Milk Street Q&A

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Jared - I love Portland! I used to live there too. I also lived in Colorado for a month, so I've had some opportunity to cook at altitude. It's hard. When cooking, everything takes a lot longer to finish since the boiling point at altitude is lower than at sea level. For example, an apple baked in an oven set at 350°F will reach an internal temperature of 200°F in 20 minutes in Las Cruces, NM (3,500 ft elevation), while in Taos Ski Valley, NM (10,000 ft elevation) it will take 45 minutes to reach that same temperature. So plan for everything you made in Portland to take longer in Denver. Baking is a bit more complex. King Arthur Flour has a guide to baking at altitude that is fantastic and links to two other guides from Colorado State University Extension and New Mexico State University with even more information. Hope that provides some guidance for you! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Margaret - What a nice memory. This sounds simple and perfect for a cold and wet day like we had here in Boston yesterday. Thanks for sharing! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by April Dodd

Sharon - the best substitution will depend on the recipe. If the main function of the wine is for its acidic notes, then a replacement of citrus or vinegar (white wine vinegar to replace white wines, red wine vinegar to replace red wines - look for vinegars that confirm they do not contain sulfites) is a good choice. If the wine is there to contribute more juicy, fruity notes, then you might want to think about using watered-down fruit juices combined with citrus. Pomegranate juice and lemon can be a great stand-in for wine if you're doing something like our Malbec-Poached Pears, while white grape juice and lemon is an excellent substitute in our Chicken en Cocotte with White Wine and Grainy Mustard. Hope that helps! - April D.

Answered by April Dodd

Great question, Linh. There are some nonstick pans (like Swiss Diamond brand) that are actually designed to be used without oil. If you have one of those, then you should heed the manufacturer instructions and seek out recipes designed for that cookware. For most nonstick pans, though, oil still serves multiple purposes. First, oil conducts heat more evenly, preventing hot spots that might be caused by the design of the cooktop or the pan itself. In addition, oils and butters are great vehicles for flavor in recipes, not just a protection against sticking. (Most spices, for example, are fat-soluble, so having some kind of fat in the pan allows the flavors of those spices to bloom and carry throughout the dish.) Finally, most recipes call for using some kind of oil even in nonstick pans because even excellent nonstick pans wouldn't truly succeed in, say, frying an egg with no oil at all, and getting stuck-on bits out of a nonstick pan is especially frustrating because you don't want to accidentally scratch the coating. If you'd really like to be able to control the amount of oil you use in your nonstick pan without running the risk of sticking, then I have a final (and perhaps counterintuitive) tip for you, which is to season your nonstick pans in roughly the same manner you might for a cast iron. To do this, simply rinse and thoroughly dry the pan, then place it over low heat and use a paper towel to rub about a teaspoon of neutral oil into the pan. For extra non-stick power, you can do this before each time you use the pan. - April D.

Answered by April Dodd

Ellen - so glad to hear that you are thinking about how to use all parts of the carrot; using the juice and pulp is a great way to reduce food waste and enjoy the full nutritional benefits of carrots. There is no one hard-and-fast ratio for replacing shredded carrots with carrot pulp, but a good place to start is using half as much pulp (by volume) than shredded carrots. If you are weighing your ingredients, there's no need to change the weight amount; but since pulp is way more densely packed than shredded carrots, we have to use less if measuring by volume. The other tip I would give is to be sure to break the carrot pulp up well before using. Otherwise, you run the risk of a big clump of carrot sinking to the bottom of a lovely cake or bread. Happy baking! - April D.

Answered by April Dodd

Zachary - a brisket can feel like a big project, but we've found that it quickly becomes manageable when done in a pressure cooker. Do you have an Instant Pot or other multi-cooker? If so, the techniques described in our Mexican brisket salad are excellent for any brisket preparation, and you can easily make a sauce with a different flavor profile than the one called for here: Mexican Shredded Brisket Salad Just say the word if you don't have a pressure cooker and I'll get back to you with recommendations for other ways of tackling brisket. - April D.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Kimberly - A mornay sauce can be tricky but you've got the right idea by using freshly grated cheese and adding it off the heat. It's likely the type of cheese you are using. Aged cheeses don't melt well. For this reason when I make macaroni and cheese I use a combination of cheeses - sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack. Sharp cheddar has a ton of flavor, but doesn't melt well (you can tell that it won't because it sort of crumbles when you cut it). Monterey Jack is a creamy cheese that melts really well, but lacks a ton of flavor. The two together create the perfect balance of flavor and texture. This flavor profile creates a pretty classic Mac and cheese, but yny good melting cheese can be used in place of the Monterey Jack - gruyere, fontina, muenster, taleggio. Feel free to experiment with a flavor combination you like best and good luck! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by April Dodd

Hi Susana - we do have a recipe for an excellent Thai soup that we learned as Khao Tom; take a look and let us know if it is what you're looking for: Thai Rice Soup (Khao Tom) In terms of whether these ingredients are available in supermarkets, that will depend on the supermarket! Fish sauce and chili garlic sauce have become pretty widely available staples. If you can't find lemongrass, simply add an additional shallot, as well as the zest of one large, or two small, lemons. - April D.

Answered by April Dodd

Mike - there are about as many ways to caramelize onions as there are cooks, so the short answer here is that if you have a technique that works for you, then use it! There's no "correct" answer here: rather, if the approach you use gives you the results you want, then it's a good one. The longer answer is that the lower and slower the heat, the more sweetness will be coaxed out of the onions over time. A traditional French-style caramelized onion might cook for two hours or more, with occasional splashes of water added to loosen up anything that might have gotten stuck to the bottom of the pan. However, for the home cook, there's no shame in cooking them over medium heat for less time - even 20 minutes will see a good amount of caramelization - like we do in our Lentils and Bulgur with Caramelized Onions: https://bit.ly/2wn6WBt. I will note that salt can dramatically transform caramelized onions; added too early, salt can result in oddly mushy onions. Wait to season to taste until the end. - April D.

Answered by April Dodd

Good questions, Chi. In our gnocchi recipe, we recommend boiling the potatoes until tender, draining, and then drying them further in a hot pot back on the stove top. Our goal is cloudlike, airy gnocchi, meaning that we want to avoid anything that might produce dense or gummy texture. To that end, we are looking to minimize the moisture trapped inside the dough and to control gluten development. That's why we wait until the potatoes cool before ricing; as they cool, steam evaporates off the surface of the potatoes, and excess moisture drains through the wire rack. This is also why we use a comparatively small ratio of flour to potatoes: more flour produces a glutinous, chewy pasta, not the airy one we want. Using too little flour, however, results in a gummy texture reminiscent of overwhipped mashed potatoes. - April D.