Mike Nolan

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  • 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 8 years, 11 months ago by Mike Nolan.
          • This reply was modified 8 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 8 years, 11 months ago by Mike Nolan.
            • This reply was modified 8 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 8 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 8 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 8 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.

                        in reply to: Microwave Peanut Brittle #274
                        Mike Nolan
                        Keymaster

                          I used to have a microwave sponge candy recipe, too. (called seafoam at some candy stores) one that I had worked on the timings a lot, but the sheet of paper I had written it on was inside a cookbook that vanished several years ago, and I haven't been able to reproduce the recipe or get the timing down right, maybe both.

                          I've got several pages of alternate recipes to try (done on the range rather than in a microwave oven), but making sponge candy hasn't been high on my list of things to do the last few years.

                          I'm hoping to take a course on chocolate-making later this year, being better trained on how to temper chocolate and enrobe candies might revive this quest.

                          in reply to: Wood Burning Oven #263
                          Mike Nolan
                          Keymaster

                            There's a vendor at the local farmers markets who has a Forno Bravo wood-burning oven that he hauls around to farmers markets and other functions. He says it takes several hours to get up to temp and 2-3 days to cool completely down.

                            Please keep us posted on your progress. The San Francisco Baking Institute has run a few short courses on baking breads and pizzas in a wood burning oven. I think King Arthur Flour has run similar courses in Vermont.

                            • This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                            in reply to: Wood Burning Oven #258
                            Mike Nolan
                            Keymaster

                              What kind of oven did you get?

                              in reply to: KAF closing extended; bbc site also says my sis #254
                              Mike Nolan
                              Keymaster

                                What's going on? Running a website has gotten expensive, and costs are accelerating.

                                in reply to: Staying in Touch with KAF Baking Circle friends #248
                                Mike Nolan
                                Keymaster

                                  Sometimes the best way to participate is to ask a question that stimulates an interesting discussion.

                                Viewing 15 posts - 7,456 through 7,470 (of 7,487 total)