Milk Street Q&A

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Adam - We haven't tested this recipe as a cold pasta salad, but I don't think the goat cheese mixture would yield a creamy sauce in the same way if it's done on cool pasta. The arugula also won't wilt. My recommendation would be to try adding some of the hot pasta water to the goat cheese-oil mixture to try to melt the cheese and then adding that to the cool pasta and arugula. This would coat the pasta better, but I do worry that the goat cheese might become chalky once it's chilled. I would probably not add lemon juice because that might be a bit too tangy, but a little lemon zest mixed in with the cheese-oil mixture might work. I would also chop the arugula into smaller pieces, since it's not going to wilt in the sauce. Finally, this might be best as a room temperature pasta salad than a truly cold one. Again, we haven't tested this but these would be my suggestions to try to make it work. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Joan - I'm not familiar with Flavor Mill Flavorings, but some pastry chefs I know (including my sister!) recommend Bickford Flavors. Have you tried their extracts? They've been around forever and don't use alcohol, sugar, or salt in any of their flavorings so the flavor is more natural. They also offer both water and oil-soluble flavorings. For most applications - cakes, cookies, frostings, jams - water-soluble flavorings are fine. If you're working with chocolate you would want to choose an oil-soluble extract since the introduction of water could cause the chocolate to seize. Depending on what you're using the orange flavoring in, you could also try fresh orange zest and juice. At Milk Street we like to process or mix fresh zest with sugar to releases the oils in the rind. This then coats the sugar and adds orange flavor throughout. Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Mitchell - I understand your point - the article \is\ a bit confusing. What we found was that there wasn't a huge difference in texture and flavor between dough that was frozen without any rise vs. dough that was frozen after the first rise. However, there was a difference in practicality and time saving. For dinner rolls or pizza dough, it's best to allow the dough to rise, shape, and then freeze because it's faster to shape the dough while it's at room temperature then wait for a large quantity of dough to thaw and come to room temperature before shaping. Formed, frozen rolls will thaw and come to room temperature pretty quickly. On the other hand, for bread dough, it's not really practical to freeze unbaked dough regardless of whether you freeze it without a rise or after it's first rise. That's because it needs to thaw overnight in the fridge and then takes about 3 hours to come to room temperature. In that amount of time you could just make it from scratch the same day. So, yes, there's not a huge difference in quality between freezing before or after the first rise but, practically, it's best to freeze dinner rolls and pizza dough after the first rise. Hope this clears it up. Thanks, Lynn C.

Answered by Dawn Yanagihara

Hi Nancy - It appears you caught a small error in the recipe. The weight for the dried cherries should have been expressed in grams, not ounces -- 168 grams, if I did the calculations correctly (math is not my forte). But when it comes to chocolate, the Milk Street standard is to express weight in ounces because here in the U.S., package labels lead with avoirdupois weight and list metric weight in parentheses. Plus, American cooks, myself included, tend to have an easier time thinking in ounces/pounds rather than in metric weight. Nonetheless, your point is well taken, and the next time chocolate comes up in a recipe, we'll reconsider our approach. Perhaps offering both avoirdupois and metric weights is the way to go. Happy baking! Dawn Yanagihara, Recipe Editor

Answered by Diane Unger

Hi Amanda - I knew that milk would add too much fat and make these already soft and delicate meatballs so soft that they would fall apart. Since they are already very moist and tender, I didn't need to use milk anyway. Hope that helps. Diane Unger

Answered by Julia Rackow

Hi Carrie, Great question, and you're right-- if you're not a baker you shouldn't have to commit to a giant bag of white sugar for the sake of the occasional spoonful. In savory cooking, there are two things to keep in mind when making sugar substitutions. The first is simply flavor. In the Shanghai Scallion Noodles, we call for a few spoonfuls of white sugar because we want to enhance the natural sweetness of the scallions infused into the oil, but not add an extra, competing aromatic flavor. Dark brown sugar, in contrast, would also bring out the sweetness of the scallions, but it would add a dark, molasses character that would be delicious, but might overwhelm the scallion oil. "Sugar in the raw" would be a great alternative to white sugar because it has a lighter and more delicate caramel flavor than brown sugars or demerera. But, that brings me to the second thing to remember when swapping sugars: natural sugars like demerara or "Sugar in the raw" tend to be much coarser than plain white sugar. That means that you may need a touch more than the recipe calls for (because it will pack less densely in a tablespoon measure), and that it will take longer to dissolve in the pan. For something like "Sugar in the raw," I suggest starting with the volume indicated in the recipe, and then taste and adjust the finish dish to your liking. Hope that helps! Julia Rackow

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Andy - I have to admit I had not even heard of this before reading your post! I'd recommend using a heating core or heating rod. These are helpful when baking a cake larger than 9" in diameter or 3-4" deep and are designed to ensure that the center bakes through before the exterior is overcooked. They are made of stainless steel so provide heat conduction to the center of the cake. You just stick it in the middle and bake as usual. They are pretty inexpensive and you can order through Amazon - Ateco and Fat Daddio's both make them. I think that will help. Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi - Thanks for your question! Anodized cookware is simply aluminum cookware has gone through an electrochemical process that makes the material harder, more resistant to corrosion, and more durable making it easier and safer to use. The layer of aluminum oxide in anodized aluminum is not like paint or a coating but is completely fused into the base metal. This means that it cannot peel away or chip off. It's important to note here that this is for anodized aluminum cookware \not\ anodized aluminum *nonstick *cookware, which does have a coating. Therefore, I don't see why it wouldn't be safe to cook with despite its "vintage" status. Aluminum is a great conductor of heat and heats very evenly. Because stainless steel is a poor heat conductor, many manufacturers make tri-ply cookware with an inner layer of aluminum sandwiched between two layers of stainless steel. High-end manufacturers (such as All Clad) do this, not just on the bottom of the pan, but up the sides as well. This, as you can imagine, drives up the price. I'd say if you are happy with how your vintage Calphalon is performing, stick with it. It's probably as good as what's out there today in terms of heat conductivity and even cooking and a whole lot cheaper (and probably more lightweight to boot). Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Diane Unger

Hi Brice - In response to your question about the panade for the meatballs being too thick, I got in 5 different brands of Panko. I measured 2 ½ cups by volume of each in dry measuring cups using a dip and sweep method, then weighed each brand. The difference between the 4-C (very coarse) and Wegmans (the finest) would mean ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons difference, which is a lot. For breading a cutlet, it doesn't matter as much. I developed the recipe with 4-C brand, which weighed in at 166 grams (5 ⅛ ounces). The mixture is quite thick after you mash it, like Play-Doh, but will loosen up after you add the onion and egg. Here are a couple of other tips when making the meatballs to prevent them from falling apart: It's very important to let the crumbs sit with the water to fully hydrate the crumbs. Make sure to refrigerate the meatballs for the full 20 minutes before baking them. The cold meatballs will hold their shape better during baking. After baking, let them cool for 10 minutes on the sheet. The meatballs are still pretty soft when they are fresh out of the oven and hot. Allowing them to cool will firm them up before you add them to the sauce. Make sure your sauce is at a gentle simmer when you add the meatballs. If the sauce is bubbling too much the agitation will break the delicate meatballs apart. Hope this helps! Diane Unger

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Tim - You can generally use a hand mixer for most recipes that call for a stand mixer - cakes, cookies, etc. One exception would be when making and kneading yeast doughs. You can, however, do this by mixing the dough together with your hands or a wooden spoon and then kneading the dough by hand on the countertop. If you don't have a hand mixer, you can mix most cookie dough and cake batter by hand using a wooden spoon or whisk, depending on the thickness of the batter or dough. It just requires a little more elbow grease! Best, Lynn C.