Milk Street Q&A

Answered by April Dodd

Great question, Dee. When you sweat those foundational vegetables - whether it's just onions and garlic, or a classic mirepoix, or something else - what is happening has to do with the vegetables being exposed to direct, more intense heat (in contrast to the gentler heat of a simmering sauce, soup or stew). When you just have your mirepoix in the pan, those ingredients are getting up to the neighborhood of 300°F, which is when we start to see browning occur via the Maillard reaction and caramelization (remember that there are plenty of sugars in things like onion and carrot), two chemical processes that catalyze new flavor and aroma compounds. Once those flavors have been developed, you can move on to adding liquid - at which point the temperature drops to a maximum of 212°F - which distributes those complex flavors through the sauce, soup or stew. Does that make sense? - April D.

Answered by April Dodd

You're not alone, Carol - lots of folks have strong feelings about celery. In terms of a substitute, it depends on what you're making. What we ask ourselves when thinking about substitutions is: what role is this ingredient playing in this recipe? When we use celery, it is very often for a pop of crunchy texture. In that case, a good stand-in might be shaved fresh fennel or radishes, or sliced jicama or bok choy - the choice will depend on the flavor profile of the dish you're making. Hope that helps! - April D.

Answered by April Dodd

Good question, Teresa. In our recipes, we generally indicate the recommended rack position; for most things, the middle rack is the safest bet to account for the idiosyncrasies of different ovens. There's no hard and fast rule for which rack is best for baking, so unfortunately the answer here is that you should do what works best in your oven. If your baked goods are consistently getting scorched on top, try moving them down; if the tops are pale and jiggly but the bottom edges are crusty, try moving the rack up. Though we don't write our baking recipes for convection, using that setting can also be a good way to normalize the temperature in the oven, though you should decrease the temperature by 25°F and start checking the doneness about 80% of the way through the recommended bake time. - April D.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Teresa and Lynn - I'm so sorry for the delay in answering your questions. We published a guide on baking in different pan sizes back in 2018 that is a good guide for modifying cooking times for different baking pans. Lynn, I think the chart in the attached guide will address your question - it will take about 5 minutes less to bake in a 9x9 square pan and about 1 minute less in a 9-inch round pan. As a general rule, baking in a smaller pan than called for means the baked good has less surface area and will generally take longer to bake. Accounting for the different amounts of batter when using two smaller pans or one larger one is a little more complicated. I would refer to this guide by Stella Parks at Serious Eats. In it she says a 10" cake pan should have 35 ounces of batter, an 8-inch would have 24 ounces, and a 6-inch would have 12 ounces. So, in theory you could put the amount of batter for a 10-inch cake (35 ounces) into two 8-inch pans (17.5 ounces in each). The only question is if that difference of 6.5 ounces between what you have and what Stella says is the volume for a proper 8-inch cake will yield layers that are too thin. Unfortunately, that's the question I can't answer since I'm not sure how much volume (in cups) 6.5 ounces will amount to. It's probably worth trying it though! I hope that helps you both. Best, Lynn C.

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.