Milk Street RecipesAsked Dec 16, 2019 by Emily Z.
In the "creamy polenta with savory sauces" recipe, the texture described in the recipe is quite different than the texture in the accompanying images. Do you have any recommendations for achieving the firmer text so that it can be cut into squares? Thank you!
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Emily - the recipe for Fried Polenta is linked are the bottom of the Creamy Polenta recipe. Here is the link - https://www.177milkstreet.com/recipes/fried-polenta. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Dec 09, 2019 by Mike B.
In the Sept/Oct magazine it says "The next day, I return so Pinna can teach me first to make fregola from scratch—easily the simplest pasta to make by hand (see sidebar on p. 18)—then to use it in the seafood dish I’d eaten the night before." I cannot find the sidebar in the digital version. Please give me this recipe.
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Mike - If you go here you will find the sidebar in the box on the left side toward the bottom of the page entitled "Homemade Pasta at Your Fingertips." Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Dec 05, 2019 by John G.
I made the Brown Ale Turkey and Gravy recipe for Thanksgiving. I followed every step as written and still ended up with virtually no drippings for a gravy. I had a 14 lb farm fresh turkey, the exact amount of basting liquid, the oven was at 350 with the rack in the lower middle position (2nd rack from the bottom), and covered loosely with foil. When I took the foil off after 1.5 hours, there were no drippings. What liquid that was there originally had basically become a black mess along the edges of the roasting pan. I had to add about 1.5-2 cups of stock just to be sure nothing would start smoking.
Any thoughts on why this happened? It's a stainless steel roasting pan, large enough for the bird but not huge. Could the pan be getting too hot? I should note this recipe is not the first time this has been an issue. I never get the drippings that are expected.
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi - Thanks for your question. I'm wondering if your oven might be too hot. Do you use an oven thermometer to confirm the actual temperature inside your oven? Aside from that, did you confirm that you had 2/3 cup of the beer reduction after straining out the solids and before whisking in the butter? It's possible that, if you only measured before straining, you lost some liquid that was left in the solids. Did you add the solids and celery to the pan as well? These will add some moisture to the pan as well and prevent burning. Since you say you have this problem with other recipes I wonder if it's the oven temperature though. I would be surprised that the liquid would evaporate that quickly in a foil-covered pan at 350 degrees even without drippings, If you don't have an oven thermometer I would grab one and check the actual temperature of your oven. If it's off you can have it professionally calibrated or adjust the temperature to account for the difference. Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Dec 05, 2019 by Jennifer E.
The recipe for the pumpkin tart looks delicious, but a family member who will be joining us for the holidays has an egg allergy. Is there any way to substitute the eggs? Thank you!
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Jennifer - I would try using aquafaba - the starchy liquid produced by cooked chickpeas - in place of the eggs. This is a common substitute in vegan cooking and baking. You can find more information on aquafaba on our website: https://www.177milkstreet.com/2019/06/what-is-aquafaba. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Nov 25, 2019 by Rita Y.
I made this stew in the pressure cooker and it was excellent. In the interest of economy, could a well-trimmed chuck roast be substituted for the boneless short ribs? If so, how would this affect the cooking time under pressure?
The only thing I did differently is brown the whole strips of boneless short ribs well on both sides, then cut them into 1-inch chunks.
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Rita - I think you could substitute chuck roast for the short ribs here. They're both cut from the same area of the cow. We found the short ribs easier to prep and, when using a pressure cooker, prep time definitely weighs into our decisions. Keep in mind that you might need to purchase a bit larger roast to yield 2 1/2 lbs of meat after trimming the chuck roast. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Nov 23, 2019 by Clifford V.
I have the Milk Street Cookbooks (2018 and 2019) as well as the "Tuesday Nights" book. Does this new one, "The New rules" contain anything different or is it the same recipes in a different package? If it is different recipes, I would love to buy it, just not sure. Thanks!
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Clifford - Thank you for being a loyal customer of Milk Street! The New Rules cookbook features over 190 recipes and 75 new rules to simplify your time in the kitchen and improve your results. Some of the recipes may be familiar to you from our other cookbooks, but the vast majority of these are brand new recipes created to illustrate our new rules for how to cook, each driven by a powerful new tip, trick, or technique. I would add that even if some of the recipes are familiar they may be expanded upon or presented in a new way in this cookbook. Consider it our playbook for the Milk Street method of cooking! Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Nov 09, 2019 by Katherine D.
I am wondering if anyone else has made the crispy smashed potatoes on page 9 of the November/December 2019 issue? I followed the recipe carefully and while the texture of the final product was as described (crispy and creamy) the potatoes were so salty as to be inedible. The recipe calls for boiling the potatoes in 2 quarts of water with 1 cup of salt.
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Katherine - Jason is correct (thanks, Jason!). When we call for salt amounts at Milk Street we are referring to the amount of Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt.
Simply put, the smaller the crystal, the more it weighs in a given volume, and therefore the more salt you are getting. For example, because of differences in crystal sizes, 1 teaspoon of table salt weighs as much as 2 teaspoons of coarser Diamond Crystal kosher salt. The largest crystals—and therefore the lightest—are Maldon sea salt flakes. Table salt, with its compact, sand-like crystals, is the smallest and heaviest.
Therefore, as Jason mentions above, you would want to use 1/2 cup table salt for the potato recipe. Feel free to refer to the article and chart we published on salt here: https://www.177milkstreet.com/2017/06/salt-talk
Hope this helps! Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Nov 09, 2019 by Richard S.
Just made this recipe and does not look anything like the picture. No liquid is added so where does the liquid come from? Added Tomatillo's (13.4 ounces) after 2 hours of cooking meat in oven with spices. Cooked for an additional hour after add ing tomatillos and 15 ounces of Yukon Gold potatoes. Cn out very very dry, i.e no liquid
Is recipe missing a liquid ingredient? water. stock, broth?
very disappointing
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Richard - I’m not sure what may have gone wrong but I do know that, as Enrique Olvera mentioned in the story, the texture is more suited to serving in a tortilla or over rice than simply in a bowl as you would a more soup-like stew. This is an example of a dry braise. In a dry braise the juices from the meat and the liquid released by the aromatics are the only liquid in the braise. Since there is so little liquid the flavor is more concentrated yielding richer flavor. The tomatillos, added towards the end, will also add a fair amount of liquid but will naturally give off varying amounts depending on ripeness. Ripe tomatillos will have bright green flesh and husk and usually the smaller they are the more desirable. In this particular dry braise we use less meat since we are also adding potatoes and tomatillos. Because of this it’s really important to maintain the level of liquid in the pot by keeping it covered during the entire cooking period, which is a slightly different technique than most of our other Milk Street braises where we remove the cover after a few hours and return the pot to the oven. Again, I’m not sure what went wrong here but I hope this information is helpful! Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Nov 08, 2019 by Eli M.
Unlike the other possibly-ambiguous quantities in the recipe, for which grams are provided or not (corresponding to whether the measure is weight or volume), the almond paste quantity is only given as "4 oz." Is this meant to be weight or volume?
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Eli - yes, weight is what we are looking for here. Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Nov 08, 2019 by Greg S.
Would this work with Pork? If so, which cut?
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Greg - You could probably make this with pork shoulder and keep most of the recipe the same. It just won't be traditional Peposo anymore. :-) Good luck! Best, Lynn C.
Read More 
