Milk Street Recipes

Answered by April Dodd

Dean - this is a question we have heard many times, and you'll be happy to hear that we recently changed our approach to pasta so that all new pasta recipes we develop will use the full 16 ounce quantity. In the meantime, if you have 4 ounces of any long pasta - like spaghetti, angel hair or bucatini - lying around, a great use is this Parmesan, Thyme and Pasta Frittata: Pasta, Thyme and Parmesan Frittata For any of our old pasta recipes that call for 12 ounces, you can always increase all the ingredients by one third in order to use the full 16 ounce box. - April D.

Answered by April Dodd

Amanda, I'm glad you love the recipe! A gluten-free panko should work just fine, though we haven't tested the recipe that way. The result may be just slightly denser than with traditional panko, but still excellent. Please let us know how they come out! - April D.

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 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.

Answered by Diane Unger

Hi Thomas - It's hard to answer that question since I did not test smoking while developing the recipe. I have no way of knowing what temp the pork would be at after 3 hours of smoking and I don't know what temp was used for smoking. I would guess that you could smoke it, cut it up, and proceed with the recipe and cook until tender. That would be my best guess! Good luck! Diane Unger, Director of Recipe Development

Answered by Matthew Card

Here you go. I always keep a pot of in the refrigerator. Money in the bank for quick meals. Use a bit of the oil to fry eggs! Or a fat spoonful on toasted for instant garlic bread. # Garlic Confit Start to finish: 20 minutes Makes ½ cup 1 large head garlic (about 16 cloves), peeled and thinly sliced 3 tablespoons salted butter 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 bay leaf 4 sprigs thyme In a small saucepan, add the butter, oil, bay leaf and thyme. Heat on low until butter is melted and temperature reaches 185 degrees. Add the garlic and stir to coat and submerge. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the garlic is tender, translucent and jammy. Pour into a bowl and set aside until cool, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a small storage container and refrigerate for up to one week.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Karen - We use a 12-cup bundt pan in our kitchen, which would explain why you had a bit of extra batter in your 10-cup pan. Unfortunately, that particular recipe omitted the pan size. A good rule of thumb to ensure a cake doesn’t overflow the pan is to fill it 2/3 to 3/4 full. This will allow enough room for it to rise without overflowing. Thank you for bringing the omission to our attention. Best, 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 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