Mike Nolan

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  • in reply to: Beginning the low-salt journey #10946
    Mike Nolan
    Keymaster

      I don't brine foods, so it hasn't been an issue for me. Many marinades are also a bit on the salty side, but I haven't done much of that lately, either.

      Alton was big on brining, too, I wonder if he's changed his mind on that? Graham Kerr wrote a few books after his wife's stroke and heart attack on his 'minimax' approach to cooking, but I don't think they were big sellers, the one I looked at was a bit preachy. (One thing I've found in my own cooking is that my wife doesn't like it if I talk about how I'm not using salt, so instead I've been just talking about the spices and techniques I'm using to add flavor. She hasn't noticed that I cut the salt in my honey wheat bread in half.)

      I suspect brining doesn't really add that much salt, because it only penetrates the surface a bit. Injection of salty broths could be a bigger problem with things like turkeys.

      in reply to: The Under-Equipped Kitchen #10934
      Mike Nolan
      Keymaster

        The Washington Post has an interesting article by one of their food writers comparing the Instant Pot to a cast iron Dutch oven on several recipes: coq au vin, pernil asado and black bean soup. The writer made versions of each recipe in both devices and had a chef blind taste them. The chef thought the Dutch oven ones were better for all 3 recipes and correctly identified 2 out of 3 of them as to which was made in which.

        Not sure if this link will work for everyone, but here it is: instant pot vs Dutch oven

        I may try the black bean soup recipe (without garlic, though.)

        in reply to: Happy Birthday BakerAunt #10914
        Mike Nolan
        Keymaster

          I don't see anything on wiki about key limes having been wiped out.

          in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of January 28, 2018 #10913
          Mike Nolan
          Keymaster

            Tonight was pot roast night. Yum.

            in reply to: Happy Birthday BakerAunt #10906
            Mike Nolan
            Keymaster

              Yes, happy birthday!

              in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of January 21, 2018? #10905
              Mike Nolan
              Keymaster

                I was looking at a KAF recipe for Westphalian rye bread yesterday, it's a 2-3 day recipe, with several very long rise periods (like 24 hours) and it bakes for 5 hours at 225 degrees.

                in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of January 21, 2018? #10899
                Mike Nolan
                Keymaster

                  I made honey wheat bread today.

                  in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of January 21, 2018? #10896
                  Mike Nolan
                  Keymaster

                    I wonder if the taste difference was due to the variety of chicken or the fact that the eggs were really fresh? We had a few chickens when I was growing up, I got to crawl into the chicken pen to fetch eggs every day or two.

                    in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of January 21, 2018? #10895
                    Mike Nolan
                    Keymaster

                      I didn't get the veal ragout made until tonight, but it was delicious, took about 90 minutes for the veal to get tender on the stovetop. Had it with a salad and a little cheese toast.

                      in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of January 21, 2018? #10890
                      Mike Nolan
                      Keymaster

                        Last night I also made a ground beef Stroganoff, served on toast. Tonight I'm going to be experimenting with some veal stew meat, tomatoes, peppers, onions and mushrooms. I bought a 7 bone chuck roast to make over the weekend.

                        in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of January 21, 2018? #10889
                        Mike Nolan
                        Keymaster

                          That's because your chocolate was not tempered. Heating chocolate higher than about 105 degrees causes the cocoa butter to lose all crystal structure, and when it cools a random mixture of various crystal states (alpha-1 through alpha-5) will form. Only alpha-5 is solid at room temperature. It might harden up some over time (a few weeks) because there's a sixth crystal state (alpha-6) that is also solid at room temperature but doesn't appear until chocolate sits for several weeks.

                          in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of January 21, 2018? #10873
                          Mike Nolan
                          Keymaster

                            Thanks for the status update, Len. You should drop then a note letting them know about your concerns and see how they respond.

                            in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of January 21, 2018? #10845
                            Mike Nolan
                            Keymaster

                              The weather is supposed to be taking a turn for the worse today, and I'll be making a batch of chicken noodle soup.

                              in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of January 14, 2018? #10839
                              Mike Nolan
                              Keymaster

                                Today I'm making Vienna Bread from the Double Crusty recipe, but I only used 3/4 of a teaspoon of salt instead of 2 teaspoons.

                                in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of January 14, 2018? #10837
                                Mike Nolan
                                Keymaster

                                  Tonight I'm roasting a half-chicken with sage, rosemary and thyme seasoning. I'll probably throw the other half of the chicken in the stockpot tomorrow for soup. (It was a big bird, about 7 pounds.)

                                  I'm no longer sure there's much point to searing the outside of a roast before cooking it. It doesn't "hold in the juices" as was incorrectly stated by German chemist Justus von Liebig in 1847 and then repeated for the next 150 years. All it really does is make sure that the outside is more well-done than the rest, and I'm far from convinced that's a good thing.

                                Viewing 15 posts - 6,361 through 6,375 (of 7,572 total)