Milk Street Q&A

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Craig - Our recipe style is to provide weights for baking recipes - because we would really prefer that people weigh their dry ingredients for baking - and any ingredient you might purchase by weight (produce, meat, etc.). However, we've found that most folks don't have a scale at home and prefer volume measurements. Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Carol - You've come to the right place at the right time! Our Editorial Director, J.M. Hirsch, just published a book that covers exactly what you want. You can find his book, Shake Strain Done: Craft Cocktails at Home, here. I'm a bit biased, obviously, but it's probably the most easy-to-follow cocktail book I've seen. It covers all the basics - how to set up a bar, garnish, shake/stir, etc. But I love that the drinks are organized by liquor type \and\ characteristic. So, for example, if you know you want bourbon, but it's a hot summer day, you can flip through the bourbon cocktails until you find one that's labeled "refreshing" or "fruity" to match the day. I'm also personally fond of the fact that the cocktails are labeled with a "strong" tag to make sure I don't get ahead of myself when day drinking. :-) J.M. has mixed up some of his cocktails on our Facebook and Instagram pages for our Milk Street at Home videos (his Apple Cream Pie cocktail is perfect for the holidays!). Go check them out! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Anthony - I'd look for a vegan ice cream recipe. These are usually made with coconut milk or coconut cream. Unfortunately we don't have a recipe here at Milk Street. We always think the folks over at Serious Eats do a great job of recipe development so I'd recommend this recipe. The recipes has a ton of great reviews on it as well. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Cheryl - I checked in with our team in the store and they say it is meant to be a bit loose. It doesn't vacuum-seal or seal up very tightly. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Craig - It sounds like you have a pretty good turkey plan in place! We've only got a couple of turkey recipes here at Milk Street and they are both all about simplicity. Neither involves a brine, but the Tea-Rubbed Maple Turkey has a salt-smoky tea-white pepper rub. In that case we are using a 12-14 lb. turkey and using 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of white pepper, and 6 bags of lapsang souchong tea, rubbing the turkey, and letting it sit for 24 hours before roasting. However, I don't think our tea rub follows the recommended formula, which is 1 teaspoon of kosher salt per pound of turkey. No baking soda involved in that recipe. Our other turkey, Brown Ale Turkey and Gravy, is basted with a flavorful (salty) liquid while roasting so no need to brine/salt. I think if you want to stick with your plan you'd want to follow the general recommendation of 1 teaspoon of salt per pound. Happy Thanksgiving! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Georgina - You're right. Those settings are pretty general and don't always match up from stovetop to stovetop. Unless you have an infrared thermometer that would be pretty challenging to measure on your own stove and, likely, even variable from day-to-day. When reading recipes look for key words to help guide you - simmer, brown, sear, etc. These will give you a visual clue to look for to ensure that the temperature is not too high or low. Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Joanne - I think a lot of people (including me!) are in the same boat this year. I've only got four guests - who have both white and dark meat preferences - so I am planning to do turkey parts. A turkey breast alone is also a great choice. If it's just the two of you and you'd like both white and dark meat, why not do a chicken? You could easily make smaller portions of some "Thanksgiving-traditional" sides to make it feel more familiar. We've got several great roast chicken recipes on the website that are easy to adapt to your personal flavor preferences (their current flavor profiles are not terribly Thanksgiving-like). Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi John - We don't have an exact replica, but I would recommend this recipe for the Cannellini Beans with Tomatoes, Basil and Parmesan. You can either soak and pre-cook dried Cannellini beans (instructions are in the introductory note of the recipe) or use canned Cannellini beans. In Step 1, substitute fennel seeds for the fresh fennel and eliminate the sage. Then, if using, add the Parmesan rind when you add the tomatoes and cooked beans in Step 2. You can skip Step 3 (making the sage oil). Then stir in half of the basil and top with shaved Parmesan and the remaining basil. The Simple White Beans with Sage is based off this recipe. Follow the recipe substituting the thyme and rosemary for sage. Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Glover - We get this question a lot and Christopher Kimball and Sara Moulton did a great breakdown on canola and vegetable oil in this link. At the end of the article there is also a link to our testing on high-heat cooking oils with surprising results. Our favorite for high-heat cooking, and the one that consistently had the highest smoke point, was grapeseed oil, which is made from grape seeds, a byproduct of wine-making. Safflower oil—made by extracting oil from the seeds of the safflower, a cousin of the sunflower—was the second-most durable. And the biggest surprise: olive oil. Though extra-virgin olive oil is ill suited for high-heat cooking (we prefer it for off-heat applications such as vinaigrettes and for a finishing drizzle of flavor), we were impressed by how hot we could get refined olive oil. Avocado and refined coconut oil would be fine for a sauté over medium heat, but I wouldn't use them for high-heat searing or sautéing. Safflower, grapeseed, vegetable and canola are all in the same basic category. We like grapeseed or safflower, since they don't produce the "off" (sometimes described as "fishy") flavors that canola and vegetable oil do. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Daniel - We haven't tried other cuts in our recipe for Ropa Vieja, but pork blade steak or country-style ribs would work here for pork. Pork butt would work too but that would take significantly longer to cook. For lamb, I'd probably go with the shoulder and, to keep it closer to flank for cook time, try to find boneless lamb shoulder chops. It's pretty likely cook times will be different here and, since we haven't tested it, I can't give specifics. Because of this, I would recommend a traditional version of the recipe rather than an Instant Pot version so you have more control over cook times and doneness. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.