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December Challenge 2014 - Flour

17K views 163 replies 29 participants last post by  kaneohegirlinaz 
#1 ·
The challenge for December is Flour my friends, yes, in all varieties !

As we know, there are many types of flour, here is a list you can start with and if you can think of others, please add them in a post.

All-purpose flour, Almond, Amaranth, Barley, Bread, Buckwheat, cake, Chickpea, Coconut, Corn, Instant, Millet, Oat, Organic, Pastry,

Pumpernickle, Quinoa, Rice, Rye, Self-rising, Semolina, Sorghum, Soy, Spelt, Tapioca, Teff, Whole wheat....


What am I looking for ? Anything from cookies, pies, cakes, breads, pasta, pancakes, muffins, puddings, pizza, tortilla, scones, flatbreads, brownies, biscuits. It can be sweet , it can be savory, the choice is up to you, you're the boss !

I would be most happy to see quotes on flour, stories, puns, or any pearls of wisdom you may wish to offer on flour or your dish.

Frugal Poem : Flour Sack Underwear

When I was a Maiden fair,
Mama made our underwear.
With five tots & Pa's poor pay,
How could she buy us lingerie?

Monograms & fancy stitches
were not on OUR flour sack britches.
Panty waists that stood the test
With Gold Medal on the Chest.

Little pants the best of all
With a scene I still recall:
Harvesters were gleaning wheat
Right across the little seat.

Tougher than a grizzly bear
Was our flour sack underwear.
Plain or fancy, three feet wide,
stronger than a hippos hide.

Through the years each Jill & Jack
Wore this sturdy garb of sack.
Waste not, want not, we soon learned,
Penny saved, a penny earned.

Bedspreads, curtains, tea towels, too.
Tablecloths to name a few.
But the best beyond compare
was our Flour Sack Underwear!

Ruth Gettle

I look forward to this beautiful december month with all of you. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif
 
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#2 ·
Might I add matzo meal? It functions as flour, especially when more finely ground as cake meal.

I just made some excellent brownies today. They have just 1/4 cup of cake flour in them, but gosh, that's just enough:
Fudge Brownies (A/K/A One Inch Brownies)
Adapted from Baking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America, [emoji]169[/emoji] 2004​
A recipe from Ann Meyers


Flourless cooking spray for greasing

¾ cups (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 large eggs (at room temperature)

1-1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup cake flour, sifted

¾ cup coarsely chopped, toasted walnuts

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray an 8 inch square baking pan with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper. (I prefer to make two strips of parchment paper cut to the width of the pan but 4" longer. Cross them on the bottom of the pan so you get a "sling" to help you remove the brownies for easier cutting. Spray lightly with cooking spray. I use an 8" square nonstick pan.)

Melt the butter and chocolate in a metal or glass bowl set over simmering water (a double boiler) or in a bowl in the microwave for 15 or 20 second intervals. Stir gently with a spoon as the mixture melts.

Sift the flour over the cooled, chopped nuts. Toss to combine. Set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the eggs, sugar, vanilla extract and salt together on high speed, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed, until the mixture is thick and light in color, about 4-5 minutes.

While stirring, pour some of the egg mixture into the melted chocolate mixture to temper and lighten it, then pour the chocolate mixture into the remaining egg mixture and blend on medium speed, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix in the flour and nuts on low speed or by hand until just blended. The batter will be very wet. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Gently tap the pan on the counter a couple of times to release air bubbles.

Bake in the center of the oven until a skewer inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs still clinging to it, rotating the pan if necessary to bake evenly, 30-40 minutes. Allow the brownies to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Use the parchment paper to help unmold the brownie bar, and then cut into squares.

Note: I wrap the uncut brownies tightly while still very slightly warm in the parchment, then plastic wrap, then in foil and freeze up to 6 months. To cut, remove from the freezer and allow to thaw about 10 minutes. Using a very sharp, heavy knife, cut the brownie into 36 brownie bites. Serve them in small papers. They can be re-frozen once without losing quality if tightly wrapped.

FOR NON-DAIRY BROWNIES: Replace the butter with margarine.

FOR PASSOVER BROWNIES: Replace the cake flour with one cup matzo cake meal MINUS three tablespoons. Add one tablespoon potato starch. Prepare as directed.

FOR NUTLESS BROWNIES: May be made without nuts if desired.

FOR GLUTEN-FREE BROWNIES: Replace the cake flour with ¼ cup King Arthur Multi-Purpose Flour. Bake on lower oven rack about five minutes longer.
 
#3 ·
Great. An obscure ingredient with such a limited range of uses. I guess I'll have to try and come up with something interesting like bread, pies, cakes, cookies, pasta, pasties, beef wellington, empanadas, tortillas, pitas, pizza, spaetzle, chicken fried steak, chicken fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, paprikash with egg noodles, egg rolls, wontons, haluski, ...

mjb.
 
#5 ·
@ Mezzaluna : Yes, matzo is a fine addition, thank you for adding that ingredient. Your brownie recipe looks great. You also gave me a good idea for using up my espresso powder which I purchased at King Arthur.

Thanks for including the 4 other varieties of making them towards the end of the recipe.

@ teamfat : William Cowper once said, " Variety's the spice of life, that gives it all it's flavour ".

The reason I chose this humble ingredient was because it is so versatile. I realize that we have many here at Cheftalk that like to bake sweet dishes but there are many who don't, therefore, the option for sweet vs savoury are available for everyone. I look forward to your first entry.

@ KK : I'm glad you like the choice. 
 
#6 ·
Flour

As soon as I saw Rice Flour, two dishes sprang to mind, one sweet and one savory.

The sweet:

Butter Mochi

1 lb. Mochiko (Sweet Rice Flour)

3 C. granulated Sugar

1 ½ tsp. Baking Powder

4 Eggs, beaten

2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

½ C. melted Butter, slightly cooled

1 13 oz. can Coconut Milk

1 15 oz. can Evaporated Milk

Preheat your oven to 350⁰F

Butter a 9" x 13" pan and set aside

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl with a whisk

Add the wet ingredients; whisk well

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour

Cool completely on a rack; cut into squares


There are many variations of Mochi, I just saw a Chocolate Mochi,

gotta try that too!

The savory:

Mochiko Chicken

4 Tbsp. each of:

Mochiko Flour

Corn Starch

Granulated Sugar

Soy Sauce

2 cloves of Garlic, minced

½ tsp. Ginger, granted

1 Tbsp. toasted Sesame seeds

¼ C. Green Onions, sliced

2 Eggs, beaten

Combine all of the above ingredients in a large bowl

Add 2 pounds of boneless-skinless Chicken thigh meat, that has been cut into large bit sized pieces

Combine well; cover and refrigerate for 5 hours.

Deep fry at 375⁰ until golden brown; drain on a rack

Serve hot or cold


I like this dish served warm with some extra soy sauce, sesame oil and minced garlic for dipping
 
#8 · (Edited)
#9 ·
Made some mini Brioche loaves to go with soup. Time consuming but good!














 
#13 ·
Kgirl : I really enjoyed your use of the rice flour/mochico and your spin on the sweet and savory concept of it. The chicken sounds great as I am a fan of all those flavors.

Your second choice of semolina is great. Did you use a fork or an apparatus to roll your pasta onto ?

Mary : Nice looking pizza. it is the type of crust I enjoy as well. Looking forward to your next pizza. Would you mind posting your recipe for those who have never tried it ?

FF : I am so glad you posted your bread and its source (the packaging) . I know you are hoping to get that height we all like. Does their website have any information ? For those that don't know alot about it , there is tremendous info to be had on reading about Einkorn wheat. I read a book last year by William Davis MD , called Wheat Belly. There are some interesting facts from his book on einkorn that I will post for you, it was an eye opener for me.

ChefBubba : What a fantastic Pictorial ! Love the brioche and the way they came out. Thanks for posting the reference : Nancy Silverton's out of the Baking with Julia book

Please tell us there is more up your sleeve ...

We are off to a terrific start to our Flour Challenge.
 
#14 · (Edited)
For those that don't know a lot about it , there is tremendous info to be had on reading about Einkorn wheat. I read a book last year by William Davis MD , called Wheat Belly. There are some interesting facts from his book on einkorn that I will post for you, it was an eye opener for me.
I would be very curious to hear that information @petalsandcoco !
 
#18 ·
Kgirl : I really enjoyed your use of the rice flour/mochico and your spin on the sweet and savory concept of it. The chicken sounds great as I am a fan of all those flavors.

Your second choice of semolina is great. Did you use a fork or an apparatus to roll your pasta onto ?

We are off to a terrific start to our Flour Challenge.
@petalsandcoco this is how I make My Malloreddus, it's really alot of fun.

I was watching Lidia Bastianich on her PBS TV program awhile back,

found the recipe, and pit my own spin on it.

It was very well recieved at our table.
 
#19 ·
This past Summer, we moved my Mother back to her hometown in the San Joaquin Valley,

nicknamed, the Fruit Basket to the World.

We took an adventure one of Mom's favorite orchards,

and purchased a case of assorted stone fruits.


This is what was left by the time we got home again.

I didn't want to waste a bit of these beauties,

so I made a Nectarine Upside Down cake,

following David Lebovitz's recipe.

 
#20 ·
I wanted to make something that I have never tried so I decided to use my coconut flour to make a breading and use coconut oil for my frying medium. I am glad I did!

Pretzel Rolls made with Bread Flour



Coconut Chicken fried in Coconut Oil with fried Kale Chips



Spicy Curry Aioli


My Lunch for Today...Coconut Curry Chicken with Kale on a Pretzel Roll...Delicious


And for Desert....Cherry Blueberry Cobbler made with Almond Flour



I've made this cobbler many times using almond flour, I wouldn't use anything else anymore unless I ran out.
 
#21 · (Edited)
After seeing Chef Buba's brioche, I'm getting a hankering to make that babka recipe again. The dough has quite a lot of butter and eggs in it. One is chocolate and cinnamon, the other is just cinnamon and sugar with, I think, walnuts.


 
#22 ·
@ Jarmo : Gorgeous pear cake and whisky pancakes ! I love the look of that pear cake with the slice of pear revealed on both sides. I have never had whisky pancakes, ever, something I look forward to trying. When I make a pear cake (not sure if you do this ) I take a small piece of aluminum foil and cover the stem so that when it cooks in the oven they don't get charred/overcooked. 

We are looking forward to more of your talents in the kitchen. Your pics have a zen feel about them.....so nice to see.

@ Mary : Thank you for posting that recipe. Look forward to more of your thoughts and pics.

@ Kgirl : Lidia is great cook in her own right, she has alot of tips and tricks when preparing food. I have a friend who is in Florida right now, and shet makes the perfect homemade pasta. She is Sicilian and can spin circles around a kitchen. Her husband taught me how to make a certain type of wine. Their neighbor can make wonderful cheeses and cured meats (its not for the faint of heart lol) , I have been fortunate that way.

David Lebovitz can recreate just about anything you put in front of him. His recipes are well thought out and his website is just loaded with beautiful pics. 

@ SicariiX : Fantastic use of the coconut flour ! Those pretzels rolls look incredibly good and thattttt sandwichhhhh....and spicy curry aioli ? Very nice.

Great use of the Almond flour as well. Who doesn't enjoy cobbler ? We can't wait to see your next project.

@ Mezz : Let's say we have all  been inspired by Chef Buba. I can smell the steam coming off those Babkas....lovely Mezz, just lovely. So you're a baker with hidden talents ? We are lovin it !

Wonderful baking talent here at Cheftalk, kind, generous souls with a passion for life and food and we just enjoy that ! What's next ?.....

Whatever your food title is, come and toss a little flour on your counter , a pinch in the air.....
 
#23 · (Edited)
Proof dough

Roll and spread creamed butter along with cinnamon, assorted raisins and cranberries, brown sugar

Roll it carefully. If you don't think this puppy can stretch, gently pull at it. This roll started at 16 and finished at 22'

Spread whipped butter on dough then add mixture. (this pic was suppose to be # 2)

Cut and place in dish. If you didn't think this was sweet enough.....you are right.....

Baste with egg wash and you just go right on ahead and pour some maple syrup , as much as you like

Out of the oven

Here is one for you , hold on while I get you a hot cup of coffee.....
 
#25 ·
Here is one for you , hold on while I get you a hot cup of coffee.....
Now that was downright CRUEL!!! WoW Petals!!! That's absolutely stunning. Could you please share the dough recipe? If I can make these as successfully as you just did I'm going to make my wife melt (and myself too)!!!! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif
 
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