Milk Street RecipesAsked Jun 22, 2020 by Adam N.
Good Afternoon,
1) How to avoid setting off fire alarm repeatedly:D
2) How to not scorch bottom of pan
3) How to ensure garlic is not completely charred
So I did the coriander traybake recipe yesterday for roasted chicken. It took major vigilance to ensure that it actually turned out ok. I must be doing something wrong as it should not be this challenging. I was using an aluminum rimmed baking tray. By minute 20 the garlic was mostly charred so I had to remove them from the oven to salvage about half of them or they would have been completely burned. This also caused the fire alarm to go off. I’m aware of the requirement for skin to be placed upside so that issue is minimized. It did not work. After 20 minutes the chicken required about 20 more minutes to get up to temperature. This resulted in major scorching on the pan and constant smoking and fire alarm issues. Please advise what I’m doing wrong, thank you!!!
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Adam - Are you using a heavy duty aluminum baking sheet with at least 1" sides? I realize when we say "rimmed baking sheet" we are leaving that pretty open for interpretation. In most cases, any old sheet will do, but in this case you want to make sure you're not using a "cookie sheet" or "jelly roll pan." These are often too lightweight and either have no sides or very low sides. I haven't made the coriander-roasted chicken but I've done the traybake with pomegranate molasses - same technique - about a dozen times and never had issues with overcooking or smoking. For the garlic, it's important to make sure you put it in the center of the baking sheet and surround it with the chicken on all sides. You need the chicken to create a wall, essentially, to protect the garlic from overcooking. Other than those two things, I'm not sure what else could have gone wrong. Let me know if either of these things might have caused the issues. Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Jun 22, 2020 by Chas B.
Hi!
Just recently joined and feeling overwhelmed by all the recipes!!
My daughter cannot have dairy and we generally also follow a pescatarian/vegetarian diet.
Wishing I could sort through all these amazing recipes to filter out dishes that will work for my family!
Any suggestions?
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Chas - I spoke with our digital content team and we, unfortunately, don't have a filtering system in place in our search engine at the moment. However, we are currently working on website upgrades and this is definitely something we are working on! We appreciate your suggestion and always take these issues into consideration as we further improve our digital experience. Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Jun 22, 2020 by Gary H.
I've purchased four of your books, plus have the last 6 magazines. I've also watched most of your cooking classes. Let's say I want to make a kale-chicken recipe, how would you recommend that I look for a recipe that fits this criteria among all of the books/magazine I have? I know that I can search for "kale" in your search engine and it will give me a lot of recipes, but then how do I find that particular recipe in one of the books? Please help.
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Susana - Thanks for your question! At this point we don't have a master index (though most recipes can be found on the website). If you find a recipe in the website search, at this point, you would have to then look it up in the indices of the various cookbooks. Having a master index is a great idea, however, and I will pass that along to our editorial team. Thanks for letting us know! Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Jun 20, 2020 by John B.
Hi! This is more about after the cooking is done than the cooking thereof. I can often get away with eating foods containing garlic (I assume it is the garlic) without any deleterious aftereffects. Sometimes however, and this mostly seems to be the case with processed foods or those prepared in a restaurant, I end up with an effusive parfum effect (Eau d'garlique) that drives my wife from the room. It does not seem to occur with foods made in my own kitchen, no matter how much garlic is included. Upon occurrence, the effect can last for days. Any idea what might be in prepared food that would magnify the effect? Any suggestions on what I might do to reduce the aura of ambiance the garlic produces? I have heard of ingesting peppermint as a remedy but that doesn't seem to do the trick. Not eating garlic is obviously a solution, but not always under my control.
Cheers,
JB
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Susan and John - I'm sorry I missed your question! Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a foolproof remedy for garlic breath. Chopping or crushing garlic releases the compound allicin, which then breaks down into four other smelly compounds. The most mischievous of them is allyl methyl sulfide, which can linger in your body for a long time. It not only causes your breath to smell, but as it seeps into your bloodstream, it can affect your sweat and urine. According to this article from NPR, there's \some\ evidence that the fat in milk can break down the allyl methyl sulfide so drinking a glass of milk can dissipate the smell.
Garlic’s pungency is easily controlled depending on how you prep it. Raw, unbruised garlic has only mild flavor, but damaging garlic's cells—by slicing, chopping or smashing—triggers a chemical reaction that produces its telltale flavor and aroma. The more garlic cloves are bruised—whether by smashing, slicing, mincing, chewing or, to a lesser extent, heating (it's flavor mellows when cooked above 140 degrees)— the greater the pungency. When this sharp flavor develops and then sits, it becomes even more unpleasant. It's likely that the garlic in processed foods or in the foods you've had in certain restaurants had been pre-minced and allowed to sit for a while making it more pungent than your freshly-minced or sliced garlic at home. Hope this helps! Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Jun 20, 2020 by John B.
I have perused the websites looking for how best to cook a good steak. There is a lot of commonality in their methods, albeit times may vary. The one thing I found that differed was some liberally salted the steak before cooking and others thoroughly disapproved of salting until after the cooking was done. Any words of wisdom from the kitchen on salting or not?
Cheers,
JB
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi John - At Milk Street, we are strongly in favor of salting steak before cooking. Food scientist Harold McGee, who wrote the book, On Food and Cooking, recommends this because the small amount of salt used to season meat has a hydrating effect - salt helps the cells hold onto water. There is further debate about how far in advance to season steaks. At Milk Street we almost always season right before cooking. If you've got the time and want to season and rest the meat for more than 40 minutes, you will get a drier surface and slightly more concentrated flavor. But, the flavor here can be pretty subjective. Some people prefer the cleaner flavor of a steak with more surface seasoning (seasoned right before cooking) while others prefer the "aged" flavor of a steak seasoned more than 40 minutes in advance. My opinion? Save yourself the time and season right before cooking. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Jun 19, 2020 by Heath D.
In the Udon Noodles with Shiitake Mushrooms and Spinach recipe, it asks for a full pound of shiitakes, stemmed and caps sliced thin. Is this a pound of shiitake and then stem and slice or a pound of caps after stem and slice? Am I getting rid of the stems and only using the caps I assume? I always wonder how to read this in recipes.
thank you.
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Heath - For this recipe you will need a pound of shiitakes, which is the weight before stemming. Shiitake mushroom stems are very fibrous and not very pleasant to eat. However, don't throw them away! They are a great source of umami - just throw a handful in to flavor soups or stews and then strain out before serving. You can freeze them and use directly from the freezer. Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Jun 17, 2020 by Virginia M.
I love the Kitchen Counts feature in the magazine, and would love it even more if it were easily printable from the website. Any chance that could happen?
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi All -
Thanks for such a great suggestion! I will pass this along to our Editorial team who is always improving the website and magazine to improve the customer experience.
Best,
Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Jun 17, 2020 by Christian P.
Can we use butter rather than lard?
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Christian - I would recommend substituting vegetable shortening or olive oil instead of butter. When we tried this recipe with butter it felt more like pastry than bread. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Jun 16, 2020 by Robert K.
Wanted find to recipe for "charred frozen broccoli", which I had seen a few weeks ago. The recipe did not turn up as written in quotes in my first sentence. I find it under "putting a char on frozen broccoli. " Seems to be not a great search engine.
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Robert - Thanks for your note. I will pass along your concerns to our digital content team. As you will see in this linked discussion, the digital team is currently reviewing some changes to the website and search capabilities, so stay tuned for some possible changes in the near future. Best, Lynn C.
https://www.177milkstreet.com/discussion/discussion/411/suggestion-for-website#latest
Read MoreAsked Jun 16, 2020 by Theresa J.
How does one get notified of upcoming live monthly Q&A sessions? I am an Insider and one of the stated benefits is “access to live Q&A events”, yet I have never received an invitation to “Enjoy exclusive [live monthly Q&A sessions](https://www.177milkstreet.com/video?category=live-qas) with Christopher Kimball and members of the Milk Street staff, special guests and more.” There are previously recorded Q&A sessions in the videos tab, yet please let me know how to find out about upcoming live monthly Q&A events. Theresa J. (Q&A ID 3746)
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Theresa - I’m so sorry that you haven’t been able to see one of our Q&A’s Live. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, we’ve had to suspend the Live Q&A’s because of the social distancing and mask requirements instituted in workplaces by the state of Massachusetts. Once we are able to safely resume them, Insiders will be the first to know. As someone who’s participated in the Live Q&A’s alongside Chris, I miss them too! Best, Lynn C.
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