Bulk sausage casserole

I have discovered the wonder if fresh sausages. The only down side with them is their fat. So I usually open up the sausages and fry them. The fat melts. If browning isn't even enough, the whole batch of sausages may be boiled in water and then skimmed off any fat. Then the meat may be used when cooled.

Recipe: Italian sausage casserole (for 2)

Ingredients:
- 3 fresh italian sausages,
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 to 1 cup butter milk
- 2 to 3 slices of stale bread
- 1/3 cup lowfat mozzarella cheese

Procedure:
1. Remove sausages from casing. Grind and brown, then boil in water to skim of fat. Allow to cool.
2. Tear stale bread into small pieces. Mix with cooled sausage meat in a baking pan.
3.  Beat eggs with butter milk. Add liquid to baking pan.
4. Top with cheese.
5. Bake at 350F. When top is golden, cover with foil. Cook until done, about 40 minutes.

Results:
9:05am, meat mixed with bread:

9:07am, buttermilk and eggs:

9:09am, liquid added to meat:

9:10am, top with cheese:

9:11am, bake at 350F uncovered:

9:26am, baked 15 minutes:

9:31am, top when half done, cover needed:

10:00am, baked 45 minutes:

10:00am, height when just done:

Observations:
Very tasty!

My 88th loaf: zucchini bread with atta and rice flour

This is a very nice combination. To my surprise, the glutinous rice flour gives the crumb an extremely tender taste despite the presence of atta flour and the bran in it.

Recipe: Zucchini buttermilk bread (2 small loaves)

Ingredients:

- 1.5 cup atta flour

- 0.5 cup glutinous rice flour

- 2 tp baking powder

- 1/8 tp baking soda

- 3 TB sugar

- 1-2 TB basil pesto sauce

- 2 cups packed with shredded zucchini (about 1 medium zucchini)

- 2 eggs

- 1/4 tp ground nutmeg

- 1/3 cup nonfat buttermilk

Procedure:

1. Mix together atta flour, rice flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, ground nutmeg.

2. Beat two eggs and pesto sauce into the dry ingredient.

3. Add shredded zucchini in small bunches and mix until moistened.

4. At the end of adding all the zucchini, if the batter remains very thick, add about 1/3 cup buttermilk.

5. Grease two small pans. Pour batter into pan and flatten.

6 Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes, uncovered.

Results:

8:39am, mixed dry ingredients, shredded zucchini, egg and pesto:

8:44am, initial mix:

8:53am, thick batter requires 1/3 cup buttermilk for hydration:

8:55am, final batter:

8:59am, batter in pan:

8:59am, batter height in pan:

9:05am, baking started at 350F, uncovered:

9:11am, baked 6 minutes:

9:26am, baked 21 minutes:

9:39am, baked 34 minutes:

9:40am, internal temperature reaching 185F:

9:40am, thermometer coming out quite clean:

9:46am, loaves just done:

9:47am, loaves' height:

9:47am, loaves' top in pan:

10:02am, loaves' top when out:

10:02am, loaves' side:

10:02am, loaves' bottom:

10:02am, loaves' corner:

Observations:

1. The effect of using glutinous rice flour is impressive. The resultant loaves are very tender.

2. I forgot to add salt. Therefore, the loaves taste sweet despite its garlic and basil smell from the pesto sauce.

3. The crumb is spectacular too, with its oven spring.

4. This time I do not cover the loaves. The top gets a nice brown.

My 87th experiment: whole wheat bread

This recipe comes just because we are running out of bread! 

Recipe: Whole wheat bread (1 medium loaf)

Ingredients:

- 3 cups KAF whole wheat flour

- 1 TB arrowhead gluten powder

- 1+1/3 cup warm water

- 2+1/2 tp active dry yeast

- 1+1/4 tp salt

- 2.5 TB vegetable oil (1 TB in dough, 0.5 TB rubbing dough top, 1 TB greasing pan)

- 2 TB honey

Procedure:

1. Proof yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Mix thoroughly. Let sit for 10 minutes.

2. Sieve flour with salt and gluten.

3. Add proofed yeast to sieved flour. Mix to form a dough. Add water incrementally. After each addition, mix well for a few minutes.

4. Once dough is formed, allow to sit covered with plastic.

5. When dough has doubled, punch it down. Add honey and oil. Shape it into a log and allow to proof in a greased pan until volume doubles.

6. Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes. After the first 10-15 minutes, brush top with butter. Then resume baking until brown. Then cover with foil.
7. Allow to cool for an hour before slicing.

Results:
4:03pm, flour sieved with salt and gluten:

4:03pm, 2.5 tp yeast proofed in 1/2 cup warm water:

4:20pm, lean dough formed by mixing flour, yeast and in total 1+1/3 cup water.

4:31pm, dough rested 10 minutes:

4:53pm, dough rested 30 minutes:

4:57pm, 1 TB oil and 2 TB honey added to dough:

5:06pm, final dough rubbed with oil and allowed to rise:

6:15pm, dough risen for 1 hour in warm environment:

6:18pm, dough shaped and allowed to proof in a pan greased with 1 TB vegetable oil:

6:18pm, dough's height at the beginning of the proofing:

6:54pm, dough proofed 35 minutes in the warm setting of cooking:

6:54pm, dough's height after proofing 35 minutes:

7:00pm, dough scored:

7:00pm, baking started at 350F:

7:09pm, loaf baked 9 minutes, being being brushed with butter, then resumed baking uncovered:

7:26pm, loaf baked 26 minutes, with a golden top, resumed baking covered with foil:

7:39pm, loaf baked 39 minutes:

7:40pm, loaf's height when done:

7:43pm, loaf's bottom:

7:43pm, loaf's side:

7:43pm, loaf's heel:

9:10pm, loaf sliced:

9:10pm, loaf yielding 16 slices:

9:10pm, center-of-loaf slice:

9:10pm, heel-of-loaf slice:

9:10pm, crust:

9:10pm, crumb:

Observations:
1. This is a very simple loaf. But every bite of it is rich with the charm of whole wheat. Its simplicity makes it special.
2. This loaf gives a very very clean knife when cut.