BakingAsked Apr 24, 2020 by Lily ..
I am obsessed with pain au chocolat and have eaten every variety under the sun. Being somewhat of a snob about it, it's very very rare to find ones outside France where the croissant exterior delivers the proper "shatter" effect of bursting into tiny messy crunchy flakes when when you bite into it. I am assuming that if it's hard to find this among commercial bakeries in America, than trying to achieve this at home would be near impossible? Am I doomed to wait until the next time I can go to France to taste this again?
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Lily - Croissant-making is really an art form developed over years of practice. Not sure if you've tried the croissants at Tartine Bakery in San Francisco (which have that shattering crumb) but, even their team, is constantly tweaking the recipe to perfect it. You can find their recipe in the revised version of their cookbook, [Tartine: A Classic Revisited,](https://www.amazon.com/Tartine-Classic-Revisited-Favorites-Cookbooks/dp/1452178739/ref=dp_ob_title_bk) or via a search online. The folks over at Saveur did a great article with the bakers there on some tips about croissant-making as well. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Apr 24, 2020 by June H.
I continue to struggle with correctly cooked veggies. I often get the spectrum in terms of doneness. Though I cut them to similar size and either add at different stages of cooking or pre-cook those that take longer and add them once the stir frying has begun, I just can not get the timing right. My husband and I love using our wok and want to eat vegetables that are fresh and have some texture. No more mush with crunch. Thanks!
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi June - it sounds like you are doing the right things - cutting everything to a similar size and adding longer-cooking veggies first. Wok cooking \can\ be a bit challenging since everything happens so fast. My recommendation would be to taste test the vegetables often to figure out the timing to achieve the texture you prefer and then remove the vegetables once they are just shy of that texture. Add them back in at the end to very quickly cook with the sauce. They will continue to cook a little bit at this point and hopefully not be overcooked. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Apr 24, 2020 by Tim P.
I have been making sourdough pancakes and sourdough bread, but have not made sourdough starter pasta yet, how can I use sourdough starter into linguini pasta from using your recipe of all purpose flour, olive oil, eggs recipe that you posted recently? How can I incorporate my sourdough starter to that and add it to your pasta recipe? thx.
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Tim - Are you referring to this recipe from the Pasta Grannie? When adding starter to a recipe you need to account for the flour and water in the starter in your pasta recipe. This is best done using a scale. So, for example, if you have 7 ounces of starter to use in your pasta you'd need to take out 3 1/2 ounces of flour and 3 1/2 ounces of water from the pasta recipe to account for that addition. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Apr 24, 2020 by Jennifer G.
I have a recipe that calls for toasting baking soda to use in making ramen noodles if kansui/lye water is not available. What would this step achieve toward the overall goal of making the noodle dough pH more alkaline that "fresh" baking soda would not?
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Jennifer - Baking soda is a fairly weak akali - at least compared to super-charged (and slightly sketchy) lye. Heating baking soda makes it transform from sodium bicarbonate into sodium carbonate, which is a stronger alkaline salt. Food scientist, Harold McGee, wrote an article on this in the NYT about 10 years ago. Good luck with your noodles! Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Apr 24, 2020 by Gary E.
When I was in cooking school the big emphasis was on using unsalted butter, so YOU can decide how much salt is going into the dish. I've gotten a few recipes from Milk Street that call specifically for salted butter. Why?
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Gary - We like salted butter since we prefer to keep just one type of butter in the house and salted butter lasts longer than unsalted. See this discussion for further comments from Chris on our reasoning. Thanks! Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Apr 24, 2020 by Mary M.
I love the bright colors and designs of the popular Swedish-made cupcake liners (brand name Cupcake Creations), but the liners pull away from the cupcakes. Product reviews show many wonderful 4- and 5-star reviews, along with the 1- and 2-star reviews that describe this problem. I did a side by side test - same batch of scratch-made batter - using 6 of the Swedish liners and 6 generic grocery-store type paper liners, all baked together at once in a 12-cupcake sized pan. The generic liners faded in color and appeared less attractive once the cupcakes were baked, but remained adhered to the cupcakes. On the other hand, the prettier, sturdier, more expensive, and - I should add - greaseproof specialty liners, in time, ALL separated from the cupcakes. A clerk at my local cake supply told me she uses the specialty liners all the time and has never experienced this problem. She uses a cake mix; I bake from scratch. She suggested that my recipe likely had more moisture than a cake mix (but my recipe wasn’t problematic with the generic liners!). I have experimented with covering the cupcakes in different ways - lightly covered with plastic wrap, tightly sealed in Tupperware, in a Tupperware container with the lid cracked, and under a glass cake dome. None of these techniques makes a difference. My beautiful Swedish liners separate from the cake regardless. (Might the problem have to do with the fact that these are greaseproof? Could it have to do with the fact that I typically bake with butter as opposed to some other type of fat?) It was suggested to me that I bake my cupcakes in plain white liners and then set them into the specialty liners for serving, but this seems wasteful. Please help! What can I do so that I can use these specialty liners? They are absolutely gorgeous, come in a wide range of designs, and are brilliantly colored - far more beautiful than the generics.
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Mary - how disappointing! You've already done a lot of side-by-side testing to determine what is causing the problem, which is exactly what we would do here. I would say it's probably not anything related to your cupcake recipe or how you are baking them with a couple exceptions. If the Swedish cupcake liners are bigger than the traditional liners and you're adding more batter to those they may be under-baked and that could cause them to pull away from the liners. Also, make sure to remove them from the cupcake pan very soon after baking. It's possible the added moisture as they cool could be causing these particular liners to pull away during cooling. Although, I'm guessing these aren't the problem. I think it's the construction of the liners. "Greaseproof" sounds like a good idea but, in this case, you \want\ the batter to stick to the liner as is cooks. In doing a little research, many people have similar issues with this brand of liners so I don't think there is a quick fix. Sadly, I think if you really want to use that particular brand you'd have to do as suggested and bake in inexpensive liners and then transfer to the Swedish ones. Otherwise, I'd search around for a different brand of attractive liner that works better. I've had good luck with some of the thin, tulip-shaped liners. They aren't necessarily as colorful, but they do make the cupcakes more attractive. I wish I could be more helpful. Good luck and let us know if you find something that works! Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Apr 24, 2020 by Elaine T.
So many grilling recipes, but I have no grill. What can I do to substitute another cooking method?
Thanks!
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Elaine - is there a particular recipe you're interested in? Each recipe is different and will likely require different instructions. I'd be happy to give you some guidance if there's one you'd love to make! Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Apr 24, 2020 by denise M.
I notice that some quick bread recipes instruct to add oil last, after all the other dry ingredients and wet ingredients have been mixed. Typically, the oil is mixed with wet prior to combining with dry ingredients. Wondering if adding the oil last, 'out of order' so to speak has a purpose, does texture or anything end up different? Why not combine wet ingredients as usual rather than hold out the oil until last?
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Denise - I don't know of any reason why adding the oil last would improve the quick bread. All of our quick bread recipes call for mixing all the wet ingredients together and then adding to the dry and folding gently to combine. Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Apr 24, 2020 by Mel M.
I can't stand the flavor of off the shelf confectioners' sugar. It is so filled with cornstarch anymore that the flavor has been hijacked.
What do professionals use to avoid that chalky flavor? Is there a professional grade confectioners' sugar?
Thank you,
Mel Meister
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Mel - I prefer organic powdered sugar. In organic powdered sugar tapioca, rather than cornstarch, is used to prevent caking. The tapioca has a smoother mouth feel and is less gritty on the tongue. Also, organic powdered sugar has cane sugar, which has a more complex, caramel-like flavor than granulated sugar and cuts back on some of the cloying sweetness. One caution though – if you are using powdered sugar just for decorating - that is, sifting over the top of something - it does have a tendency to melt quicker due to its higher moisture content. Best, Lynn C.
Read MoreAsked Apr 24, 2020 by Raymond B.
OK you know the drill. Got a "free" 21lb turkey last Thanksgiving 97 year old WW2 vet held it in his freezer for me until now. So got it back and using this opportunity to break down the bird and to experiments with recipes I want to try.
One is turkey burgers that don't, you know - suck :-)
This is one that I had my eye on. When I parted out the turkey I had 2lbs plus of boneless thigh meat. So perfect for trying 2 recipes. One was this one from Milk Street. The other one was not from ATK, but I'm a long time member there and they are on the list too for some koji turkey experimenting (yeah I have the koji done for a good while)
Anyway I digress - Key question: would one freeze the uncooked herbed burgers as is (raw) or par cook first then freeze?
Will the herbs and texture suffer from freezing without par cooking?
Yesterday I did one of the herb burgers and par cooked first at 425, in the oven for 20 minutes flipping. It was good, very good. But didn't finish to mallard it totally. Worked fine. Everyone is skeptical when folks talk about turkey burgers. I think this is a great recipe frankly. The density also makes it easy to work with. It's very similar to beef burgers in texture /density.
I will be answering my own question over time - but don't have all that much extra time to experiment as you folks :-)
I love Milk Street!
Answered by Lynn Clark
Hi Raymond - These turkey burgers are some of the best I've had, but I do think they are best made fresh since they are pre-seasoned and contain fresh herbs, both of which will fade in the freezer. If you do decide to freeze them, I would 100% freeze them raw and then defrost in the fridge before cooking. You can freeze them on a sheet until firm and then place parchment between and transfer to a zipper-lock bag. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.
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