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I got a herb/seasoning packet with a suggested recipe for Pot Roast that calls for adding wine to the herbs and cooking in a slow cooker for 8 hours or so. I don't have a slow cooker could I use the oven instead? Would I need to add water, too if I use the oven? It might seem like a silly question, but I don't want to waste a hunk of meat to find out. Thanks.

Earl, you can use a oven at low heat to replicate a crock pot. Do you have a dutch oven or another heavy pot with a pretty tight lid to you? I don't think you'd need to use anymore water than you would with a crock pot.

Thanks! I am going to go for it!

I just made my first vegan cake for a vegan friend. Carrot cake made with egg substitute and fake cream cheese. It turned out great!

I finally made the no-knead bread last night! It was a little flat. A lot of people complained that their dough was like batter -- mine actually wasn't that wet until after the long rising. Then it was totally sticky. Shaping it into a ball was kind of impossible because once I set it down, it spread out. I don't think it doubled in size during the second rising. Next time I'm going to a) use a little less water, b) use more salt and c) let it rise the second time in a bowl that will support it better. But aside from it needing salt, the flavor was great. The crust was crunchy and the inside soft. I might try it with half whole-wheat flour next time. Also, how do I make it into sourdough?

abby, I was just reading the Chowhound threads about that bread...you can use sourdough starter instead of yeast, no idea about amounts. There is a ton of info over there...

and I think the second rise in a bowl could be a problem -- something about the dough needing to release gas or moisture or something

I made whole wheat scones this morning as a warm up . . .

Earl--I agree that you can cook it in the oven at a low heat, but if you don't have a pan with a tight fitting lid, you'll definitely want to keep checking on the moisture and add more liquid as needed. Part of the magic of a slow cooker is that it retains all (well, most) of the original moisture with little evaporation--if you're cooking in a stove in an uncovered pan, that moisture will evaporate. Good luck!

Guido -- I read somewhere that someone did the second rise in a banneton and it helped. But I don't know if I want to purchase one just for the sake of making this bread recipe. I'll check out the Chowhound boards and see what everyone else did...

I would love to get started on your thread....came about it by looking for a recipe....sounds interesting.

is a banneton one of those willow basket things?
I was thinking this might be the reason to get one of those too

but there's much discussion of the floured towel, and how a flour sack kind works great with enough flour, etc
there's 300 responses over there among the various threads!

Anyone have favorite mail order tea places? I went down to my (former) favorite tea market and was disappointed by the selection.

I'm also looking for mail order citrus recommendations--any favorite farms?

i made the bread last night and it was AWESOME!!!! so awesome in fact, that i've got a second batch underway as we speak
i used 2 cups AP flour and 1 cup white whole what
i upped the salt and added a packet of sugar in the raw
it came out perfect which is amazing, b/c, i can't bake!
yeah bittman!!

That's great, Ann. For my second batch I want to make a whole wheat loaf. I know that 2:1 white:ww flour is pretty standard, but I kind of want to switch it or use only ww because I'd really prefer to be eating whole grains. But I've been reading a ton about it and I may have to add gluten flour (which I don't have) if I do that to get it to rise. Anyone here have any thoughts on this?

100 percent whole wheat: i mix whole wheat pastry flour and spelt together for a white-flour free bread. it seems a little lighter than using just whole wheat, and the grain variety is good for you

KAWhole Grain Baking cookbook has a 100% whole wheat bread recipe, no kneading and no gluten flour. Seems very good & easy.
guido, scones are a great thing, whose recipe did you follow? In the same book I mention there's a recipe for whole wheat banana scones that sound tempting to me. I made 2 batches of scones last week, one I froze, shaped, for baking individually or as needed later on.

Simple question: I have a 7.5 turkey breast being delivered tonight. How long and at which temperature should i cook it?

I'm going to cross post this here, about the turkey -

You can call the Butterball or USDA hotlines and talk to a real live expert if you have questions about cooking your turkey or other meat...

Butterball: 8am-8pm 1.800.BUTTERBALL
USDA: 10am-4pm 1-888-674-6854

My first loaf has been rising for 22 hours but am already thinking about the next one. I used to make a wheat/honey/molasass bread that was melt in your mouth good. Any suggestions for adapting the recipe to incorporate these liquids? I'd love to surprise my sister on Thanksgiving.

I've been contemplating a maple syrup loaf myself bird! my second loaf never came to fruition due to a smell of gas, the FDNY confirming i had a leak and turning my gas off
coned finally showed up and fixed everything but by that time i had thrown my second round of dough away :-(

I am 100% sure that you could add any sweetner to this dough as i did in my first batch (i used a packet of sugar in the raw that was hanging around)

I made the bread too this weekend, but I changed it up. I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour, 1/2 teaspoon of rapid rise yeast, a little extra water, and instead of letting it rise for 18 hours at room temp, I left it in the fridge for 30 hours. Then I proofed it for about 3 hours at room temp on wax paper dusted with flour and threw it in the oven. It was great.

This yumminess of this recipe can be deconstructed into two parts: the slow rise, which is really flexible and can be retarded in the fridge to suit your schedule (usually when I make bread I leave it in the fridge for about 2 days to let flavor develop); and the baking in the covered pot, which could be done with any reasonably comparable bread recipe. I am completely lusting after a Le Creuset now - as if I weren't before...

Thanks ann and faith. I've been reading about adaptations all morning - mostly having to do with subbing ww flour but I haven't seen anything specific about using other liquids. Should I just decrease the amount of water for every part honey/molasses I use?

Apropos of no-knead-mania:
Couldn't one pinch off some of the dough of your first effort to use as a starter (in place of yeast) for second batch? And if you do this, my past experience with starter has been very good for using a 100 percent whole wheat (I guess the starter is stronger than plain old yeast).

One note about using sugars like white sugar or honey - I think this is pretty common knowledge, but sugar is going to affect the behavior of the yeast. It gives it something extra to feed on, so in rough terms, it's going to rise faster and more abruptly, and it can even ferment unpleasantly if left too long. If you try sugar in this bread, I would start with really small amounts and read up on breads with sugar in them - it really changes the biological reactions going on.

If you're just looking for a sweet bread for Thanksgiving, I would suggest looking for a specifically sweet yeast bread recipe then bake it in a pot like this one, instead of trying to adapt this recipe.

i noticed that actually faith, the holes in my bread were much, much bigger and it was oh so light and airy.... i think it did a very good thing, to my tastebuds at least, to my happy little loaf
i love your idea of putting it in the fridge to retard rising... that makes this whole exercise far more working woman friendly
thanks bake-mistress faith!