Wed. Oct 21st, 2026

Mike Nolan

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Viewing 15 posts - 181 through 195 (of 8,108 total)
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  • in reply to: Latest éclair shells batch #49076
    Mike Nolan
    Keymaster

      I made over a KG of choux paste today, the largest batch I've made since pastry school, 13 years ago.

      I'm letting it rest overnight to hydrate and will do the piping and baking of the eclair shells (around 70) tomorrow.

      in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of April 19, 2026? #49074
      Mike Nolan
      Keymaster

        If you don't line the bottom with parchment, you often have trouble getting the cake out of the pan. I doubt the parchment was cause for the collapse.

        in reply to: Latest éclair shells batch #49073
        Mike Nolan
        Keymaster

          If I'm not filling them within 24 hours, I freeze them.

          in reply to: Baking with alternate flours #49067
          Mike Nolan
          Keymaster

            We had a houseguest from Brazil who stayed with us while he finished his degree, he's the one who introduced me to Brazilian cheese rolls. I found a recipe and started making them, he said mine were as good as his mother's.

            We went to a Brazilian-American Friendship dinner a few times, and my Pao de Queijo were very well received by the Brazilians present.

            I've been told that in Brazil, it is more common to use casava flour than tapioca starch, I suspect the main reasons many online recipes use the latter is because casava flour is harder to find in stores here. The biggest difference between them is casava flour has more fiber.

            I've also made them--without the cheese--for gluten-free cream puffs, and I made some that were intentionally more like English muffins that we used for eggs Benedict when our daughter-in-law was on a gluten-free diet.

            I haven't had the courage (or the ingredients) to make my own feijoada yet. It's a peasant dish that traditionally uses leftover parts from the pig: foot, ears, snout, though many recipes use things like pork shoulder that are easier to find.

            in reply to: Baking with alternate flours #49057
            Mike Nolan
            Keymaster

              Casava or tapioca is the flour used in Brazilian cheese rolls. Yum!

              in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of April 19, 2026? #49052
              Mike Nolan
              Keymaster

                I'm planning to have a salad with tuna fish, so I made some hard boiled eggs this afternoon.

                in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of April 19, 2026? #49049
                Mike Nolan
                Keymaster

                  I made a small batch of eclair shells last night that I would have to deem a failure, they aren't very hollow on the inside. I tried a suggestion I read to refrigerate the piped dough for an hour before baking, that may have been a factor.

                  in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of April 19, 2026? #49046
                  Mike Nolan
                  Keymaster

                    We wound up getting a rotisserie chicken from Sams.

                    in reply to: 2026 Gardens #49040
                    Mike Nolan
                    Keymaster

                      I got 3 rows of leeks and onions in the ground today. About 45 leek plants and 15 onions.

                      I also got a big (300 foot) roll of 6 foot wide landscape cloth delivered today.

                      in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of April 12, 2026? #49039
                      Mike Nolan
                      Keymaster

                        I'm putting this under baking, but I made a large batch of ganache to go on my eclairs.

                        in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of April 12, 2026? #49036
                        Mike Nolan
                        Keymaster

                          I made another batch of eclair shells today and will probably make one more test batch on Sunday as I'm getting ready to make a production run of around 50 eclairs for a pot luck lunch on Friday.

                          in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of April 12, 2026? #49031
                          Mike Nolan
                          Keymaster

                            I had a turkey and salami sandwich, Diane had a salad with tuna fish.

                            in reply to: What are you Cooking for the Week of April 5, 2026? #49019
                            Mike Nolan
                            Keymaster

                              My wife complains that some of the handicap curb cuts, and especially the ramps, are too sloped, and I often have to steady her when she goes up or down one.

                              Hope your injuries are only short term ones.

                              in reply to: Whey in bread making #48994
                              Mike Nolan
                              Keymaster

                                I never have whey on hand, though I think I have whey powder somewhere.

                                in reply to: What are you Cooking for the Week of April 5, 2026? #48992
                                Mike Nolan
                                Keymaster

                                  We had our pork chops tonight rather than on Easter, and I still haven't made deviled eggs from the eggs I hard-boiled on Saturday. A long-postponed system upgrade got in the way.

                                Viewing 15 posts - 181 through 195 (of 8,108 total)