Sun. Apr 26th, 2026

Mike Nolan

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  • in reply to: What are you cooking the week of April 1, 2018? #11897
    Mike Nolan
    Keymaster

      We had tomato soup and cheese sandwiches tonight. I've got a pork loin roast I'm probably making tomorrow, but today kind of got away from me.

      in reply to: Sirloin Tip Roast: How to Cook #11896
      Mike Nolan
      Keymaster

        Sirloin tip is a misnamed cut, because it does not come from the sirloin primal but from the round primal. (The round is the largest primal, so there's lots of cuts that come from it.)

        It's the triangular end of the top round, near the sirloin, which is, I guess, where it gets its name from.

        Here's some more information on it: Sirloin Tip Roast

        Although it is considered one of the leaner cuts, there's a cap on it that isn't always taken off. There are also a couple of veins of fat and gristle present, sometimes fairly thick ones. I don't buy it very often, but when I do I usually cut it into smaller steaks or stewing beef pieces. Thick pieces of lean beef tend to be harder to get tender than thinner or smaller ones.

        If cooking it whole, it does best with lower heat and a longer cook time, but it also does well if braised. Slicing it across the grain means that every slice has some of that fat/gristle in it. Slicing it with the grain is harder to do, but you can rotate it and get something closer to a cross-grain cut.

        I've got a couple of books on meat identification and meat cutting on my shelf, this is one that the FFA has on its list of material students use in preparing for meat grading exams: Meat book I think it is a print-on-demand book, and used copies don't show up very often.

        Sirloin Tip is the IMPS 167 cut (parts A-F), additional information can be found here:
        USDA IMPS

        in reply to: Curried Egg and Ham Casserole #11880
        Mike Nolan
        Keymaster

          I did some looking around and didn't find any recipes that looked like the met your criteria. (I don't do curry dishes because of allergy issues.)

          in reply to: What are you cooking the week of April 1, 2018? #11878
          Mike Nolan
          Keymaster

            I never buy 'tenderized' meats, because they're usually made from a cut or grade that they couldn't sell without the tenderizing process, and I think the tenderizing process shortens the shelf life of the meat.

            Chicken fried steak is always a possibility, or you can cut them up into smaller pieces and use them for stews, ragouts, stroganoff, etc.

            If I'm going to make something that requires pounding the meat flat, like Steak Diane, I want a good piece of meat to start with.

            I used to buy these frozen tenderized veal cutlets, because it was the only veal available locally, but they would nearly fall apart when cutting them up for something like Veal Zurich (veal in a white wine cream sauce). Fortunately, I can get good veal at the Fareway Meat Market that opened last fall.

            I tend to buy 'family pack' sized cuts and trim them down. I'd buy primal or sub-primal cuts but they're so big you have to freeze most of the meat after cutting it. Recently I've been buying the 'thick cut' sirloin. I can get 2-3 days worth of meals from a 1.5 to 1.75 pound steak, plus a bag of trim for my next batch of stock.

            in reply to: What are you cooking the week of March 25, 2018? #11875
            Mike Nolan
            Keymaster

              Well, this was in the 50's and early 60's. It wasn't a large operation, I think they only tapped a few hundred trees. Although I grew up in Hanover, I think the maple tree farm was closer to Galena.

              in reply to: What are you cooking the week of April 1, 2018? #11870
              Mike Nolan
              Keymaster

                I think we'll have steak for supper here, I did buy some turkey tenders (the store actually had the ones that haven't been saturated with a salty broth, so they're about 90mg of sodium per serving, compared to as high as 600mg for some of the turkey breasts or whole turkeys.) I have been roasting those for lunch sandwiches.

                Yesterday they were calling for 2-3 inches of snow, possibly up to 5 inches, but it didn't really start snowing until about 6AM and is supposed to taper down around noon, so I'm guessing it'll be more like an inch, maybe two.

                in reply to: What are you cooking the week of March 25, 2018? #11860
                Mike Nolan
                Keymaster

                  There was a small area of sugar maples in NW Illinois where I grew up that the owner tapped every spring, we went out to the sugar shack a couple of times, you could smell it a half mile away.

                  in reply to: What are you cooking the week of March 25, 2018? #11859
                  Mike Nolan
                  Keymaster

                    We had spaghetti and meatballs tonight. I looked at some ham at the store this afternoon, but even the 'low sodium' one had 590 mg of sodium in a 2 ounce serving. :sigh:

                    in reply to: What are you baking the week of March 25, 2018? #11849
                    Mike Nolan
                    Keymaster

                      Joan, maybe you just haven't found the right type of bread yet.

                      in reply to: What are you baking the week of March 25, 2018? #11847
                      Mike Nolan
                      Keymaster

                        The challenge with the Clonmel recipe is that it's huge, 5-6 cups of flour. It just barely fits in my 4 1/2 quart KA. But that's actually somewhat of an advantage when teaching kneading by hand, you can really get into it.

                        It's nearly a no-fail recipe and you can adapt it a lot of different ways, substitute butter for oil, bake the bread in a loaf pan or free form, add some whole wheat or rye flour, substitute honey for the sugar, etc, and they all should come out just fine.

                        I've cut the salt in that recipe by half or more lately, can't say I've noticed much difference in taste, it is a bit more airy.

                        in reply to: What are you cooking the week of March 25, 2018? #11846
                        Mike Nolan
                        Keymaster

                          We had a simple stir fry and some rice. Still have one plate of hot cross buns to give away, two of our neighbors don't appear to be home. Maybe I'll take it 2 doors down in the morning, I don't really know that family, it's a fairly new house built 2-3 years ago, it was the last open lot on the block.

                          in reply to: What are you baking the week of March 25, 2018? #11836
                          Mike Nolan
                          Keymaster

                            The gluten-free ones went over well, there are two people at my wife's office who can't eat wheat, they don't get to share in the office treats very often.

                            Here's the GF recipe I used: GF Hot Cross Buns

                            If I make these next year, which seems quite likely, I may cut back on or leave out the cardamom and substitute nutmeg for the allspice.

                            in reply to: What are you baking the week of March 25, 2018? #11834
                            Mike Nolan
                            Keymaster

                              Today I'm making Vienna Bread and a batch-and-a-half of Hot Cross Buns (a total of 48 1.5 ounce rolls, one 16 and four 8's.) I"m putting a cream cheese frosting cross on them.

                              My newest neighbor will get the 16 rolls one, and I think one of the Vienna Breads, she's got family in town for Easter.

                              in reply to: What are you baking the week of March 25, 2018? #11831
                              Mike Nolan
                              Keymaster

                                Today I made one batch of gluten-free Hot Cross Buns and a batch of whole wheat Hot Cross Buns for my wife's office. I'll make more batches tomorrow for neighbors.

                                in reply to: What are you cooking the week of March 25, 2018? #11829
                                Mike Nolan
                                Keymaster

                                  Recently I've been using celery seed in a lot of my cooking, I think it would go very well with salmon and couscous. Savory and marjoram also go good together. (And parsley is good on almost everything!)

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