Cooking

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi David - Thanks for your question! At Milk Street we use leftover cheese rind from hard cheeses like parmesan and pecorino to add a savory boost to soups and stews. Parmesan contains high levels of glutamate, an amino acid that (along with ribonucleotides) imparts umami. The dish won’t taste cheese-y, per se, but the rind will add a depth of flavor that will really take your dish to the next level. As Elizabeth S. mentioned, we use parmesan rind to flavor the broth in our weeknight Kale and White Bean Soup and in the vegetable broth for our Risotto with Fresh Herbs. I would also recommend adding a rind to a Bolognese, meat ragu, or tomato sauce, a minestrone, or, really, any soup or stew. Happy cooking! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Ramona - Unfortunately, I think it's pretty difficult to reheat steak without overcooking it. The most successful method I've found is to reheat in a low oven (200-250 degrees) and then sear quickly in a hot pan. This can take at least 30 minutes, however, and the steak can still become a bit dry. Since I don't really mind cold steak on a salad, I often make our Thai Beef Salad using leftover steak (assuming it is simply seasoned with salt and pepper) when I'm looking for a quick, no-cook meal on a hot summer day. Hope this helps and thanks for writing us! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Elizabeth - Lucky you! The sundried tomatoes that you got in Sicily aren't all that different than the ones that are packed in oil. The ones packed in oil are dried the same way - either using the oven, a dehydrator, or in the sun - and then added to oil that may also include additional flavorings like garlic and herbs. Because of this, the flavor may not be as potent as the ones that are simply dried. In general with sundried tomatoes, a little goes a long way. You could try substituting some of the grape tomatoes in our Sicilian Trapanese Pesto with some rehydrated sundried tomatoes. However, you may find that you need to add extra cooking water as the sundried tomatoes won't have as much moisture as the grape tomatoes. Our food editor, Matt Card, makes a fantastic Pasta con Fagioli with sundried tomatoes from our recipe for White Beans with Rosemary and Thyme in our Sunday Cook series, which features recipes to cook on Sunday from which multiple recipes can be made during the week. You can find all of our Sunday Cook features by searching "Sunday Cook" on the website. Capers packed in salt are actually much more flavorful than those packed in a vinegar brine. Rather than tasting the vinegar, you get the caper's natural, floral flavor. To use, rinse in water and then, depending on how much salt you want in the dish, soak them for up to 15 minutes to draw out the salt. Taste them as you go to gauge saltiness keeping in mind that as you soak you are losing some of the caper's flavor as well. These capers would be best served raw in a salad to maintain their fresh, floral notes. Thanks for writing to us! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Elizabeth Mindreau

Hi Elizabeth - Ones tolerance for the heat of a chili is a very personal thing. To complicate matters, as you noticed, the same kind of chili can vary in its heat level from one chili to the next. Something to keep in mind when you substitute dried chilies or chili flakes for fresh chilies is that fresh chilies offer more to a dish than just heat. They also add color, fruitiness, brightness, freshness and texture whereas dried chili flakes offer just heat. If you are hesitant to add fresh chilies to your dishes, you could try using dried chili flakes. You'll probably want to start with ¼ teaspoon or less. You could also skip the chilies altogether and offer a selection of hot sauces for folks to add to their own serving to their particular taste. Reconstituted dried chilies are another story as they do offer more than just heat but that is a topic for another discussion. When Thai chilies are called for, it most likely refers to the bird's eye chili, a small, slim, fiery chili.

Answered by Lynn Clark

We aren’t a health food company so, if I’m honest, we don’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about food additives. That being said, we are definitely proponents of buying fresh, local ingredients whenever possible and using high quality products that you can afford. I’m not sure where you’re located, but I would recommend seeking out a local farm to see if they make their own fresh dairy products. If not, for buttermilk, I know Kate’s Fresh Real Buttermilk from Maine and Organic Valley Low-fat Buttermilk do not contain carrageenan. The organic food industry in general is making a push to eliminate carrageenan from products labeled "organic" so more and more companies are removing it and/or replacing it with gellan gum. I would certainly look to organic producers for carrageenan-free products. A little background on carrageenan: Carrageenan is an extract from red seaweed called Irish Moss. This edible seaweed is native to the British Isles where it’s been used in traditional cooking for hundreds of years. It’s natural gelling ability makes it a common thickening ingredient in the commercial food industry. Here is an excellent article from NPR that explains some of the controversy on its purported toxicity:  https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/12/12/504558025/carrageenan-backlash-why-food-firms-are-ousting-a-popular-additive.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Scott - we don't have a recipe at Milk Street that calls for Boursin cheese and Wondra flour. Perhaps it's from another source? Good luck in your search! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Samantha - Only salt penetrates meat. Ground spices, sugar, citrus zest or any other seasoning besides salt just rest on the surface. You may taste them when you take a bite, but that’s just because it’s on the exterior. Salt, on the other hand, separates into ions—sodium and chloride—when it hits meat, which can work their way to the center, altering the protein so that it can better hold onto moisture and also amplifying flavor. Sprinkle a spice rub on right before cooking for good texture and a flavorful crust, but don’t expect it to do anything more. The spice rub for our Coriander-Orange Skirt Steak includes salt. You could keep the salt separate from the spices and apply it in advance to "dry brine" the meat if you wanted. Cuts 1" thick or less (such as skirt steak) really only need an hour or two for the salt to fully penetrate. Then apply the rest of the spice rub right before cooking. Thanks for writing us! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Elizabeth Mindreau

Hi Denise - We'll post this so that folks can offer suggestions.

Answered by Chris Kimball

Oddly enough, I have neighbors in Vermont who eat raw rhubarb like celery - just sprinkled with salt. For the rest of us, try a pickled rhubarb recipe - here is a recipe from Serious Eats: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/04/pickled-rhubarb-stalk-recipe.html

Answered by Chris Kimball

Go to FOOD52 for a very good discussion of bacon cooking methods - https://food52.com/blog/23779-how-to-cook-bacon-best-way-make-bacon-in-the-oven-skillet I have tried all of these methods and although there is a lot of enthusiasm for the microwave method (very crispy, it's true) I agree that the taste is off. The rimmed baking sheet method is the winner hands down but takes longer. I have also tried adding water to the skillet and this does give you a slightly more evenly cooked result but still not perfect. However, the smell of cooking bacon on the stovetop is a critical part of the process for me so I stick with a large cast iron skillet and use medium-low heat. Maybe not the best method but it does get people out of bed in the AM.