Mike Nolan

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  • in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of October 13, 2024? #44261
    Mike Nolan
    Keymaster

      I made the spicy sour cream raisin muffins recipe today, will post about it in the Monthly Recipe Challenge thread.

      in reply to: The Monthly Recipe Challenge #44253
      Mike Nolan
      Keymaster

        I thought we would try a recipe we never made before from a cookbook we own and then report on it and share it if it is good.

        Nothing says we have to limit ourselves (as a group) to one recipe per month. Pick one and go with it!

        in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of October 6, 2024? #44246
        Mike Nolan
        Keymaster

          We had some of the leftover pizza for lunch, so we had hot dogs for supper.

          in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of October 6, 2024? #44236
          Mike Nolan
          Keymaster

            They look great.

            This kringle recipe is pretty good (if you like kringle), and the butterscotch filling recipe that is included is even better, but it makes a LOT of filling, I usually only make a half-recipe of it. I use a butterscotch and pecan filling, it is as good as the ones I've ordered from Racine WI.

            When I've made it the whole kitchen smells of lemon extract, but in the baked kringle it is very subtle.

            https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/kringle-recipe0-1941189

            in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of October 6, 2024? #44231
            Mike Nolan
            Keymaster

              Friday is pizza night again.

              in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of October 6, 2024? #44228
              Mike Nolan
              Keymaster

                Looks like a good crumb, though.

                The crust doesn't have the small blisters you often see on sourdough bread.

                in reply to: Tidy Kitchens #44227
                Mike Nolan
                Keymaster

                  I think even commercial kitchens have different design criteria now.

                  I remember reading about a chef who, when designing a new kitchen, first figured out where the dirty dishes would go (both from the back of the house and the front), then planned around that. Kitchen sanitation inspectors have told me that the biggest failures they see in kitchens deal with separating dirty from clean and wet from dry. Not keeping things at the right temperature is next on the list.

                  in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of October 6, 2024? #44218
                  Mike Nolan
                  Keymaster

                    More of a quesadilla, I think.

                    We had salads again, needed a quick dinner because we had theatre tickets tonight to see Back To the Future - The Musical. Fun show.

                    in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of October 6, 2024? #44211
                    Mike Nolan
                    Keymaster

                      It depends on what kind of bread you're making, for a yeasted loaf with a typical bread dough texture I don't think I'd bother, for a quickbread coating them with flour or cornstarch should do what it does for raisins, keep them from sinking to the bottom of the batter.

                      in reply to: The Monthly Recipe Challenge #44210
                      Mike Nolan
                      Keymaster

                        Coffee goes well with quite a few spices, but only if you like coffee. 🙂

                        Personally, I think coffee ruins the taste of chocolate, but a lot of people say it enhances the flavor of chocolate. (My guess is they also like coffee.) However, I also think chocolate and prune puree go well together in something like a ganache, so people probably think I'm just weird.

                        I think the clove might be a bit on the heavy side, I'm inclined to cut it in half. I usually use a ratio of 1 part clove to 4 parts cinnamon in things like Hot Cross Buns.

                        Clove, cinnamon and allspice are often paired together, nutmeg is a 4th spice that is often included, ginger sometimes is added as well, although I think it takes the whole spice blend in a different direction, as does cardamom.

                        in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of October 6, 2024? #44204
                        Mike Nolan
                        Keymaster

                          I've had some breads with apple in them, I think the pieces have to be both small and fairly uniform in size to keep the results consistent.

                          I haven't made a full-sized pumpkin loaf, but I've made pumpkin shaped rolls. using string or dental floss during the bulk rising to get the grooves in it. The challenge is to get the strings off before baking without deflating the dough. (As I recall, the instructions I was using, which I found online, said to bake them with the strings on, but that made them even harder to remove without damaging the baked bread, the batch I made where I cut the strings off then added dough for a stem before baking them looked better.)

                          Putting a 'stem' on top is fairly easy, I'd be tempted to throw a little cocoa in the stem dough to give it some color. It would be small enough that it wouldn't have the characteristics of an auvergne or bonete, two cap-shaped breads.

                          You can use turmeric or annatto in the dough or in an egg wash to give it an orange hue without affecting the flavor much.

                          in reply to: The Monthly Recipe Challenge #44191
                          Mike Nolan
                          Keymaster

                            I'm hoping to try this recipe over the weekend.

                            in reply to: Tidy Kitchens #44190
                            Mike Nolan
                            Keymaster

                              My favorite is the lift that raises and lowers a stand mixer under the counter.

                              That's such a huge waste of space, and space is really the most expensive part of a kitchen, as well as the most used. (Appliance space, implement storage space, dishes storage space, floor space, counter space, food storage space, etc.)

                              The work triangle concept strikes me as great for minimizing walking space but terrible for isolating hot from cold, wet from dry, dirty from clean, for ensuring good ventilation, keeping the room temperature from getting too hot or cold, etc. An exhaust fan that vents outside is an absolute must to me.

                              Another key issue for me is if person X is using one part of the kitchen, can person Y get to other parts of the kitchen? The kitchen is the most actively used room in the house, and if there's more than one person in the house, there's a good chance there will be more than one person in the kitchen--a lot. (And that doesn't take into account guests, who often drift towards the kitchen.)

                              We did most of the layout of our house, including the kitchen and then had the architect figure out how to build the walls where we needed them and where to put things the stuff like water, drain and ventilation pipes. We spent a lot of time on the kitchen and surrounding spaces (butler's pantry, mud room, informal dining area), using a home design program that could render 3D views from any angle, and move the views to simulate moving through those rooms.

                              That was almost 30 years ago and the program we used (Broderbund 3D Home Architect) has been supplanted by newer programs that I haven't figured out how to use yet. 3DHA was great about moving walls a few inches.

                              The one thing we didn't do as well as we could was ask the question: How do we clean this area easily and properly? I'd have found a place for a rimmed stainless steel work counter for messy tasks like cutting proteins, and I would DEFINITELY have gone with a different floor tile surface! (Although now that it has been steam cleaned, it looks pretty good again.)

                              in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of October 6, 2024? #44189
                              Mike Nolan
                              Keymaster

                                We had tomato and salami sandwiches tonight.

                                in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of October 6, 2024? #44183
                                Mike Nolan
                                Keymaster

                                  I had a big salad, Diane had an omelet.

                                Viewing 15 posts - 301 through 315 (of 7,461 total)