Mike Nolan

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  • in reply to: Pasta Flour ? #380
    Mike Nolan
    Keymaster

      I always use semolina flour for pasta. Recently I've been ordering it from King Arthur, as the local coop stopped carrying it in bulk. Bob's Red Mill also makes a semolina flour and so does Hodgson Mill, though I haven't seen it on local shelves for a long time.

      I've been tempted to order durum wheat berries and mill my own pasta flour, but haven't found a supplier yet. (25+ pounds of durum wheat would last me years.)

      KAF is also where I get pastry flour, as the only stuff available locally is whole wheat pastry flour. Although GM unbleached makes a decent pie crust, I prefer a softer flour for most pastry.

      Mike Nolan
      Keymaster

        Pork tenderloin has almost no fat in it these days, if there's any meat that has been bred to meet consumer preferences, it's pork!

        A pork sirloin roast should have more fat on it. Boston Butt has a lot more fat, but has to be tied (or cooked in a net) or it falls apart, IMHO it's best for slow cooking and turning into pulled pork.

        • This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Mike Nolan.
        in reply to: No Boil Lasagna Sheets #366
        Mike Nolan
        Keymaster

          Yes, I make the dough in the KA mixer. I put in the dry ingredients, egg and oil, then dribble in water until it forms a dough.

          I divide the dough into balls no more then about 4-5 ounces each. That way I'm not trying to handle a sheet of pasta that is 10 feet long. Use the slowest setting on the mixer. Start on the widest setting (1), put the dough through the rollers a couple of times, folding it in between passes, then move on to the next ball, but without the folds. (I drape the rolled out dough on cookie sheets on the counter, hanging off the edge.)

          Then move up to setting 2, and start over. The book says to go to setting 4 or 5, I find 4 is plenty thin and I've been known to stop at 3.

          I've got really thick countertops (butcher block) and most clamps won't go that wide, but I've been known to use a bar clamp from the shop, the kind that you can squeeze tighter work nearly anywhere.

          • This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Mike Nolan.
          • This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Mike Nolan.
          • This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Mike Nolan.
          in reply to: No Boil Lasagna Sheets #357
          Mike Nolan
          Keymaster

            I haven't used no-boil lasagna sheets in over 10 years. As I recall, they needed to soak for a few minutes to soften.

            These days I make most of my own pasta.

            When I make lasagna, I freeze it after baking.

            If you've got the KitchenAid pasta set, the recipe for semolina egg pasta in it makes an excellent lasagna. It won't have the crinkles in it, of course. I do boil them for 30 seconds or so, to 'set' the pasta and make it easier to handle when assembling the lasagna. I let them dry a bit on cloth towels, that keeps the pasta from getting too watery.

            I usually wind up adding more water than the recipe calls for. If you get it too wet, it doesn't roll out well, but if it is too dry all it does is crumble.

            • This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Mike Nolan.
            • This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Mike Nolan.
            • This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Mike Nolan.
            • This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Mike Nolan.
            in reply to: WSJ article on artisan bakers #354
            Mike Nolan
            Keymaster

              I know King Arthur uses mills in Kansas, because they take staff there on an annual 'know your sources' trek. KSU used to sell grain milled as part of their Grain Institute, but I think they've pretty much shut that sales operation down, and 50 pounds of whole grain flour would last me a year, which defeats the 'freshly milled' aspects.

              So for most of us, getting your own grain mill and buying wheat berries may be the only way to get freshly milled whole grain flour on a regular basis. The options for buying wheat berries are pretty limited, so that's going to limit your ability to get flour milled to your specifications. Right now I've got both 'hard red' and 'soft red' berries, so I could do a mix, but I don't have the lab equipment to measure protein content, ash content, etc.

              I've seen Wheat Montana White Wheat berries in a 25 pound bag in local stores, but haven't bought any. I bought a bag of white wheat flour a couple of years ago, made two loaves with it, and eventually threw the rest out, because we didn't care for the taste.

              in reply to: What Did You Bake the Week of May 15, 2016? #351
              Mike Nolan
              Keymaster

                My mother often doubled the amount of chocolate chips in the recipe. I think the recipe is better with regular oats than with quick oats, just like I think it's better with Crisco than with butter, but I'm glad you liked them.

                My mother typed out copies of this recipe on recipe cards for all of us years ago, she added some hand-written notes to mine that make it one of my most precious possessions.

                Mike Nolan
                Keymaster

                  I updated the link in the first post in this thread to one that should work more more people.

                  in reply to: What Did You Bake the Week of May 15, 2016? #336
                  Mike Nolan
                  Keymaster

                    We made a batch of gluten-free cornbread.

                    I've bookmarked the Anna's Swedish Butter Cake recipe in Susan Purdy's book.

                    We went to a wedding today and the cake (from a local supermarket's bakery department) was definitely not a WASC or even something like the 'elegant white cake' in the KAF Baker's Companion. I was thinking of trying another 'blondie' version of the Texas Sheet Cake, but maybe I'll try the Swedish Butter Cake instead.

                    • This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                    • This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                    in reply to: Say Hello! #315
                    Mike Nolan
                    Keymaster

                      I think you can also expect changes in this site, both in terms of how things work and what tools are available. (I'm not really happy with the current layout, so I might not stay with BBPress, the forums package I'm using, but if that changes all existing content should be migrated over.)

                      And don't forget there are other sites out there, Zen's, RandyD's, etc.

                      • This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                      • This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                      in reply to: WSJ article on artisan bakers #312
                      Mike Nolan
                      Keymaster

                        Hmm, I was hoping the link would work, did you try it?

                        No, the WSJ article focused on professional artisan bakers, not home bakers. It did note that some bakers, like Chad Robertson of Tartine, have started milling their own wheat or cutting deals with local millers. It'll be interesting to see if he writes another volume of the Tartine cookbook series that talks about it.

                        Those of us with home grain mills have long faced the difficulty of obtaining affordable whole grain for milling. I used to be able to get a 25 pound bag of Wheat Montana hard red wheat for about $14, but both local sources no longer carry it. Most recently I paid about $17 plus shipping to order a 26 pound bucket of it from walmart.com. (Walmart has just started offering free shipping on a lot of items, I guess they're trying to compete with Amazon Prime.)

                        You could look for a grocery store that has a Wheat Montana in-store grinding station, but a nearby store recently discontinued theirs. Not enough people buying it, I suspect.

                        The article does say that freshly milled flour should be used in 1-2 weeks, and I'm sure any flour you can buy in bags in a store will be a lot older than that. Peter Reinhart noted in one of his books that freshly milled flour should be used right away, within 24 hours, or allowed to age for 2 weeks.

                        The article touches on but doesn't really explain how sourdough has a lower glycemic index.

                        • This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                        in reply to: Microwave Peanut Brittle #307
                        Mike Nolan
                        Keymaster

                          I've searched many many times, as I do/did remember a few key words and phrases in the original document, but it's just gone. I even tried the wayback machine.

                          The on-the-stove recipe I found most recently looks like a good one, it comes from Buffalo, which is where the best sponge candy in the country is made (or so I'm told) and it has an ingredient in the recipe that I know professional confectioners use in sponge candy--gelatin. (The recipe I lost did not have gelatin in it.)

                          But sponge candy is not a 'summertime' item, so it'll probably have to wait until cooler weather to return. Maybe after my chocolate class?

                          in reply to: Intro & Thanks to KAF BC #303
                          Mike Nolan
                          Keymaster

                            I can deal with the cost of veal, but it's so hard to find any! Our local grocery stores tend to carry at most ground veal. The one store that reliably had (frozen) veal cutlets burned down earlier this week--a fire that started in the compressor room.

                            I recommend Carol Fields' book, "The Italian Baker". Her method for making grissini (thin bread sticks) is both fast and fun to do, and they're every bit as good as the ones I had in Turin.

                            • This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                            in reply to: Roasted Brussels Sprouts #298
                            Mike Nolan
                            Keymaster

                              Other than bookmarking the URL, not yet.

                              Printing is kind of so-so still, too.

                              • This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                              in reply to: No Garlic, Please! #662
                              Mike Nolan
                              Keymaster

                                My wife says I should have written a section on what happens when I take her, her best friend, our daughter-in-law and another couple out to dinner.

                                My wife is allergic to garlic
                                Her best friend is allergic to olives and olive oil (and carries an epi pen)
                                Our daugher-in-law has a wheat allergy
                                The other couple have a wheat allergy, and are also dairy free.

                                That's enough to drive any waiter crazy!

                                The last time I had them all over for dinner, I had to make several items multiple ways, including two kinds of Hollandaise sauce, two kinds of pasta (one gluten-free), two kinds of bread (one gluten-free), etc. My wife made 3 different desserts.

                                in reply to: Microwave Peanut Brittle #277
                                Mike Nolan
                                Keymaster

                                  I found the microwave sponge candy recipe online, but the site it was on vanished years ago.

                                Viewing 15 posts - 6,766 through 6,780 (of 6,802 total)