Milk Street Q&A

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Folks - Adam just sent us his recipe. Please find it below. Enjoy! Five C Quarantine Flan (Coconut- Cinnamon- Cardamom Cr.me Caramel.) 1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk 3/4 cup milk 3/4 cup heavy cream Four egg yolks and two whole eggs 1/2 cup sugar One cup sugar One teaspoon of cinnamon 1/4 cup cold water Four to six cardamom pods Approx. 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes Make caramel on stove: dissolve sugar in water and cook until browned and almost burnt. Take off stove and add a teaspoon of cinnamon and stir into the super-hot caramel.. (You can buy pre-made cardamom -cinnamon sugar from Milk Street on line to caramelize, but this will work as well.) Pour the caramel into the bottom of four souffle dishes. (There’s usually enough left over for two mini-souffl. dishes as well. The minis are fun to have for dieting spouses.) Using a whisk, beat the eggs and egg yolks with the sugar— you can use relatively little sugar with the egg yolks, since the coconut milk is naturally sweet. But not for too long -- just until it is a beautiful lemony yellow. Heat the coconut milk, whole milk and heavy cream in a pot. Stir in the husked cardamom pods and the coconut. Make the mixture hot and just steaming-smoking but not truly boiling. Pour the hot milks into the egg mixture ,beating all the while with the whisk to keep the eggs from cooking. Pour the egg and milk mixture, with the coconut and cardamom still in it, into the souffle cups with the cinnamon caramel hardened on the bottom. (If the mixture’s super-frothy, you can strain it through a sieve, which will leave the cardamom and coconut behind…in that case, mix them back in cup by cup. I never find this step—straining -- makes much difference, but some like to do it.) Put the soufflé's cups into a big baking dish with boiling water poured right up so that it comes to about a third of the way up each cup. Bake for approx. thirty minutes, or until set. Refrigerate. Unmold by running a sharp knife around the edge of each creme caramel and inverting onto a pretty plate. Scoop out the residual caramel, there’s always some, with the knife or spoon unto the flan. Serve with pleasure.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Jean - We always store our almond flour in the freezer to keep it fresh too. It will somewhat solidify, but you can usually break it up pretty easily so it's not a solid mass. I always scoop out what I need and let it come to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe. Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Carrie - Most of the recipes in which you're seeing that off-center photo are from our new cookbook, Cookish. For some reason when these photos were transferred over to the website the website cropped the photos in this way rather than our usual format. Our photo and digital teams are working on fixing these photos as we speak! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Carol - I had a chance to check in with Christopher and he based his recipe off this one: https://www.177milkstreet.com/recipes/ethiopian-chicken-stew-doro-wat. You can make the chicken version of the recipe as it was developed or try his simple pork version: "sauté three onions with a bunch of Berbere (1/3 cup or so) and then add 3 lbs boneless cubed pork shoulder, 40 minutes on high pressure, let sit for 15 minutes after cooking and then release steam." Chris didn't specify if he also adds the 3/4 cup water from the recipe, but I would recommend it so you don't get a burn error in the Instant Pot.  Good luck! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Janet - We mentioned asiago fresco in the video, but the recipe itself just calls for asiago. Either will work. Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi John - Browned onions and caramelized onions are two different things. Caramelized onions are generally cooked for a longer time (1/2 hour or so) over lower heat. This yields sweet, soft onions that are great on a burger, pizza, or sandwich. Browned onions are usually quickly cooked and yield crispier, slightly more bitter onions. A couple of key things for properly caramelized onions - make sure to use a large enough pan. If the pan is too small, the moisture released from the onions will not evaporate and the onions won't caramelize. Second, don't overcrowd the pan. Again, if there are too many onions, the moisture won't evaporate and the onions will brown unevenly. For browned onions, we generally cook these over medium or medium-high. Everyone's stovetop is different so our "medium" in a recipe may align more closely with your medium-high. If you find they aren't browning in the time called for in the recipe you can either cook them longer until they start to brown or increase the heat (or both). Hope this helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Evan Petto

Hi Liz! Thanks for your question. Your store credit should have been sent to you as a one-time use code via email. If you did not receive that email or have filed it away, please send me an email at epetto@177milkstreet.com with the following information: Your name, email address you used to order the cookbook, title of cookbook purchased, and date of purchase (if you remember). We can use this information to track down your code so you can get shopping! Best, Evan, Digital Content Director

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Joshua - I assume you are referring to our Lasagna Bolognese recipe? We haven't tested this with homemade noodles, but I would probably follow the directions for soaking the noodles, but wouldn't soak them for the full 10 minutes. Just enough to moisten the noodles so they don't absorb too much of the sauce. Again, we haven't tested this in our kitchen, but that would be my advice based on the recipe notes. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Anna - Each of our Instant Pot recipes has a Slow Cook version as well - you can click on the tab that says "Slow" under the directions. Although these are intended for the Instant Pot slow cooking feature I think it will work the same in a traditional slow cooker on low heat. We haven't tested this recipe on the stovetop or in the oven so, unfortunately, I don't have instructions for you there. Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Samuel - Cinnamon rolls are usually made from a rich brioche dough with a healthy amount of butter, milk, and eggs, which all contribute to the softness of the dough. In bread roll recipes I have developed over the years, I've found that using a portion of potato makes for a particularly soft, fluffy roll. This could come in the form of an actual mashed potato, dehydrated instant potato flakes, or potato starch. That’s because the starches in potatoes dilute the gluten-forming proteins, which weakens the structural network and makes it softer, moister, and more tender. I'd also recommend trying the tangzhong method. This Asian technique cooks a small percentage of the flour and liquid (water or milk) in a yeast recipe very briefly before combining the resulting thick slurry with the remaining ingredients. This pre-gelatinizes the starches in the flour, meaning they can absorb more water. The bread or rolls may rise higher, due to more water creating more internal steam (which makes bread rise in the oven — along with the carbon dioxide given off by the yeast). Additionally, having retained more water during baking, bread and rolls will be moister, and will stay soft and fresh longer. King Arthur has a great recipe for cinnamon rolls using this method which you can find here. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.