Mike Nolan

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  • in reply to: The Baking Circle is gone, in part #488
    Mike Nolan
    Keymaster

      Although the site says it is 'on vacation', I think I was able to find the recipe at a slightly different URL:
      http://www.weirdstuffwemake.com/sweetwatergems/food/clamchowder.html

      • This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.
      • This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.
      in reply to: What Did You Bake the Week of May 22, 2016? #482
      Mike Nolan
      Keymaster

        As noted in another thread, the edit button was kind of faint, so I changed the color code.

        All I baked this week was Vienna Bread. I did, horror of horrors, buy hot dog buns the other day, because they were on sale and it's Memorial Day Weekend. Hot dogs and potato salad were standard fare on Memorial Day at my mother's house. (I'll make the potato salad tomorrow, because it is best if allowed to age for a day, and will post my reconstruction of her recipe, it's quite a bit different than any other potato salad I've had.)

        The Chicago Style hot dog buns on the KAF site are OK, but still a bit heavy compared to 'real' Chicago hot dog buns, and they don't quite hold up to a 'loaded dog' the way a true Chicago dog's bun should. There's a shop in town that gets Vienna beef dogs and buns from Chi and that day-glow green relish that they use in Chicago, when I get desperate for a real Chicago dog, I go there. (There's a new chain restaurant in town called Freddy's that sells something they call a Chicago dog, but it's such a miss from the real thing, they serve it on what appears to be a New England Lobster Roll bun!)

        • This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.
        • This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.
        • This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.
        • This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.
        in reply to: The Baking Circle is gone, in part #477
        Mike Nolan
        Keymaster

          My guess is that their web developers missed their target date twice.

          in reply to: Kitchenaid Pasta Experience #455
          Mike Nolan
          Keymaster

            I have dowels in several diameters that I use as rolling pins, because the ones with handles have never worked well for me. In pastry school, the instructor had two different diameter rolling pins for rolling out pie dough, as best I could figure it out, the stickier doughs got the smaller diameter one.

            I have yet to figure out how to use one of those tapered French rolling pins. It always seems to me like the taper makes the middle too thin.

            • This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.
            in reply to: Things they don’t tell you about home grain milling #654
            Mike Nolan
            Keymaster

              You can cut it back to a single tablespoon, but it will take even longer to rise. It might take as long as 4 hours, I'd recommend punching it down after 2 hours. It probably won't quite double, though.

              In cool weather I usually put this dough in the warmest place I can find, which is on top of the computers in my office.

              in reply to: Kitchenaid Pasta Experience #450
              Mike Nolan
              Keymaster

                If you've got the knack for hand mixing pasta dough (a skill that has so far eluded me), you probably stop mixing in additional flour when it reaches the point where it looks and feels right. Holding back some of the flour might help when doing it in a mixer, but adding a little water is OK, too. Eggs are mostly water anyway.

                I've always though tagliatelle needs to be thin enough to read newsprint through it, while fettuccine can be a bit thicker, because it usually gets a richer sauce.

                A pasta skill I'd love to learn is pulling Chinese noodles. I took a course on making pot stickers and dim sum from the Confucius Institute at the University of Nebraska a few years ago, if they ever offer one on pulling noodles I'd sign up in a heartbeat.

                in reply to: Cleaning a Cake Container with Moldy Cake #435
                Mike Nolan
                Keymaster

                  Is it dishwasher safe? If so, that should take care of it, especially if your dishwasher has a sani-cycle setting. But if that'd melt or warp it, try soaking it in bleach for an hour or two.

                  in reply to: Happy Birthday Swirth #408
                  Mike Nolan
                  Keymaster

                    We've gotten about 2 inches of rain in the past 2-3 hours, but our weather usually tracks north of you. It's been raining all week and it looks like rain on and off for both of us through the weekend and into next week, wonder if it'll affect the Indy 500 on Sunday?

                    This weekend is my wife's annual Memorial Day Weekend garage sale, looks like it'll be a soggy one.

                    • This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                    in reply to: No Boil Lasagna Sheets #406
                    Mike Nolan
                    Keymaster

                      I find it is easier to bake it, cut it into portions for freezing and reheat those portions as needed.

                      in reply to: Happy Birthday Swirth #398
                      Mike Nolan
                      Keymaster

                        Happy Birthday, Sarah! Stay dry!

                        in reply to: No Boil Lasagna Sheets #391
                        Mike Nolan
                        Keymaster

                          I've looked at the larger (14x18) baking steel griddle several times, when I'm not using it for baking I think it'd be on the countertop as a platform for doing things like cutting meat and chicken. (I wish we had put in a stainless steel countertop next to a sink for easy sanitation.)

                          in reply to: The latest ‘gourmet green’ — Japanese Knotweed?? #381
                          Mike Nolan
                          Keymaster

                            Very little of the Japanese Knotweed in the Pittsburgh area will be suitable for eating, the article even says the people harvesting it for restaurants go way outside of town to get it.

                            Tree of Heaven is a nasty smelling invasive plant, that and mulberry are things we fight constantly. Mint is another, the first year we were in this house we put in several types of mint, 19 years later we're still trying to get rid of it. Musk thistle is a big problem locally, especially in ditches along county roads, and one the weed control board will cite you for in a hurry.

                            I've heard it referred to as the gardener's dilemma: Anything prolific enough to make a good ground cover has the potential of taking over your entire yard.

                            • This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                            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 8 years, 8 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 8 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                                  • This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                                  • This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                                Viewing 15 posts - 7,321 through 7,335 (of 7,369 total)