Milk Street Q&A

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Rosemarie - At Milk Street we typically use grapeseed oil, but any oil without significant flavor, such as safflower oil, canola oil, or avocado oil, should work fine. Avoid peanut oil, extra-virgin olive oil, or unrefined coconut oil due to strong flavors. We also would avoid refined coconut oil since it's solid at room temperature. When calling for oil in baking it's usually because we want a fat that stays liquid at room temperature, which creates a cake that is and stays moist. Hope that helps! The Milk Street Cooking Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi William - Our favorite way to use is for braising; thin the mole with stock or water then braise chicken legs, pork shoulder or other protein (and reduce any remaining braising liquid into a thicker finishing sauce). Or, simply dilute with water or broth for a quick sauce for enchiladas or drizzling on nachos with some crema, cotija and crunchy sliced radish. Try this in our Oaxacan Chicken with Green Mole; simply use this jarred mole instead of the puree in the recipe. Best, The Milk Street Cooking Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Gabriel - This recipe is a direct excerpt from Paul Hollywood's cookbook, Bake: My Best Ever Recipes for the Classics, which was printed with permission to coincide with his appearance on Milk Street Radio. We did not develop this recipe here at Milk Street nor were we authorized to modify it. As reference, an 8 1/2-inch x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan is considered a 1 lb. pan. So, theoretically, you could either bake two or halve the recipe. As a general rule with loaf cakes, you want to fill the pan no higher than 2/3 of the way full to prevent overfilling. Hope that helps, The Milk Street Cooking Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Alev - You are correct, paprika was not introduced in Hungary until the early 1800's. However, the dish that is now referred to as "goulash," or "pörkölt "(derived from the Hungarian word for "burned") evolved from a similar dish in which cubed meat was cooked with onion and spices (with a ‘short sauce’, meaning a very small amount of liquid). In this dish, black pepper was used not only to give flavor and aroma to the food, but also as a preservative. Raw meat was rubbed and practically covered with ground pepper to keep it fresh longer. The pepper was used with salt, with sugar, or alone. When paprika was introduced in Hungary, Hungarians experimented with using it as a preservative and rubbed it on the raw meat as they did with black pepper. When this raw meat rubbed with paprika came in contact with the heat from the frying kettle, the paprika-covered meat formed a brown crusty surface with a pleasantly different taste resembling that of meat roasted over an open fire to the point of almost burning (pörköl). The meat treated with paprika reaches this taste without the actual burning. That’s why the new dish—the meat fried in small cubes with fat and onion—was called pörkölt. So, while the version made with paprika has only been in existence since the early to mid-1800's, the basics of the dish, albeit made with black pepper instead, have been around for centuries. Hope that helps! Best, The Milk Street Cooking Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Miranda - Unfortunately we don't develop recipes that are specifically gluten-free. That being said, it has been our experience that using a gluten-free flour \blend\ is the closest approximation to wheat flour for baking. You can find gluten-free flour blends in the supermarket or make your own - there are plenty of recipes online. We recommend visiting food magazine websites or published cookbooks for gluten-free recipes rather than online blogger versions - these are typically not well-tested like those by a reputable source and won't necessarily work as described. King Arthur Flour has a good flour blend and some excellent recipes on their website. Good luck! Best, The Milk Street Cooking Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Linda - Although nothing \bad\ will happen when freezing ricotta, we don't recommend it. This is because once ricotta has been frozen, the water in the cheese tends to freeze, which further separates the cheese. That means when the ricotta thaws and the thawed water is poured off with some of the whey, you'll be left with cheese that is drier and more crumbly than when you initially froze it. In addition, this extra water will now become part of the pesto and water down both the texture and flavors. We think it's best to make and use the sage pesto immediately. Best, The Milk Street Cooking Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Barbara - Please see here for a previous discussion on why we don't provide nutritional information for our recipes. Best, The Milk Street Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Carolyne - We would probably recommend turning off the mixer and ensuring the flour is mixed in once the water is added and just as the dough is starting to form. This will make it easier for the flour to become fully incorporated. Best, The Milk Street Cooking Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Zimran - There is salt added to the dough at the beginning of Step 2: Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt over the dough, then knead on medium until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes; the dough will be wet enough to cling to the sides of the bowl. At Milk Street we use Morton's Coarse Kosher Salt. Because Morton salt is smaller and denser than Diamond Crystal, 1 teaspoon contains 5 grams of salt. 1 teaspoon of Diamond Crystal has just 3 grams. In practical terms, 1 teaspoon of Morton equals about 2 teaspoons of Diamond Crystal so keep that in mind if you use Diamond Crystal. Best, The Milk Street Cooking Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Roger - We recently answered a similar question in the Off The Air feature in the January-February issue of the magazine: A great popover should have a crisp crust, an airy yet custardy interior and—most importantly—its signature billowy shape. A popover pan might appear to be nothing more than a tall muffin tin, but it actually is uniquely designed to deliver these results. Popover pans are designed to convey heat directly to the batter, which is quite wet. As the batter bakes, that heat turns the moisture into steam, causing the popovers’ dramatic rise. The deep cups of a popover pan give the batter plenty of room to rise, and provide support for the sides of the popovers as they do so. The pan shape also promotes swift, even heat distribution, crucial for achieving popovers’ trademark crispy exterior and tender interior. By contrast, the wide, shallow cups of a muffin tin don’t provide the same level of support or space. As a result, popovers baked in muffin pans spread outward rather than upward, resulting in short, squat pucks. Still, we know not everyone has—or wants to buy—a popover pan. So we tested ways to make a standard muffin pan work. For maximum puff, we needed as thin and wet a batter as possible. We started by using low-fat milk instead of whole. We also let the batter rest for 25 minutes to give the flour time to fully hydrate. Next, we skipped nonstick pans. To get the best rise, the batter would need to grip the sides of the cups; nonstick would be too slippery. We filled each cup three-quarters full, but left the two center cups empty to mimic the way a popover pan allows for better heat circulation. Finally (and somewhat unexpectedly), we found we got the best results if near the end of baking we pierced each popover with a skewer. This released steam and let the interiors dry a bit, helping them crisp and hold their shape. Here is our recipe for popovers that corresponds with these instructions. Best, The Milk Street Cooking Team