Sun. Feb 15th, 2026

Mike Nolan

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Viewing 15 posts - 6,631 through 6,645 (of 7,849 total)
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  • in reply to: What, NO Buttermilk?! #11001
    Mike Nolan
    Keymaster

      I grew up in a small town in NW Illinois. It had 2 grocery stores back then, today there are none. It's about 15 miles to the nearest grocery store now. There's a gas station/convenience store that appears to have expanded its grocery inventory somewhat, but not much beyond a few staples.

      You might look into making your own buttermilk starter, then all you need to do is add milk periodically. I was looking to see if there was a thread on that brought over from the old BC, but didn't find it, maybe Swirth will see this note and can find it.

      in reply to: What are you baking the week of February 4th, 2018 #10983
      Mike Nolan
      Keymaster

        I made the dough for somewhat lower sodium honey graham crackers today, though it looks more like cookie dough. It needs to chill overnight before I roll it out and bake it.

        Then I'm going to try using those graham crackers to make a pie crust so I can make a key lime pie.

        in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of January 28, 2018? #10977
        Mike Nolan
        Keymaster

          I didn't change the temperature when I put the mini-muffins back in for a few minutes.

          in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of January 28, 2018? #10973
          Mike Nolan
          Keymaster

            I made banana nut mini-muffins from my banana bread recipe, baking them a little longer so that the outside edges are a bit crisp.

            My son liked them baked to the point where there was a lot of caramelization on the outside, but that's tricky because it's thisclose to being burnt. I did something with the first two batches this time that seemed to help. I baked them about 18 minutes, let them cool, popped them out of the pan and put them on a cookie sheet. After they had cooled a bit further, I put them back in the oven for about another 6 minutes. That made the outside edges a bit crunchy, the way my wife wanted them, but seemed to lower the risk of burning them. I think I will try that again.

            She freezes them and takes them to the office, eating them during the day when they're still cold if not a little frozen in the middle.

            in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of January 28, 2018 #10963
            Mike Nolan
            Keymaster

              Today was simple, steak, sauteed mushrooms and a baked potato.

              in reply to: RE: Cass/Kid Pizza from the BC #10956
              Mike Nolan
              Keymaster

                Thanks for the update, I had wondered why we hadn't heard from him for quite a while.

                in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of January 28, 2018 #10955
                Mike Nolan
                Keymaster

                  My wife brought home some vine-ripened tomatoes from the UNL experimental greenhouses, so we had a nice mid-winter treat, BLTs.

                  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.

                                Viewing 15 posts - 6,631 through 6,645 (of 7,849 total)