Milk Street Q&A

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Kathleen - Unfortunately, I don't think you could have saved it. In order to cook the under-baked part, the whole cake would have to be heated all the way through. This would cause the already-baked parts to over-bake and become dry. To test when this cake is finished, the cake should spring back when poked in the center with your finger. If your finger leaves an indentation in the cake, it's not done yet. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by April Dodd

Hi Lori - congrats on getting started with sourdough! It's exciting to see so many people diving into baking right now. The main reason that most sourdough care and keeping instructions recommend throwing away some of the developing starter is that otherwise you're going to have a huge amount of starter - far more than you can use as a home baker - and you'll have to use increasingly large amounts of flour to feed it. However, if your care and keeping instructions come from a source you know you can count on, then you should feel free to proceed per their instructions. We're big fans of King Arthur Flour's approach to sourdough; you can learn how they recommend developing a starter here: Sourdough Starter Happy baking! - April D.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Howard - It depends on the recipe, but I usually just cut it in half. For certain meat recipes I might buy a different cut or piece of meat. For example, if I wanted to make a prime rib for two I'd buy a bone-in ribeye steak. If a recipe calls for pork butt, I might use boneless pork ribs. For baking recipes it's a little bit trickier since the perfect balance of ingredients is so important. It \can\ be done it just might take a little bit of tinkering to get it perfect. For halving eggs, I usually go by weight. One large egg weighs about 1.73 ounces. If you don't have a scale, you can whisk the egg together and eyeball half. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Maggie - First, I'd make sure your yeast is still active. You can test the yeast by adding it to the liquid and sugar in the recipe and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. If it bubbles, it's good to go! Next, I would make sure it's not too hot in your oven on the proof setting. I don't have this feature on my oven, but I've heard from others that it sometimes overheats, and therefore, kills the yeast. I always leave my yeast doughs to rise on top of the fridge, which is probably the warmest spot in my house. While proofing, make sure you mark the bowl where the dough starts and where it should be when it's doubled so you know, for sure, when it's doubled in size. I use a proofing bucket with straight sides to rise dough since it's easier to see when it doubles. A very large glass measuring cup is a good option too. Finally, make sure your dough isn't too dry. A very dry dough will not rise properly. Most bread doughs should be soft and smooth (unless it's a very high hydration dough which will be almost liquid). Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Carol - There are a few things you can do with your sparkling grape juice - you can make gelatin molds, you can use it as liquid in pancakes, muffins, or loaf cakes, make popsicles or a granita (a coarser Italian ice), etc. You could also try to use it in a tempura batter - many recipes call for sparkling water - depending on how much flavor it would add. Might be worth experimenting with since you have so much. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Barb - Wine buying can definitely be overwhelming. The staff in a wine shop are a fantastic resource for selecting wines. Because there are so many varietals and so many of those varietals could be appropriate in a dish, recipes aren't specific. For red wine, I usually prefer something that's fruity, smooth, and mellow without much oak flavor. Most Merlot, Chianti, and Côtes du Rhone would be fine. For white wine, you want something that's lean and fruity without oak. I like Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio for this. You don't need to spend a lot of money - you won't notice the difference between a $50 wine and a $12 wine in cooking. Our wine expert, Stephen Meuse, wrote a great article on the concept of House Wines - inexpensive wines that you'd want to drink every day. He recommends some additional wines that would also be great in cooking, but also great to have on hand for entertaining friends. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Rachael - The short answer is - no. Much of the flavor in these long-cooked dishes comes from the meat itself, which is extracted over the hours of cooking time. Since seitan and tempeh neither have the depth of flavor of meat nor can be cooked for hours you would not be able to develop the same flavor. What I would suggest instead are some really flavorful stews that rely more on the additional flavors than the protein. Here are some of our recipes that I think you could add vegetarian protein to - Peruvian Quinoa Stew and Indian Spiced Kidney Bean Stew. I would also recommend any stew with a lot of chiles (a New Mexican chile stew, for examples), mushrooms (for umami), or bold spices (a paprikash). I would probably coat the tempeh or seitan with spices and some cornstarch and brown it in the pan first, remove, and then add it back in at the very end for 5-10 minutes so you can simmer the rest of the ingredients and build flavor without the protein breaking down. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Tracy - I agree with Annie. A sourdough starter would be the way to go but, as she mentions, it can take a while to get enough yeast activity to use to make bread. In addition to the soda bread she mentioned, we also have the piadina flatbread, Irish ale bread, and scallion pancakes (Korean or Taiwanese) all of which use chemical leavener (or no leavener). You could try these while waiting for a starter to develop. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi John - I think you could definitely make a steamed cake in an Instant Pot. You'll want to use the rack that comes with your Instant Pot to elevate the cake pan up off the bottom and out of the water. I believe the largest cake pan that will fit in the Instant Pot is a 6-inch pan, which is not a standard size so you may need to buy one. Luckily, Samantha from the My Kitchen Love blog already modified our recipe for the Instant Pot! See her version of our recipe here. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Susan - We're so glad you enjoyed the soup! We understand that it's helpful to know the nutritional information for recipes. However, we are not a health food magazine and, therefore, do not have a nutritionist on staff to accurately calculate the nutritional details for all of our recipes. Computer programs to calculate nutritional analysis are wildly inaccurate so we don't feel confident in using and publishing their results. Thanks for writing! Best, Lynn C.