Cooking

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi William - In general, I'd only recommend using the rind of a hard cheese. The rind does break down and disintegrate quite a bit so a softer cheese would leave a lot of cheese residue in the soup/stew. We would also only recommend adding a parmesan rind to a soup/stew with a complementary flavor profile, such as something with Italian or Mediterranean flavors. If Parmesan sounds like it makes sense with what you are making, then go for it, and don't worry about specific sizes or ratios. Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Jean - You can cook sprouted lentils just like you cook regular lentils. They can also be consumed raw but only if they are labeled as "ready to eat." Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Katherine - Great question! Historically, we developed our recipes with Diamond Crystal because of the kitchen’s preference for its texture. But that meant we developed our recipes with more salt by volume (but not by weight) than a person using Morton’s would have. And because of that, when home cooks did use Morton’s in our recipes, they sometimes ended up too salty. So at Milk Street, we recently switched to Morton’s. By developing our recipes to use less salt by volume (but the same amount by weight, and therefore the same level of saltiness in the finished dish), we believe it will be more difficult for people to unintentionally add too much salt to a recipe. This switch was made in developing the recipes for the March-April 2021 issue. Recipes that appear in issues prior to that date (or in all published cookbooks at this point) would still call for the volume amount for Diamond Crystal kosher salt. We are in the process of updating all of our recipes to reflect Morton's kosher salt on the website, but this process needs to be done by hand. With thousands of recipes, I'm sure you can understand, this may take some time. In the meantime, our advice is to cut the amount of salt called for in the recipe in half if you are using Morton's kosher and making a recipe published prior to the March-April 2021 issue (or from one of our current cookbooks). If you find it is not seasoned enough, you can always season to taste at the end of cooking. We understand that this is confusing and are here to help if you have further questions! You can read more about this change here. Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Joshua - If you drop an egg into hot liquid, it will scramble. The keys to preventing this from happening are gradual heat and dilution. This is often achieved through the process of tempering, in which you slowly add some of the hot liquid to the eggs while vigorously whisking, before combining it all. Sometimes you need to temper your eggs, and sometimes you don’t. Obviously you want to temper your eggs if you are adding them to a hot broth, such as in our Georgian Chicken Soup or a Greek avgolemono, which are both enriched with eggs. For custards or ice creams that you are infusing first (with a vanilla bean or whole spices), you will also want to temper the eggs since you are starting with hot milk or cream. But if your recipe doesn't require any kind of preheating of the liquid, then tempering isn’t necessary. Simply combine the eggs with the cold liquid and any other ingredients, then set the mixture over low heat and cook, whisking constantly. The early dilution and slow heating minimize the risk of curdling. This will take a bit longer and require pretty constant attention, but it's a one-pot, no-fuss method. Best, Lynn C.

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 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 Roger - A combination of soy sauce and minced anchovies would be a great substitute. If anchovies are not an option then a combination of equal parts soy sauce and vinegar will work pretty well too. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by April Dodd

Shelly - thanks for getting in touch! Occasionally, we do offer livestream public cooking classes with kids specifically in mind, though we don't have any on our calendar right now. That said, many of our classes are a great fit for adventurous and aspiring young cooks, even if they're not created exclusively for kids. Our 60 Minute Spice Master class, for instance, is an awesome introduction to spices for any age. You can see that class, and others, on our livestream class calendar, here. - April D.

Answered by April Dodd

Ann - great question! Any time we think about substitutions, the first step is to think about the "work" that any ingredient is doing in a recipe. A chili pepper will bring some heat, of course, but depending on which techniques are used and whether the chili is fresh or dried, it might be used to thicken a soup, add crunch to a salad, or something totally different. That said, a good jumping-off point for replacing spicy peppers is to look to sweet peppers. Use a red bell pepper to replace red chilies, like Fresno, since they share a fruity flavor profile; turn to a green bell pepper instead of green chilies, like jalapeño or serrano, as they all have a nice minerally, vegetal quality. Instead of dried chili flakes, sweet paprika is often a good option. If your family can tolerate mild heat, I'd play around a bit with Aleppo pepper, which has a mild heat and fruity flavor that won't overwhelm. If you are wondering about specific recipes where you want to replace a hot pepper, let me know and I'll be happy to work through the substitution puzzle with you! - April D.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Stephanie - You might want to try soaking it overnight in water. Then drain and cook it using the pasta method - adding the farro to salted boiling water and then cooking and draining. This should be faster. Best, Lynn C.