Milk Street Q&A

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Rochelle - Thanks for your patience on a reply while I checked in with Chris and the radio team. I think it's possible that, at the time, Chris was referring to the flour tortillas from Caramelo in Kansas. They used to only produce flour tortillas, but just announced they will be soon be producing corn tortillas as well. Corn tortillas are a little harder to produce for mail order since they stale so quickly, but it sounds like Caramelo has done some extensive testing and R&D so should be reliable. Hope that helps! Best, The Milk Street Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Nancy - The hot oil definitely shouldn't be splashing all over you or your kitchen when frying chicken! The best way to avoid this is two-fold. One, use a deep pot, such as a Dutch oven. The oil should only come about 1 1/2 inches up the side of the pot so any splashing when you add the chicken should be contained inside the deep walls of the pot. Two, using tongs, add the chicken to the pot by slowly adding it to the oil as far down into the pot as you can. If you aren't dropping it into the pot it shouldn't create much splash. Hope that helps! Best, The Milk Street Team

Answered by Tonya Johnson

Thanks so much for reaching out! We hope you've been enjoying your Everything Pan. When we originally launched this pan it did not include a lid, but after feedback from both customers and our team, we now have a lid available for purchase. Here is a direct link to order a lid. https://store.177milkstreet.com/products/milk-street-everything-pan-glass-lid Hope this helps! Best, Milk Street

Answered by Elizabeth Mindreau

Hello Scott – Are referring to the Braised Beef with Pancetta, Mushrooms and Red Wine recipe, our pot roast take on a Bourguignon? Milk Street recipes are developed and tested at sea level so we are not equipped to give suggestions about high-altitude cooking. I did a quick search online and found some information that might be helpful and added that below. Again, we have not made any of our recipes at high altitude so we cannot guarantee the results. If you make it with any of these adjustments, let us know how it turns out! Increase cooking time by 20-25% (since 6,200 feet is 4,200 feet above 2,000 feet, and you increase by 5% per 1,000 feet). Add ¼ to ½ cup extra liquid per cup of grains or beans to compensate for faster evaporation. If using an electric pressure cooker (like an Instant Pot), it (psi) adjusts automatically but may still require longer cooking times

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi David - Sorry for the delay in responding! Your post wasn't flagged for me since it's under a customer service announcement thread. I checked in with our Recipe Editor, Dawn Yanagihara, and she shared this: This question came up recently during a recipe meeting, as we're currently in the thick of developing recipes for the baking book. The general feeling is that since gram weights tend to make recipes seem fussier and more complicated than they are, we include include them only for those ingredients for which measuring by volume might introduce lots of inaccuracy. E.g., 1 cup water measured by volume is likely to always come very close to 8 ounces, but the amount of flour, for instance, can really vary depending on whether it's spooned into a measuring cup or if it's measured by the dip-and-sweep method. We do try to make sure to include weights for liquids like honey and molasses—sticky substances that are a nuisance to measure by volume. Hope that helps! Best, The Milk Street Cooking Team

Answered by Rosie Gill

Hi Mel - What kind of potatoes do you use and at what point do you add them? For freezing and reheating, it is best to use Yukon golds or other waxy potatoes, rather than Russet or floury potatoes. Also, if you add the potatoes near the end of cooking, I would portion out the amount of soup you want to freeze before adding the potatoes and freeze that without potatoes in it. To the remaining, hot soup add just the right amount of potatoes for that meal. When you defrost and reheat the reserved portions you can then add raw potatoes to cook in the heating soup. I hope this helps.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Carol - Yes, most of our recipes are in imperial measurements since that is the system widely used in US homes and grocery stores. The one exception is for weights in baking recipes. Since measurements can be more precise with grams - critical in baking - we defer to the widely-used pastry chef practice of using grams. Best, The Milk Street Cooking Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Michael - When it comes to nonstick skillets we don't recommend spending a lot of money on something high-end. This is because, regardless of brand or quality level, the nonstick coating is going to wear off and render the skillet ineffective (and potentially cause chips to release into your food) in about a year if it's used regularly. Instead we recommend one of two options. First, with the right care, a carbon steel or cast iron pan can be nonstick. In this case, if you're really diligent about seasoning and usage, you can have one pan that serves many purposes. If you want something less labor-intensive, we recommend visiting your local discount home furnishings store (for example, TJ Maxx or Home Goods) and looking for a reasonably-priced, heavy-weight nonstick skillet. You can usually find a stainless steel one for less than $50. Best, The Milk Street Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Janet - Mace is the sister spice of nutmeg. Nutmeg trees are the only plant to give us two spices. (As opposed to a plant like dill which gives us a spice and an herb.) Nutmegs are the actual seeds of the tree while mace is what is known as an airl—the protective coating of the seed. Mace’s flavor and aroma differ slightly from nutmeg as its profile tends to be sharper and less sweet. It still carries distinct flavors of nutmeg, but with subtle notes of pine, black pepper, and coriander-like citrus. Whole blade mace can be used just like a bay leaf, slowly releasing its flavor in long-cooking recipes. Try cracking the mace aril in half and use a piece to perfume a pot of steaming basmati rice, season some simmering chicken stock, or in a jar of homemade pickles, especially beets. Ground mace can be used in sweet applications like pumpkin pie, berry cobblers, or a hot toddy are obvious ways to use mace. Savory applications like Swedish meatballs, homemade barbecue spice rubs are welcomed surprises. Mace pairs well with other spices like cloves, allspice, ginger, vanilla, saffron, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, caraway, and fennel. The spice also works well with ingredients such as lamb, veal, pork, apples, sweet potatoes, carrots, mangoes, squash, cream, and cheeses. Best, The Milk Street Team

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi John - Hopefully you find someone who has first-hand experience with speed ovens. Unfortunately we haven't had a chance to use them here at Milk Street. Best, The Milk Street Team