I’ve spent much of the week writing on the what of chemical leavening…the various types, the chemistry involved, the way the chemicals were produced. I’ve expended comparatively little energy discussing how they were used. There’s actually not as much information on this subject as you might think, since the specific leavening innovations are fairly well […]
READ ONI must be getting punchy. I just got this and thought it was funny: How Smart is your Right Foot? 1. While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles with it. 2. Now, while doing this, draw the number “6” in the air with your right pointer […]
READ ONI made biscuits last night and I have to confess my bag of White Lily is old. The biscuits rose, but not all that well. Strangely, the wife declared that they were the best biscuits I’d ever made. What a shock after all the trouble I’ve gone to to make fancy, ultra-light biscuits these last […]
READ ONDon’t know what it’s like where you are, but in Louisville we’ve got one wonderful warm, rainy, daffodil-poppin’ morning on our hands. Hope it’s as nice where you are.
READ ONFor you gardeners out there, the potash I was just talking about is indeed the same potash that you use in the garden. I forgot to mention that one of potash’s other critical uses is as a fertilizer. Being so strongly alkaline, it’s ideal for neutralizing acid soils. Jeez, I am turning into Martha Stewart.
READ ONSo, we know that the early history of chemical leavening was defined by a search for non-poisonous gas-producing alkalines to combine with non-poisonous acids to produce bubbles. It wasn’t easy. There are hardly any edible alkalines in our collective pantry to begin with. In fact these days there are only two: egg whites and baking […]
READ ONTo make your own baking powder add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar for every 1 teaspoon of baking powder your recipe calls for. Best to add them in separately, since it would be a shame if they were to start reacting prematurely. You can make your own supposedly-storable baking powder […]
READ ONShould you suddenly find yourself confronted by a recipe that demands buttermilk, but don’t have time to run to the store, there are several possible substitutions. Modern buttermilk is just skim or low-fat milk that’s been curdled slighty with lactic acid-producing bacteria. But since acid is really acid (as long as it’s edible, of course) […]
READ ONI should qualify the previous post by noting that real buttermilk is a thing that isn’t around anymore. People don’t much churn their own butter, and changes in commercial butter-making techniques have eliminated real buttermilk from the food chain. I find that a shame, because my grandfather drank it (he also liked beef consommé over […]
READ ONOne of the things I find interesting about the American biscuit is that it’s name tends to change depending on the leavener that’s being used to raise it. Look through just about any really old cookbook (written before, say, 1860 or so) and you’ll find all kinds of recipes for “soda biscuits” or “baking soda […]
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