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    The High Plains Sifter: Retro-Modern Baking for Every Altitude (Part 3: Breads, Biscuits and Muffins)
    The High Plains Sifter: Retro-Modern Baking for Every Altitude (Part 3: Breads, Biscuits and Muffins)
    The High Plains Sifter: Retro-Modern Baking for Every Altitude (Part 3: Breads, Biscuits and Muffins)
    Ebook276 pages1 hour

    The High Plains Sifter: Retro-Modern Baking for Every Altitude (Part 3: Breads, Biscuits and Muffins)

    By Chris Reynolds

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    About this ebook

    Introduction (For the entire series)

    From The Slopes To The Shore...

    Are you tired? Are you tired of fancy (or not so fancy) baking books by fancy chefs with even fancier recipes that just don't measure up to all that hype? Are you tired of recipe failures while on a ski holiday or just because you live above 3000 feet? Are you tired of passion fruit foams and green tea cookies when all you want is a chocolate chip cookie recipe that will work every single time? Do you need a pie for the long summer weekend; or a quick, yummy after school treat; or a simple cake with effortless style to make your neighbors jealous; or a truffle that will awaken the mad passionate desires of your lover and make them beg for more? Psssst, do you want a chocolate chip cookie now? No, I mean a really good chocolate chip cookie? Well, let's make that chocolate chip cookie together. It's easy and I can show you how.

    Family Recipes From My Home To Yours...

    Come with me on a family journey through baking where the luck of the Irish gives way to solid science and produces a collection of family baking favorites that your family will cherish for years to come. This debut collection from Irish-trained chef, Chris Reynolds, celebrates the landscape of his family's baking tradition and contains 323 "master" recipes and 582 recipe variations. This cookbook is a wide-ranging, comprehensive collection chock-full of beloved classics like chewy gingerbread cookies, triple-chocolate brownies, jalapeno cheddar corn bread, shoofly pie, sour cream coffeecake, fresh peach ice cream, crunchy granola, and the best pizza crust ever. This is an inspired collection of classics and contemporary twists where we tease traditional flavours and let you know you've just had something special. Classics with attitude and altitude.

    High-Altitude Baking that Really Works...

    You'll learn that it's possible to serve a from-scratch comfort food classic like buttermilk biscuits on a weeknight when time is tight or a high-altitude cake on your skiing holiday that won't fall flat. In addition to foolproof recipes, all the recipes were tested at high-altitude by the author, himself. Each high-altitude adjustment is precise to give success at 5200ft (Denver, Colorado). In addition, each chapter introduction gives insights into high-altitude baking and tips on adjusting your own recipes.

    Retro-Modern???

    Chris Reynolds is a professional baker trained at the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland by the famed cooking teachers Darina and Rachel Allen. While he embraces an artisan philosophy, emphasizing the freshest organic ingredients, sound techniques, and from-scratch baking; he's also well aware that stirring a caramel on the stove for 90 minutes is a drag. "I wanted recipes that people would embrace, enjoy and actually make. No one, not even me, is going make a cookie that requires me to stand at the stove for 90 minutes. That's just not practical in our modern world." This book embraces a "retro-modern" approach. Old-fashioned recipes are updated for modern life. That could mean streamlining the steps, using modern flavour combinations, using different techniques to give fool-proof results, or even scaling a recipe to feed a family of four.

    A Photo of Every Recipe...

    If the easy, care-free recipes don't grab you, then the stunning full-colour photos of every recipe surely will. This book is a delight for the eyes as well as the palate. This is homey, doable baking at its best - a lively, in-depth portrait of a family who loves to bake. Pass me another truffle!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherChris Reynolds
    Release dateMar 25, 2017
    ISBN9781370493364
    The High Plains Sifter: Retro-Modern Baking for Every Altitude (Part 3: Breads, Biscuits and Muffins)
    Author

    Chris Reynolds

    Chris Reynolds wrote and drew the award-winning "The New World" published in 2018 by New York Review Comics. He also writes the "Mauretania Comics" series of stories, the "Cinema Detectives" series and "Moon Queen and The Bee."

    Read more from Chris Reynolds

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      Book preview

      The High Plains Sifter - Chris Reynolds

      Introduction (for the entire series)

      From The Slopes To The Shore…

      Are you tired? Are you tired of fancy (or not so fancy) baking books by fancy chefs with even fancier recipes that just don't measure up to all that hype? Are you tired of recipe failures while on a ski holiday or just because you live above 3000 feet? Are you tired of passion fruit foams and green tea cookies when all you want is a chocolate chip cookie recipe that will work every single time? Do you need a pie for the long summer weekend; or a quick, yummy after school treat; or a simple cake with effortless style to make your neighbors jealous; or a truffle that will awaken the mad passionate desires of your lover and make them beg for more? Psssst, do you want a chocolate chip cookie now? No, I mean a really good chocolate chip cookie? Well, let's make that chocolate chip cookie together. It's easy and I can show you how.

      Family Recipes From My Home To Yours…

      Come with me on a family journey through baking where the luck of the Irish gives way to solid science and produces a collection of family baking favorites that your family will cherish for years to come. This debut collection from Irish-trained chef, Chris Reynolds, celebrates the landscape of his family's baking tradition and contains 323 master recipes and 582 recipe variations. This cookbook is a wide-ranging, comprehensive collection chock-full of beloved classics like chewy gingerbread cookies, triple-chocolate brownies, jalapeno cheddar corn bread, shoofly pie, sour cream coffeecake, fresh peach ice cream, crunchy granola, and the best pizza crust ever. This is an inspired collection of classics and contemporary twists where we tease traditional flavours and let you know you've just had something special. Classics with attitude and altitude.

      High-Altitude Baking that Really Works…

      You'll learn that it's possible to serve a from-scratch comfort food classic like buttermilk biscuits on a weeknight when time is tight or a high-altitude cake on your skiing holiday that won't fall flat. In addition to foolproof recipes, all the recipes were tested at high-altitude by the author, himself. Each high-altitude adjustment is precise to give success at 5200ft (Denver, Colorado). In addition, each chapter introduction gives insights into high-altitude baking and tips on adjusting your own recipes.

      Retro-Modern???

      Chris Reynolds is a professional baker trained at the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland by the famed cooking teachers Darina and Rachel Allen. While he embraces an artisan philosophy, emphasizing the freshest organic ingredients, sound techniques, and from-scratch baking; he's also well aware that stirring a caramel on the stove for 90 minutes is a drag. I wanted recipes that people would embrace, enjoy and actually make. No one, not even me, is going make a cookie that requires me to stand at the stove for 90 minutes. That's just not practical in our modern world. This book embraces a retro-modern approach. Old-fashioned recipes are updated for modern life. That could mean streamlining the steps, using modern flavour combinations, using different techniques to give fool-proof results, or even scaling a recipe to feed a family of four.

      A Photo of Every Recipe…

      If the easy, care-free recipes don't grab you, then the stunning full-colour photos of every recipe surely will. This book is a delight for the eyes as well as the palate. This is homey, doable baking at its best - a lively, in-depth portrait of a family who loves to bake. Pass me another truffle!

      High-Altitude Baking Notes for Breads, Biscuits & Muffins:

      This is a tricky category to make generalizations about, but here I go.

      Yeast breads seem to need little or no adjusting outside of changing the rising times. For these recipes, you should let the dough rise only long enough to achieve the desired volume. Here at 5200ft, some of my yeast breads can ‘double in volume’ in about 3/4 of the recommended time.

      Quick breads and muffins need a little more help. In many ways, the standard cake rescue is employed – reducing the chemical leavening, reducing the sugar, and adding a touch more flour.

      Batter density is important. Unlike, layer cakes, many quick breads have very thick batters. I’ve found that the thicker the batter, the less adjusting is needed in the raising agent, although other issues may still be present. I’ve found that biscuits and scones, since their dough is very thick, need almost no adjusting at all.

      The shape of the pan matters. Say you have a lovely quick bread recipe and would like to make muffins out of it. The muffin batter just might not need any adjusting at all since the muffins cook faster and set faster because of the shape of the pan – the heat can penetrate from all sides much more quickly than a loaf pan. Conversely, if you want to use a muffin recipe in a loaf pan, it just might need more adjustments.

      Are you high and dry? Here is Colorado, the climate is very dry. Therefore, our flour can be very dry. Often, I need to just use my best bakers judgment and add 1-2 tablespoons of extra liquid to achieve the consistency I want in the batter or dough for the recipe. Use your noggin…if the recipe says that the dough should come together and yours looks a little dry and shaggy, add a touch more liquid. (This is why many of the yeast bread recipes have you add the bulk of the flour in the beginning and then only add enough of the remaining flour to get the proper texture.)

      Possible adjustments:

      When trying a new recipe written for sea-level, I always follow the directions as written and then evaluate the results. As you gain confidence and experience, you will be able to detect the trouble spots in each recipe and make some basic changes ahead of time.

      Different types of baked goods need different adjustments and each recipe is unique. Sometimes, a recipe might only need one of these adjustments, sometimes, they will need them all. Always keep high-altitude notes in the margin of each recipe and you will begin to see patterns and tendencies.

      All of the photographs in the book were baked and photographed at my home in Longmont, Colorado. If they work in my high-altitude home, they should work in yours.

      Baking Powder / Baking Soda (for when your recipe 'falls' in the oven):

      Decrease each teaspoon by: 0 to 1/8 teaspoon (3,000ft); 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon (5,000ft); 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon (7,000ft); 1/2 to 2/3 teaspoon (10,000ft).

      Flour (for when your recipe 'falls' in the oven):

      Increase each cup by: 0 to 1 tablespoon (3,000ft); 1 to 2 tablespoons (5,000ft); 3 to 4 tablespoons (7,000ft); 2 to 4 tablespoons (10,000ft). (I find this to be a rare adjustment in cookies unless they are very cakey, such as whoopee pies.)

      Eggs (for when your recipe 'falls' in the oven or seems dry):

      I've found that adding one extra egg to many recipes is a great help. The egg helps the batter to set by adding protein and they add a little more moisture. (This is a rare adjustment in cookies, brownies, or pies, but it is a great help in cakes and quick breads.)

      Sugar (for when your recipe seems too sweet or forms a sugary crust):

      Decrease each cup by: 0 to 1 tablespoon (3,000ft); 1 to 2 tablespoons (5,000ft); 2 to 4 tablespoons (7,000ft); 3 to 4 tablespoons (10,000ft).

      Liquid (for when your recipe seems unusually dry):

      Increase each cup by: 0 to 2 tablespoons (3,000ft); 2 to 4 tablespoons (5,000ft); 3 to 4 tablespoons (7,000ft); 3 to 4 tablespoons (10,000ft).

      Fats (for when your recipe seems unusually greasy):

      Decrease each cup by: 0 tablespoon (3,000ft); 1 tablespoon (5,000ft); 1 1/2 tablespoons (7,000ft); 2 tablespoons (10,000ft).

      Rustic Bread

      In culinary school, we were required to make just about everything by hand – no electric mixers allowed. Making bread by hand is a fun thing to do – once. Many of us are too busy to knead dough by hand for 30 minutes. If you love bread, a stand mixer with a dough hook is a worthwhile investment.

      2 1/4 teaspoons instant rapid-rise yeast (one packet)

      1 teaspoons salt

      3 cups bread flour

      1/4 cup whole wheat flour

      1 1/4 cups warm water

      flour for dusting

      In the bowl of a standing mixer with a dough hook, combine the yeast, salt, 2 1/2 cups of the bread flour, and the whole wheat flour. On low speed, add the warm water and mix until all the flour has been incorporated. Continue kneading in the mixer for 10 minutes (20 minutes if you are kneading it by hand). The dough may look loose in the beginning, but it will tighten up as you knead. While kneading, gradually add just enough of the remaining 1/2 cup bread flour so that the dough clears the side of the bowl but sticks to the bottom.

      Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and dust the top with flour. Knead the dough by hand for 30 seconds until it is smooth and no longer sticky. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size, about 60 minutes. (Alternatively, you can let it rise over night in the refrigerator.)

      Gently remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured surface. At this point, you can cut the dough in half if you want to make two small loaves. (If you are making a baguette, you will definitely want to divide the dough in two.) There are many shapes of bread; here are two easy

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