Cooking

Answered by Elizabeth Mindreau

Hello Craig, We do not currently have any cranberry sauce recipes, but it sounds like you are making some good ones. The internet is full of recipes. The New York Times Cooking website has a lot of good information, but you have to be a subscriber to access it. Free websites like Food52 and TheKitchn are also good sources for new ideas. Best, The Milk Street Team

Answered by Elizabeth Mindreau

Hello Hank, Our editorial director visited Hungary recently and brought back some tubes of paprika paste for our recipe developers to work with. The store team is also looking for one to sell in our store so hopefully we can make it easier for you to access in the States! Best, The Milk Street Team

Answered by April Dodd

Karmen - do you soak the almonds before beginning the process of pureeing them? You may find it easier to achieve a creamy consistency if the nuts are pre-soaked. But don't throw out that soaking liquid: you can warm it to just under a boil, then drizzle it into your food processor or blender to thin and smooth the butter. You can also reduce the risk of the butter seizing upon addition of maple syrup by thinning the maple with a bit of hot water before drizzling it in. I hope this helps for your next batch! -April D.

Answered by April Dodd

Great question, Elizabeth! Our go-to approach for peeling garlic is to crush cloves under the heel of the hand, or under a knife - a nakiri works particularly well here - then peel away the papery skin. However, for 300+ cloves of garlic at a go, this technique might not be speedy enough. A faster approach that you can try is to use a sharp knife to cut off the very top of entire heads of garlic. Then, break the cloves apart and place them in a large, stainless steel mixing bowl. Cover that bowl with another bowl, hold the edges firmly, and vigorously shake the whole thing for about 20 seconds. You should find that almost all the skins slip off or can very easily be picked off. Give that a try and let us know how it goes! -The Milk Street Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Leta - We would recommend braising the turkey breast in a low oven (325 degrees) and using a combination of low-sodium chicken broth and water (1:1 ratio to prevent it from being too salty, but still adding some flavor). Feel free to add any whole spices to the braising liquid to further season it as well. Whole cumin or coriander seeds and/or some dried chilies would be nice here. Best, The Milk Street Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Karmen - Most grains require different ratios of water to grain and cooking times, so it's tricky to cook many of them together. We think it's probably best, in most cases, to cook the grains separately and \then\ combine them in a dish. For some guidelines on water:grain ratios and cooking times, you can follow our chart for some common grains here. We also find that measuring grains by weight, rather than volume, provides much better cooking results. Best, The Milk Street Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Ronald - In general, our cooking instructions are recipe-specific since each combination of ingredients may necessitate a different method or temperature for the best results. We don’t really do basic recipes or techniques at Milk Street as our style of cooking is more about layers of flavor and ingredient contrasts. That being said, our most basic chicken recipe, our sheet pan chicken (https://www.177milkstreet.com/2018/08/roasted-chicken-three-ways) is a tried-and-true technique for roasting chicken parts. Best, The Milk Street Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Mark - We often add acid in order to properly balance a dish. Ideally, in savory dishes, you want a balance of salt, fat, acid, and heat (and this one can be as simple as a little black pepper). Acid plays an important role in brightening flavors if they are flat or bland, reigning in sweetness, or toning down richness. Sometimes we want the full-on brightness of acid and add it directly to the food right before serving - a squeeze of lemon on a piece of fish, for example. Other times we prefer a more subtle acidity and add a bit of citrus or vinegar (and we would use these in the same way) at the end of cooking to balance the overall flavor of the dish. In this case a little bit of heat from the food will mellow the acidity a bit. This is particularly helpful to balance a rich stew or soup - such as your ham and beans - or in something like a Vietnamese caramel sauce. Best, The Milk Street Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Charles - Our new cookbook, Milk Street: The World in a Skillet, is due out at the end of this month and will likely have plenty of recipes that work in a skillet (in this case a 12" skillet, but I'm sure you could modify to a smaller one, if necessary). I'd also explore some of the recipes from our cookbook, Cookish - you can search these on the website via a Cookish tab on the Recipes drop-down menu. These are short, simple recipes and I think many of them would be conducive to boat cooking. Best, The Milk Street Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Karmen - We do recommend an \overnight\ salting (which translates to about 12 hours) for some, but not all, proteins. Large proteins such as roasts, whole chickens, and turkeys do need to rest overnight after salting in order to achieve all of the benefits. Rest overnight in the refrigerator, uncovered, on a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet. For smaller cuts, such as steaks, pork chops, and chicken parts you only need to salt and rest for 45 minutes or until the surface is dry. This may be less than 45 minutes for smaller chicken parts. Thick white fish fillets (salmon, tuna, swordfish, halibut) can benefit from dry brining by providing overall better flavor and slightly firmer flesh. A minimum of 30 minutes and a max of about 90 for fish, otherwise you'll end up curing it. Best, The Milk Street Team