Milk Street Q&A

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Jim - Were they formally canned in sterilized jars? If they haven't been officially canned they will generally only last as long as any fresh tomatoes would last - about a week to 10 days in the refrigerator. If they have been properly sealed, they can be stored in a cool, dry place for about a year. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Elsa - The Season 4 2017-2021 cookbook contains all of the recipes from the four seasons of Milk Street TV. I'm not sure exactly how many recipes might also be in the New Rules cookbook, but there will be some overlap. Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi John - Obviously you could just eliminate the dairy element and it would still be delicious, but I assume you want to keep that creamy element on your toast. If you can find it, Kite Hill vegan ricotta is pretty good and would be great here. Or, you could make your own dairy-free labneh. There are a bunch of recipes online that use either coconut or soy yogurt or, even better, cashews in place of the dairy. We do this in our Butter Chicken recipe to add creaminess without the weight of dairy and it's amazing how creamy it is! Let us know if you try any of these options and how it turned out! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Mitch - I'll try to answer your questions in order: Different recipe authors use different terms for exactly the same pre-ferment made with commercial yeast. What one calls a biga, another refers to as a poolish (a Polish term adopted by French bakers), pâte fermentée (prefermented dough), or sponge. A levain is what one would call a pre-ferment using natural yeast (this would be like a sourdough starter). When a preferment is added to a dough, it not only accelerates fermentation but is itself a partially developed dough, which reduces mixing time. Often a poolish is more hydrated (usually 1:1 ratio of flour to water) than a biga or sponge, but there aren't any hard and fast rules on what, exactly, the hydration levels are for a biga or sponge. A lot is going to depend on how much preferment you use. For example, people use different amounts of the preferment (some even change the ratios of flour and water), change the yeast quantities, they use different water temperatures and pre-fermentation temperatures and times. Some even refrigerate it. Each combination will have its own different and unique effect on the dough (including its strength) and the finished crust characteristics, including the taste and flavor of the finished crust, and its color, texture and aroma. Whether you feel the preferment could replace the slower, cold ferment will depend on what you think about the flavor with just the preferment. Cold fermented doughs allow different types of bacterias and yeasts to flourish, which secrete acetic acid giving a generally sourer flavor. Pre-Ferments are usually done at room temperature which promotes lactic acid development. Yes, typically the small amount of yeast in the poolish would be all of the yeast in the recipe. As Matt mentions in the article above, the proofing stages of the dough will be a bit longer. And, yes, however much flour or water you use in your poolish/biga should be taken out of the total amount of flour and water. Hope that answers your questions sufficiently! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Celine - We've got thousands of recipes on our website, so it's hard to give a list of those that can be doubled and/or length of storage for all of the dishes. Were there particular recipes you had in mind? In general, large format proteins always lend themselves to multiple dishes a week - this could include the usuals like beef, pork, and chicken, but also big pots of beans as well. For example any of our sheet pan chicken recipes could be doubled and the extra chicken turned into tacos (depending on their flavor profile), added to a pot of beans, or made into chicken salad. Making a big pot of a grain (brown rice, quinoa, farro, etc.) once a week could be turned into side dishes such as Brown Rice Pilaf or Quinoa Chaufa and also become a grain bowl for lunch. I'd also take a look at our Cookish recipes for inspiration (you can search for them specifically using the Recipes tab on the website). These are quick to put together and have short ingredient lists that sometimes even call for already-cooked proteins and grains. You could find several that use the same ingredients (say, chicken thighs and quinoa), cook those ingredients on the weekend, and then make the recipes during the week, modifying as needed for pre-cooked ingredients. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Jason - We haven't specifically written about pre-minced garlic, but we definitely prefer fresh. Once garlic is cut the flavor compounds are released and will lose potency over time. Therefore, the pre-minced garlic is less flavorful. For quicker garlic mincing, we smash cloves with the side of a knife, then rock the knife back and forth to reduce any large pieces to a mince. We also like to simmer whole, smashed cloves or sliced garlic in oil and then discard the garlic. This leaves behind a mellow garlic oil in which to cook the remaining ingredients, a technique popular in Italy where garlic flavor is more subtle. Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Patrick - I'm not sure which pizza dough you are referring to but, for our standard pizza dough recipe, following the overnight fermentation, the dough can be frozen for longer storage; to use, allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then proceed with the recipe. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Deborah - Here is the recipe - Ikarian Braised Pork. Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Shawn - If you are looking at the recipe on a laptop or desktop computer, there is a black and white button to the left of the ingredient list that says, "Print." If you're using a smartphone or iPad, you can simply print as you would any webpage or document from your phone. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Patricia - I \think\ it's this recipe for Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup. I'm pretty sure this is the only recipe with both beef and Sichun peppercorns that we've done on the show. If it's not this one, let me know! Best, Lynn C.