Dear Milk Streeter,
We finally are up and running in our new space, including the kitchen. Sunlight! Big windows! Great location! We started shooting Milk Street Television here this week with a live audience. (See behind-the-scenes photos on our Facebook page.)
Next up, we launch Milk Street Radio on October 22. The first radio show features Andrea Nguyen on the Vietnamese kitchen, everything from breakfast banh mi to the philosophy of kheo, or cooking with intent. We also unscramble eggs, visit a thriving refugee camp bakery in Jordan, and rethink nonstick pans. And I’ll be answering your cooking questions with my co-host, longtime public television star Sara Moulton. Just call us at 1-855-4BOWTIE or email questions@milkstreetradio.com.
This month’s recipe is a spicy red lentil soup, inspired by a Goan dish (Goa is in southwest India). Flavored with chilies, spices, coconut milk and a punch of bright acid for balance, it’s ready in less than 45 minutes and is a great weeknight supper.
Our Milk Street Cooking School opens next week; it’s your chance to come and cook with us. You might want to try Milk Street Vegetables. You will learn how to make hot oil-flashed chard with ginger, scallions and chili; Thai-style coleslaw with mint and cilantro; French grated carrot salad; and charred Brussels sprouts (we use a hot cast-iron pan; the cooking time is under 10 minutes). Be sure to check our full list of classes and demonstrations.
Milk Street Magazine’s charter issue is headed to your mailbox. If you’d like an annual subscription, you can save 10 percent off the regular subscription price for a limited time. We also are ready to accept gift subscriptions. There is a special gift subscription card in the charter issue. If you haven’t yet, you can still request a free charter issue.
I recently received a cookbook titled “Out of Vermont Kitchens” (first published in 1939 by the “Church Ladies” of St. Paul’s Church, Burlington, Vermont) and found a few surprising recipes. How about gum drop cake (with 1 pound of spiced gum drops), a maple parfait (a New England sabayon), pork cake (made with minced salt pork, raisins and spices), and war cake (no eggs, butter or milk). The most interesting recipe was “How to Cook a Turkey.” Start by steaming the turkey “until the flesh can be pricked with a fork.” Then the bird is covered with thin slices of salt pork and roasted until done. Steam, then roast!
Our own Thanksgiving menu will be posted on our Facebook page and website starting November 1. The menu includes a no-brine basted turkey (so easy, and with such a rich mahogany skin); a bay leaf- and vanilla-infused sweet potato casserole; an easier, better approach to stuffing; and a pumpkin tart using our all-new pie dough.
For Halloween, I am repurposing my old Victorian suit. Melissa and I are going as a ghostly bride and groom, deathly white face makeup, of course. Photos to come!
Hope to see you soon at Milk Street.
Cordially,
Christopher Kimball
Founder, Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street
