What's For Dinner #89 - the Dawn of a New Year Edition - January 2023

OMG, I honestly can’t imagine any of our guests being that stupid. I fear the forks “walked out the door” with some of the people who’ve stayed in our house over the summer while we are in Berlin.

These are tough and very expensive to replace, so I just cry about it occasionally ;–)

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How sad.

And tipsy rather than stupid I think. :slight_smile:

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They look amazing!

Thanks! It’s a Cook’s Illustrated recipe - one of my favorites.

For a true-to-the-original version with no paywall, click here.

ETA: you can use active dry yeast instead of instant, just double the amount.

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We don’t throw out the garbage until the silverware has been counted.

I’ve caught friends throwing out cups that were clearly reusable plastic cups, when they’ve tried to help out (voluntarily, usually without telling me they’re helping).

I’ve also had friends who don’t cook enough, throw out freshly-cut lime and lemon slices that were resting on a cutting board, thinking they’re garbage, BEFORE the other guests have arrived. LOL. Same friend that has done that has put away bowls and snacks I had on the counter because they’re about to be used at the party.

Another time, a former friend ( former for other reasons) poured the lime juice I had just squeezed into a measuring cup, down the drain when my back was turned , before I had a chance to add it to the ceviche I was making.

If you can’t cook or bartend, don’t try to help in my kitchen.

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Does doubling the amount risk over-proofing - maybe like in more hydrated doughs, or if the kitchen is quite warm?

I’ve rarely had instant on hand (except like 30 years ago when using a bread machine), but a lot of the recipes I’m using specify instant. A lot of them indicate blooming active dry in liquid with a bit of sugar makes it a 1:1 substitute for instant.

Doubling and tossing it in there with the dry ingredients would be a simpler option than blooming/proofing it.

Blooming yeast in liquid with sugar is completely unnecessary. This is a holdover from when all yeast was fresh, and one didn’t know if it were too old or not. Dry yeast and instant yeast can be mixed in with the other dry ingredients. I do it all the time.

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With friends like that… Seriously, I am the same. I’m always having to do things after people do things. Guests in particular always doing the wrong thing in my kitchen. Throwing things away that could be washed and reused. I am very environmentally conscious, so I try to avoid anything single use when I can, especially when I’m hosting - it’s pretty easy. The last party, I made a mistake. Usually it’s very hard for people to know it’s their cup when they put it down. Since we had 30 people, I didn’t have enough permanent cups, so I put out reusable plastic with sharpies so they could write their name on. Solved one prob, created another, as sharpie doesn’t wash off. So, sadly, those were all recycled.

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This particularly recipe - CI’s Ciabatta - was originally written calling for Active Dry Yeast mixed directly in with the dry ingredients (no proofing). That is the version I have at home and follow. The blog version has changed this to Instant Yeast, in half the amount. Pick your poison.

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Thanks MunchkinRedux, and also thanks @bcc, for replies.

Re blooming, a couple of online bakers had given me the impression that doing so with active dry was a way to make it perform like instant yeast, and that’s why I’ve been doing that to active in recipes calling for instant.

Or, the rare occasion when a daughter brings home a 1+ year “expired” packet - that’s the only time I’m blooming in order to ensure the critters ain’t kaput. For the (local household) record, a nearly 2-year expired packet performed just fine.

I still proof my active dry yeast with a pinch of sugar just to be on the safe side. Only takes 5-10 minutes. It does seem to jumpstart the rising process so you’re really not out any time.

What, you’re never inviting any of those 30 guests again? :wink:

I mean, unless they have super-rare names I don’t see why the cups couldn’t be reused :thinking:

Lol. I only kept the cups that said my family member names. I figure we can slum it for the sake of using the cups again.

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Would rubbing alcohol have removed it?

I think it would be a funny party thing - everyone gets a cup, but with someone else’s name. They get to be somebody else for an evening. Maybe “Hello, I’m…” name-tags to boot?

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I didn’t try but now I’m curious. My kids say sharpie is forever. I can experiment on the cups that say DH and DS!

I’d probably forget “my cup” name after a couple of drinks. Heck, I might even forget my real name,

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There’s a song about that.

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Rubbing alchohol will absolutely remove Sharpie markers from glass and most plastics. In my industry, it’s common for artists to draw on their monitors with white-board marker when trying to work things out. Accidently mistaking a sharpie for one has happened many MANY times. There were always way more alchohol wipes than we needed in the first aid boxes. That was why.

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