Biscuit Mix and Impossible Pie

Over 40 years ago, three women in Phoenix, Arizona decided to make their lives easier using “master mixes” as the basis for cooking for their large families.  They shared their recipes with friends and their community, and eventually published a book, Make-A-Mix Cookery.  It was in my mother’s collection while I was growing up.  I think I inherited her copy, used it for a while, donated it, and then bought it again last year.  (It was only 50 cents at the thrift store, so it was ok.  It’s not like I wasted a lot of money.)

I very much like the idea of having mixes on hand and ready to go.  Unfortunately, I do not have all the kitchen cabinet space in the world.  And that’s the primary reason I don’t use too many mixes.  Another reason is that I prefer following a recipe that is going to be great, rather than just good because I started with a mix.  But that’s just me.  If mixes work for you, then you might consider finding a copy of their book. 

Anyway, I ran across a recipe for Impossible Pineapple Coconut Pie.  I love the pineapple-coconut flavor combo, and this recipe used all food storage ingredients, so I really wanted to give it a try.  I needed a Bisquick substitute, so I turned to Make-A-Mix for their recipe.

Quick Mix

8 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon salt

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ cups instant nonfat dry milk

2 ¼ cups vegetable shortening

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large airtight container.  Use a pastry blender to cut in the shortening until evenly distributed and the mixture resembles cornmeal in texture.  Use within 10-12 weeks. 

Notes.  If you wish, replace half the all-purpose flour with wheat flour.  Increase the baking powder to 2 tablespoons.  If using at altitudes above 3,500 feet, increase the flour by ½ cup for better results.

The first recipe I made with this mix was, naturally, the pineapple-coconut impossible pie that I wanted to try.  These pies are called “impossible” pies because all of the ingredients are mixed together, but then they do the impossible and settle into layers—crust, custard filling, and top. 

That pie that I experimented with earned a hard pass from 8 out of 10 people who had it for dessert last Sunday, and the leftovers are still in the fridge, totally untouched.  So there’s no point in posting that recipe here. 

But I will include the impossible pie recipe from Make-A-Mix.

Impossible Pie

½ cup sugar

4 eggs

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons butter, melted

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

½ cup Quick Mix

In a large blender, combine all ingredients except Quick Mix and blend until smooth.  Add Quick Mix and blend 30 seconds longer.  Pour into a greased 9” pie plate.  Bake at 400°F for 25-30 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack and serve warm. 

For me, the biggest reason to use the Quick Mix is to be able to make biscuits quickly in the morning.  So here’s their biscuit recipe:

Biscuits

3 cups Quick Mix

2/3 cup milk or water

Combine Quick Mix and chosen liquid in a medium bowl.  Let dough rest 4-6 minutes.  Knead dough 10 times and pat out to ½” thickness.  Cut with a glass or biscuit cutter and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.  Bake at 450°F for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. 

Links to related posts:

Food Storage Basics—Flour  

Food Storage Basics--Dry Milk  

Powdered Eggs 

All the Different Kinds of Yeast, and What You Really Want for Baking Bread

Thanks to COVID, people all over the country discovered the joys of baking bread, as well as the sorrows of futile attempts at procuring yeast, followed by even greater sorrows with failed loaves of bread due to using the wrong kind of yeast.  One might even guess that given the ongoing food shortages in the US and the potential for even greater scarcity in the coming months, yeast may be hard to locate at times.  But if you know how each type works, no one will detect any differences in your final products.

There are a lot of different kinds of yeast.  Most serve different purposes.  Some can be used interchangeably with little difficulty, while others cannot.  Here's what you need to know, at least as far as bread baking is concerned.

The different types of yeast 

• Brewer's yeast is a byproduct of the brewing industry.  After being used for making beer, it becomes incorporated into animal feed, food flavoring, or nutritional yeast.  It is a dry, inactive yeast without any leavening ability.  It is high in many B vitamins and is sold as a nutritional supplement.[1]
• Distiller's or wine yeast is for making alcohol, not bread.  It is bred for producing alcohol, not carbon dioxide, the gas that causes bread to rise and makes it light and fluffy.  It has some leavening ability, not much, so it takes much longer for bread to rise.
• Nutritional yeast has no leavening ability.  Some manufacturers sell it strictly for its vitamin and protein content in both powder and pill forms.  Others market it for use in food as a flavoring to substitute for chicken broth.[2] 
• Bread yeast is what we want for bread, and that's what the remainder of the article will focus on.

The different types of bread yeast
Now there are the numerous types of bread yeast to consider and the pros and cons of each so that you can make the best decisions for your family food storage program.

• Natural yeast is also known as wild yeast.  Unlike all the other forms of yeast, you cannot see natural yeast with the naked eye.  We only know it's there when then flour and water start to bubble.  The most well-known of the natural yeasts is sourdough.  It is what everyone used until the 1900s when scientists first isolated yeast and could then produce commercial yeast.  Keep in mind that bread from a sourdough yeast starter doesn't have to be sour--it all depends on how you work with it.  That's a topic for another post.  One cup of sourdough starter is the equivalent of 1 package of dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons).  Keep in mind that the quantities of flour and water in the recipe will have to be reduced.
• Fresh yeast is soft and moist and must be refrigerated, so it's not a good choice for food storage purposes.  It goes bad much more quickly than the other types and must be proofed (that's French for dissolved in water) before mixing with the other ingredients.  Fresh yeast will produce the most carbon dioxide and is more reliable and potent.[3]  If using a recipe that calls for dry yeast, you need double the amount of fresh yeast to substitute.  
• Dry yeast comes in several forms.  All of these forms should be stored in airtight containers in the refrigerator or freezer to extend shelf life. Proofing yeast is always a good idea. It's important to make sure that the yeast cells are still active and effective--that they will metabolize the sugar and produce carbon dioxide to raise the bread.
• Active dry yeast comes in little pellets about the size of poppy seeds.  Active dry yeasts are exposed to high heat that actually kills off the outer cells.  This yeast must be proofed in very warm water, about 105 degrees, to dissolve or slough off the outer layer of cells and reach and activate the yeast cells in the center.[4]  If this yeast is not proofed, it may not dissolve in the bread, your bread won't rise as well, and someone may bite into an undissolved pellet.  Not good.  Not tasty.  The process of proofing will also show that the yeast is still active.  This yeast is the one most commonly used commercially and works well in most recipes.[5]  
• Instant yeast is subjected to the same kind of drying process as active dry yeast, but at lower temperatures so that nothing is killed.  It doesn't need the sloughing off period of the active dry yeast and is ready to begin work right away.  While it doesn't need to be proofed, it's still a good idea to proof it and make sure the yeast is still good before adding in other ingredients.  This yeast isn't as sensitive to the water temperature, and bread will rise fairly quickly.  According to official sources, instant yeast will store for up to a year at room temperature.  (I've stored it for years in the freezer.)  Instant yeast also has additives, up to 7%, to enhance the dough.  SAF Instant Premium Yeast adds vitamin C to extend the shelf life.  Active dry yeast has a different flavor due to the dead cells (and opinions vary as to whether this is good or bad).  This difference in flavor isn't noticed in breads made with sugar, milk, and butter.[6] 
• Rapid rise yeast (also known as quick rise, bread machine, easy bake) is definitely faster, easier, and more convenient to use.  It's readily available at grocery stores.  Most describe it as a fine powder in appearance, and because it is a powder it doesn't need to be proofed before adding the other ingredients.[7]  This dissolves the fastest, so bread rises faster and is ready to bake sooner.  It's usually what is used in automatic bread machines.  Note that the speed of the rise may affect the taste of the bread.

All forms of dry yeast may be used interchangeably in recipes.  Some professionals say they can be substituted measure for measure.  Others recommend a bit of adjustment for best results:

• To substitute active dry yeast for instant, use 25% more, i.e., if the recipe calls for 1 teaspoon instant yeast, use 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast.  
• To substitute instant yeast for active dry yeast, use 25% less, i.e., if the recipe calls for one package (2 1/4 teaspoons), use 1 3/4 teaspoons of instant yeast.  There is no need to proof it--just add it in with the other ingredients.[8]

Proof yeast in the following manner:  Dissolve the total amount of yeast the recipe calls for in a portion of the warm water (body temperature is great, or perhaps a tiny bit warmer) that will be used in the recipe.  Add a teaspoon of sugar to feed it.  Let set for 10-15 minutes.  The mixture should bubble nicely, indicating the yeast is still alive and effective.  If it does not, the yeast is no longer good and should be discarded.

Notes.  If making a sweet dough like cinnamon buns or brioche, increase the amount of instant yeast by about 30%.[9]  North American and Scandinavian recipes generally call for more yeast than average.  This makes breads rise faster and they may taste yeasty.  However, bread that rises slower is easier to digest. 


References: 
[1]https://redstaryeast.com/science-yeast/types-of-yeast/brewers-yeast/
[2]https://redstaryeast.com/science-yeast/types-of-yeast/nutritional-yeast/
[3] https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/6620-yeast-types
[4] https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/swap-different-types-of-yeast-article
[5] Ibid. 
[6] https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/6620-yeast-types
[7] https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/swap-different-types-of-yeast-article
[8] https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/6620-yeast-types
[9] https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/all-about-yeast/

 9.18.20

Time to Revisit Powdered Milk?

What a scary thought, especially with Halloween right around the corner.  If I had a candy bar for every time I’ve heard someone say something terrible about powdered milk, well, I’d be one fat lady.  Yet even though I hear this so frequently, I’m still shocked that many people refuse to include powdered milk in their food storage programs.  It offers far too much nutrition and increasing versatility in food preparation options to be disregarded. 

Of course, the primary objection voiced is that powdered milk tastes terrible, unless you spend a lot of money for the expensive stuff.  But what nobody tells you is that after a few years, the expensive stuff won’t taste much better than the cheaper offerings.  And what most people won’t say, whether because it’s hard to believe or some other reason, is that powdered milk—even the cheap stuff—can be doctored up to taste really good. 

The next greatest objection to storing powdered milk is the expense—it’s one of the most expensive food storage products, and becomes even more so when people refuse to drink it and throw it away.  What most people don’t realize, because they haven’t done the math, is that powdered milk can be much cheaper than fresh milk, depending on the vendor.  Right now, the price at the Home Storage Center or online at https://store.churchofjesuschrist.org/usa/en/nonfat-dry-milk/5638680711.p is $64.80.  Even with factoring in $3.00 for shipping, that works out to about $2.82 per gallon of milk.  That’s almost a dollar less per gallon than what I am currently paying in the grocery store.

However, powdered milk isn’t just for drinking, although it can also be used to make an emergency baby formula.  There are loads of reasons to store a generous supply of it, even if you don’t drink milk.

The first reason is for making Magic Mix, the primary ingredient of which is powdered milk.  Magic Mix is used in making all those cream soups—cream of chicken, celery, mushroom, tomato, as well as pudding and hamburger helper dishes.  Banana Cream Pie, fudgesicles, hmmm, hmmm, good.

Then there’s SOS Mix, which offers lower fat and gluten-free options for making the cream soups and hamburger helper (but doesn’t work in desserts). 

Both of these mixes are easily put together and save so much money over buying cans of soup and packages of hamburger helper.  And they are a whole lot healthier.  Plus you know exactly what is in them. 

The ability to make yogurt is another important reason for storing a really good supply of powdered milk.  Not only is fresh yogurt a great way to get probiotics into your system and keep your gut healthy, it can also be used to make cream cheese—really good cream cheese!  And even if you use cheap powdered milk, you can’t detect any off taste in either the yogurt or the cream cheese.  Yogurt also offers a nice change of pace for breakfast and can be used to make smoothies or other beverages and even frozen for frozen yogurt treats.  Calpico is also quite refreshing.

Powdered milk is also a great addition to bread dough, helping impart a softer crumb and texture to bread.  But it’s not just used in making bread.  You can also make your own pancake and biscuit mixes with it, as well as use it to make absolutely divine caramel or buttermilk syrup for pancakes and waffles as well as desserts.

TEOTWAWKI probably isn’t going to be all that fun, but it doesn’t mean we have to feel like we’re eating nothing but rice and beans.  Including a generous supply of powdered milk in our food storage—and learning how to use it—will make TEOTWAWKI a lot more enjoyable for our families.

Links to related posts:

An In-Depth Discussion of Powdered Milk  

Magic Mix  

Banana Cream Pie

SOS Mix  

Hamburger Helper 

Making Creamy, Thicker Yogurt  

Cream Cheese Perfection—Entirely from Food Storage! 

A Food Storage Soft Drink for Doomsday 

Emergency Baby Formula

Homemade Pancake Mixes  

Making Powdered Milk Taste Like Whole Milk