially filet mignon goes well with either hollandaise or bearnaise. Hollandaise also good with lightly steamed or roasted asparagus, either with steak or not. I specify filet mignon because while it has top notch texture, the flavor leaves something to be desired so it is improved by a sauce.

I usually wouldn't use a sauce (or just use caramelized onions) on steaks like ribeye or New York strip, because they don't need it.
teriyakiburns said:
For the record, pea soup was a qualified success. I prepped the pork wrong (it was pork shoulder, so I should have just browned it instead of par-boiling, which you have to do with gammon or a ham), so it ended up needing a more salt. I also forgot the spinach, so it's not as green as I wold have liked, but that's just life. Eating the last of it today. Yum.
Click to expand...
I usually just use a ham hock or two for split pea soup.
 
  • Agree
  • Like
  • Feels
Reactions: Mesh Gear Fox, MsFrancisFoster, KeepHopeAlive and 2 others
Chicken Tenders (with gluten free flour and breadcrumbs), glazed carrots, and fries. 2/3 of those dishes came out great, I made too many fries so they weren't in a single layer and didn't cook nicely.
 
  • Like
Reactions: beets4borshenko
Made a throw together Udon stir fry last night for dinner because I have a bunch of odds and ends to use up in my freezer.

Udon noodles, diced chicken, onions, peppers, corn, carrots, and scrambled eggs. I used a pre-made Pad Thai mix and threw it all together in the wok to fry it up. Sprinkled sesame seeds and green onion on top of it when it was done.

Wasn't half bad for a lazy weekday meal to be honest.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rusty shackleford 1, Mesh Gear Fox, Windblown and 3 others
Zeftax said:
Made some spaghetti, forgot to put a lid on the sauce for a moment so it made a mess :-P, but it tasted really good. I tried the thing where you finish cooking the spaghetti in the sauce on a pan and it is amazing, I cannot believe I haven't done it before...
Click to expand...

Backsplash wall now looks like a crime scene.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: Zeftax
Its hardly "cooking" but I had anchovies and shallots on buttered toast. I got the recipe a while ago from Marco Pierre White's Maestro series. It's great

edit: if you don't liek anchovies this might be a little unapproachable but I'd stil recommend it, substitute with either sardines or white anchovies (basically just anchovies prepared like sardines instead of cured with salt). If you want to try it as intended with anchovies then look for a tin of 'vies that haas around 800mg of sodium. The 900+ tins are a bit too much. They can still pass but you'll want to add more shaallots and butter to balance it out.
the TL;DR for the recipe is literally just slice a banana shallot into rangz, toast a slice of sourdough bread, butter it, add the 'vies, and top it with a bunch of the shallot rangz. If you decide to sub the 'vies with 'dines or white 'vies then salt the toast (add more than you think you'll enjoy, I promise the saltiness will be balanced out and taste amazing)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Feels
Reactions: rusty shackleford 1, a terminal posture, AnOminous and 5 others
I've been picking up heavily discounted subprimals from Kroger lately and slicing tons of cheap steaks, then vacuum-sealing and freezing them. I'm having steaks almost daily. Just dry brining for an hour, then perfectly rare/medium rare in a cast iron skillet.

How do vegans even want to live?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Feels
Reactions: rusty shackleford 1, Bunny Tracks, Dawdler and 5 others
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back