Mike Nolan

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  • in reply to: Browned Butter #20420
    Mike Nolan
    Keymaster

      Since the butter is melted for choux paste, any water suspended with the fat is released. I've always assumed that for both choux paste and popovers the egg forms a structure that the evaporating water pushes out. I've made choux paste with gluten-free flours so I know a gluten matrix isn't playing much of a role.

      in reply to: What are you Baking the week of January 12, 2020? #20416
      Mike Nolan
      Keymaster

        I've used Susan Purdy's hot water crust for large pot pies, it would probably work for smaller ones as well. The last few times I made pot pies I didn't bother with a bottom crust and I used a circle of laminated dough as the top. I froze them after baking them in muffin tins, they reheat nicely in the microwave.

        in reply to: What are you Baking the week of January 5, 2020? #20414
        Mike Nolan
        Keymaster

          It sort of depends on which website you trust. Of the natural sugar types, fructose has the highest sweetness index, various sources give it a sweetness index between 1.1 and 1.7. Sucrose, which is a disaccharide of glucose and fructose, is assigned an index of 1. Glucose is around 0.75.

          Honey has more fructose than glucose in it, so it is slightly sweeter than sucrose. Ordinary corn syrup has a lot of glucose in it, so it is slightly less sweet than sucrose. HFCS is sweeter because it has a higher amount of fructose in it.

          in reply to: What are you Baking the week of January 5, 2020? #20412
          Mike Nolan
          Keymaster

            Some years ago we were at a pancake place in Indianapolis and they add a little orange juice to their batter. It adds an interesting flavor and the acid probably helps create a bit more fluffy pancake.

            in reply to: Daily Quiz for January 13, 2020 #20411
            Mike Nolan
            Keymaster

              When we were in Hawaii we ate at a sushi place where the plates come past you on a conveyor belt and you grab what you want, though you can also order specific dishes if you don't see them. The biggest challenge was trying to identify something as it moved past you. The color of the plate tells you how much that one costs, ranging from $1.99 to $7.99 or so. They figure the bill by counting the used plates.

              The quality was excellent, and they had a lot of cooked fish dishes as well as raw fish ones, so my wife (who like several of you won't eat raw fish) found plenty to eat. Dinner for the 5 of us ran under $100.

              in reply to: Browned Butter #20407
              Mike Nolan
              Keymaster

                Isn't one aspect of laminated dough having the water that makes up 15-20% of butter evaporate to produce steam in between layers? There's little or no water in browned butter, just like there's little or no water in clarified butter or ghee.

                in reply to: Daily Quiz for January 13, 2020 #20398
                Mike Nolan
                Keymaster

                  Sushi is one of those love-it or hate-it things. My granddaughter could bankrupt an all-you-can-eat sushi place!

                  in reply to: Daily Quiz for January 13, 2020 #20389
                  Mike Nolan
                  Keymaster

                    I was working a trade show in Chicago for one of the computer trade papers some years back and one of the other journalists invited a number of us out for the evening. We wound up at a sushi place having freshly killed raw lobster. (The tentacles were still moving.) I think I prefer cooked lobster, though.

                    Supposedly ceviche shrimp is safer to eat, but I don't eat shrimp because it sometimes bothers me.

                    in reply to: What are you Cooking the week of January 5, 2020? #20365
                    Mike Nolan
                    Keymaster

                      The potato leek soup was excellent, as usual. I made croutons from both Vienna bread and semolina bread, can't say I could tell much difference between them.

                      in reply to: Thinking ahead towards Thanksgiving baking #20355
                      Mike Nolan
                      Keymaster

                        This is the sort of recipe I was looking for at Thanksgiving. I've filed it away for future testing.

                        Cheddar cheese twists

                        in reply to: Daily Quiz for January 11, 2020 #20354
                        Mike Nolan
                        Keymaster

                          It takes a bit of searching to find good mirin, especially in smaller communities, but your food is only as good as your ingredients. It can also be ordered online, though liquor laws might restrict that in some areas.

                          in reply to: What are you Cooking the week of January 5, 2020? #20344
                          Mike Nolan
                          Keymaster

                            We have a nebulizer that we use when one or the other of us gets a bad cold, I have a tendency to lapse into bronchitis easily these days, so when I get a cold I have to attack it vigorously.

                            I'm starting a batch of chicken broth today, with plans to make chicken salad from some of meat for lunch tomorrow and potato leek soup for supper tomorrow.

                            We're getting snow today, about an inch so far and more expected, a good weekend to stay in.

                            in reply to: What are you Baking the week of January 5, 2020? #20343
                            Mike Nolan
                            Keymaster

                              I don't get king cakes and I don't get these, either.

                              in reply to: What are you Baking the week of January 5, 2020? #20333
                              Mike Nolan
                              Keymaster

                                That's why we prefer casement windows, they seal tighter.

                                in reply to: Interesting Article on Garlic Use in Italy and America #20330
                                Mike Nolan
                                Keymaster

                                  When we were in Turin in 2006, we had no trouble finding garlic-free dishes.

                                  But here in the states, 'Italian' cuisine without garlic is a rarity.

                                Viewing 15 posts - 4,891 through 4,905 (of 7,567 total)