Milk Street Q&A

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Hugh - Pork shoulder is at its best when it's cooked to a relatively high internal temperature, about 190-200 degrees. The connective tissue in the shoulder begins to dissolve as the pork is cooked. At the same time, the fat found in the shoulder melts, coating the meat, keeping it moist and adding rich flavor. Slow cooked pork shoulder is cooked well past the point of standard doneness so that the fibers in the meat separate easily and develop a lush, rich texture. This won't happen until around 190 degrees. That being said, I don't usually temp a pork shoulder. I insert a fork into the center and, if it meets no resistance and starts to "pull" easily, I know it's done. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Omar - Hmm, I'm not sure that Christopher did a recipe on the show for miso rice. He did do a fantastic recipe for a Miso-Ginger Dressing that can be used as a salad dressing, drizzled over roasted vegetables, or mixed into rice. Maybe that's the one? Either way, it's a great recipe to have in your repertoire if you don't already. It's super versatile - I even use it to make chicken salad. Hope this is helpful! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Rashawnda - Most commercial gluten-free flour mixes, include rice flour \and\ starch - usually either tapioca, potato, or corn starch to mimic the starch and protein in wheat flour. I'd recommend this recipe by Stella Parks - she's a cookbook author (her book, Bravetart, is fantastic) and recipe developer over at Serious Eats. Her recipe calls for a specific combo of flours and starches to achieve the perfect angel food cake - she even argues it's better than one made with wheat flour. She explains everything really well in the link I've included. Good luck and happy baking! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Rashawnda - Here is an informative article that explains what you can and can't do in a pressure canner. In general, the answer is "yes," but you should check the manual or brand of canner you have to determine which foods they do not recommend cooking in your particular machine. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Rashawnda - If you're looking to make a basic wheat bread recipe and incorporate teff flour, I would use whatever recipe for wheat bread that you like and start with substituting 25% teff flour for the wheat flour. If that isn't enough teff flour for your taste, you can go up to 50% and still maintain the same basic structure of the original bread recipe. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Eileen - Are you deep frying the fish? In other words, is the fish fully submerged in the oil or are you just pan-frying the fish in a small amount of oil? If you are deep frying or cooking over a relatively high heat, I would use an oil with a higher smoke point, such as grapeseed or canola oil, rather than olive oil. Olive oil will smoke around 390 degrees, extra-virgin around 350. You'd want to heat oil to about 350 before frying so you run the risk of smoking the oil, which will negatively affect flavor. Although you can typically reuse frying oil, I wouldn't reuse fish-frying oil. The strong flavors of fish can get pretty funky during storage and make your next meal taste pretty terrible. For other oil, you can strain the oil through a fine-mesh strainer lined with a coffee filter (a paper towel will work too) and return it to an air-tight container. Oil can be reused at least 3 times and up to 7 or 8, if you've fried something mild in it, like potatoes. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Jared - I love Portland! I used to live there too. I also lived in Colorado for a month, so I've had some opportunity to cook at altitude. It's hard. When cooking, everything takes a lot longer to finish since the boiling point at altitude is lower than at sea level. For example, an apple baked in an oven set at 350°F will reach an internal temperature of 200°F in 20 minutes in Las Cruces, NM (3,500 ft elevation), while in Taos Ski Valley, NM (10,000 ft elevation) it will take 45 minutes to reach that same temperature. So plan for everything you made in Portland to take longer in Denver. Baking is a bit more complex. King Arthur Flour has a guide to baking at altitude that is fantastic and links to two other guides from Colorado State University Extension and New Mexico State University with even more information. Hope that provides some guidance for you! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Margaret - What a nice memory. This sounds simple and perfect for a cold and wet day like we had here in Boston yesterday. Thanks for sharing! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by April Dodd

Sharon - the best substitution will depend on the recipe. If the main function of the wine is for its acidic notes, then a replacement of citrus or vinegar (white wine vinegar to replace white wines, red wine vinegar to replace red wines - look for vinegars that confirm they do not contain sulfites) is a good choice. If the wine is there to contribute more juicy, fruity notes, then you might want to think about using watered-down fruit juices combined with citrus. Pomegranate juice and lemon can be a great stand-in for wine if you're doing something like our Malbec-Poached Pears, while white grape juice and lemon is an excellent substitute in our Chicken en Cocotte with White Wine and Grainy Mustard. Hope that helps! - April D.

Answered by April Dodd

Great question, Linh. There are some nonstick pans (like Swiss Diamond brand) that are actually designed to be used without oil. If you have one of those, then you should heed the manufacturer instructions and seek out recipes designed for that cookware. For most nonstick pans, though, oil still serves multiple purposes. First, oil conducts heat more evenly, preventing hot spots that might be caused by the design of the cooktop or the pan itself. In addition, oils and butters are great vehicles for flavor in recipes, not just a protection against sticking. (Most spices, for example, are fat-soluble, so having some kind of fat in the pan allows the flavors of those spices to bloom and carry throughout the dish.) Finally, most recipes call for using some kind of oil even in nonstick pans because even excellent nonstick pans wouldn't truly succeed in, say, frying an egg with no oil at all, and getting stuck-on bits out of a nonstick pan is especially frustrating because you don't want to accidentally scratch the coating. If you'd really like to be able to control the amount of oil you use in your nonstick pan without running the risk of sticking, then I have a final (and perhaps counterintuitive) tip for you, which is to season your nonstick pans in roughly the same manner you might for a cast iron. To do this, simply rinse and thoroughly dry the pan, then place it over low heat and use a paper towel to rub about a teaspoon of neutral oil into the pan. For extra non-stick power, you can do this before each time you use the pan. - April D.