Breads/Biscut making, advice, help, recipes. Pics pg 3

[freemotion]

For my sausage gravy, I start with a spicy sausage and cook it, crumbled, in a CAST IRON skillet....very important! Add enough flour to absorb the grease....I usually have to add more lard because I use homemade sausage that is fairly lean. I used to use Jimmy Dean hot sausage until they added MSG to it.

Cook the flour in the grease until the color of a new penny, stirring constantly. For a whiter gravy, simply don't cook it so long. Add some powdered spices along the way for a stronger gravy....I add rubbed sage, garlic and onion powders, sea salt and black pepper. Add whole milk and simmer strongly for a minute or two, until thickened, stirring constantly and vigorously so lumps won't form. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Serve over fresh split buttermilk or baking powder biscuits. Mmmmm!!!!

 

[noobiechickenlady]

No really, my mouth literally started watering

 

[Dace]

OK, well those may not be recipes exactly but adding seasonings (sage sounds delish!) and how far to cook the roux is helpful.
Mine was just super bland but the sausage it came form was pretty dull too.

Aidenbaby...toothpaste consistency is in interesting description, and a bit thicker than I make mine. I always remember a chef teaching me how to make a proper roux and telling me to leave it loose enough to scream...so as I make mine I watch for scream consistency....which only make sense to me, but I know it when I hit it.
Tradidionally it is equal parts fat to flour, but flour varies so you have to play with it.

 

[modern_pioneer]

I am making that cheesy rice recipe that some one posted on here some where. At the time I just copied and pasted in word to print it out.

Instead of grease to oil the pan I used bacon fat from my homemade bacon, layer rice, cheese, bacon, rice, cheese, bacon. Salt and pepper to taste. I put homemade bread crumbs on top with the butter, smells good.

 

[delia_peterson]

Ya'll are way too funny!!! I have a question-I am baking my first batch as we speak....but how do you store it so it stays fresh? And will it be hard to slice? Do I wait till its warm or cooled off a bit to slice it? Can I put a loaf in freezer?

Yep! Us newbies from Texas always have a ton of questions!

 

[freemotion]

A loaf of what, Delia? White bread, whole wheat bread, etc....there are some differences in how I treat my bread after baking......assuming any is left after the first two minutes of it leaving the oven, of course!

 

[delia_peterson]

Oops! I am making white bread......:/ And thanks Free- the cat food is awesome!!!! They love it and keep looking at me to see what I am going to do for them next! I am looking into doing raw for the dogs.

 

[freemotion]

Check out the raw dogfood thread, if you haven't already....it is pretty thorough!

When I used to make white bread, sandwich loaves, I would not cut them until they were completely cool for the neatest slices. Bag them when still slightly warm for a softer crust, but not so warm that you get drops of water in the bag. The slice the thinnest and neatest the next day, then you can freeze it in smaller portions in ziploc freezer bags, suck all the air out.

Of course, it is a rule to sacrifice the prettiness of one loaf and slice into it right from the oven, while still far to hot to handle without protection for your hands, and slather it with real butter and enjoy with a cup of tea!

For crusty white bread, such as French, Italian, Cuban, etc you want to cool it completely before bagging it to preserve the crustiness somewhat, but it needs to be served while warm for the best crustiness.

 

[delia_peterson]

As always..thank you!!!!! And yes I had butter dripping off the first slice when it was fresh out the oven, lol!

 

[needlefrau]

Mountain Man:

I learned to bake by making every mistake possible and a few they were not aware were possible. It taught me these "quality checks" for when making bread:
Wait to see the yeast go active. It will grow and move. I always feed it a pinch of sugar right at the start and the water should feel like baby bottle temperaure.
If using a mixer to knead, let it mix until all of the dough is on the hook and you can hear it slap the side of the bowl. Then take a handful and stretch it out like bubblegum. If it thins out without breaking, just like bubblegum, it is ready to let rise.
Let the dough rise until it keeps the indentation if you poke about an inch in with your finger. If it closes in, wait longer, if it starts to collapse, it has risen too much.
When punching down actually let it rip and give it a good hit, great for relieving stress, too...
When raising in the pan, still test with the finger poke before baking.
If you have to throw out the dough, be sure to kill it first with an overdose of salt. (guess how I learned that...)


One more thing...if you have been nervous trying to make bread, the salt in your sweaty palms can kill the yeast---yet another lesson from experience...