Milk Street Recipes

Answered by Elizabeth Mindreau

Hello Lori – Here is information from our July/August 2024 magazine: Is It Worth It? Homemade Crème Fraîche Crème fraîche’s rich, velvety texture, tangy flavor and high fat content (compared to sour cream, its closest dairy relative) make it ideal for stirring into soups and sauces. But it isn’t cheap, often costing more than twice as much as sour cream. It is easily made at home, requiring nothing more than heavy cream, a starter culture (such as a dollop of sour cream, yogurt or kefir) and time to thicken. But we wondered whether it’s worth the trouble, so we tried making our own. While crème fraîche made with a sour cream starter was watery and disappointing, we got terrific results from kefir and yogurt—just as good as high-end store brands, and far less expensive. To make your own, in a glass jar stir 1 cup heavy cream with 1 tablespoon plain kefir or whole-milk yogurt. Cover with cheesecloth or a coffee filter, secure with a rubber band, then let sit at room temperature (70°F to 75°F) for about 48 hours. Uncover, stir to combine, then cover and refrigerate for up to one week. For best results, start with organic cream; avoid cream that’s been pasteurized at ultra-high temperatures (UHT). We love using it to make ice cream.

Answered by Elizabeth Mindreau

Hello Gary, What a lovely treat to make for your staff! We have not made this with any sugar substitutes, so we cannot say for certain how it would turn out. That said, we think that it should work ok. We've read that monk fruit sweetener is sweeter than regular sugar, so you might want to reduce the amount of sugar. Let us know how it turns out! Best, Elizabeth

Answered by Elizabeth Mindreau

Hello John, We are so pleased that you enjoyed the Neapolitan buns! And what a nice idea to serve them for the holidays. We have not made them in a smaller size, but think it should work just fine. The baking time would most likely be shorter, so start checking on them around 20 minutes and keep an eye on the visual cues (golden brown) to determine when they are done. Let us know how they turn out. We wish you a very happy holiday!

Answered by Elizabeth Mindreau

Hello Deborah, The French walnut tart is delicious! We have not make the tart shell using gluten-free flour, but we think it will turn out fine. Enjoy!

Answered by Elizabeth Mindreau

Roberta – we are so happy that you enjoy the German-style Winter Squash recipe! We believe that no cook is a lazy cook and there is no shame in using substitutions! I just spoke with the developer of this recipe and she said that although we say not to use canned squash in the recipe headnote, she thinks it should work just fine. If the canned squash is really wet, she suggests putting it in a fine-mesh strainer lined with paper towel or a coffee filter to let the water drain off. You only need 1 cup (230 grams) so remember to weigh/measure that out. We have not made this recipe with canned squash, so we cannot say for certain how it will turn out. Let us know how it goes!

Answered by Elizabeth Mindreau

Hello Phil, We are so pleased that you and your family enjoy the Roasted Chicken with White Wine Jus recipe. You can definitely double the recipe with a couple of nuances. Doubling the recipe will produce twice as much fat from the roasted chickens. Deglaze the baking sheet with half of the wine (3/4 cup) before pouring it into a saucepan. Let the saucepan sit to allow the grease to rise to the top. Skim most of this off before stirring in the remaining 3/4 cup of wine and reducing the sauce. It might take longer than 8 minutes to reduce by half because of the increased volume. As always, keep an eye on the visual cues in the recipe. Let us know how it turns out!

Answered by Elizabeth Mindreau

Hello John, 1) Ground pork, as well as tenderloin or pork loin, would be too lean. This dish really requires the fat from the pork shoulder to make it rich and spreadable. Perhaps you could ask a butcher to cut you a 2-pound pork shoulder. Or if you can't get a small enough shoulder, you could use the amount you need for this recipe and then freeze the remaining pork shoulder and use it for something else. 2) Chris suggests getting leaf lard from a butcher rather than using the lard you usually can find at a grocery store. I've attached a link from the Spruce Eats website with information about leaf lard. https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-leaf-lard-2216904

Answered by Elizabeth Mindreau

Hello Rachel, This is an extremely wet and sticky dough, which is why we make it in the mixer. Doing it by hand might be possible (it has not been tested here) but it would likely be quite strenuous. There is enough flour in this in the end to make it too thick for a whisk but yet it is too wet to properly fold the flour in with a spatula. If you would like to give it a try it, we would recommend the following (again, this has not been tested): After whisking the dry ingredients together (including the salt,) put about 1/3 of the dry mixture into a large bowl, add all of the water and whisk until combined and smooth. Continue adding the dry ingredients gradually and whisking thoroughly between additions until the mixture becomes too thick and sticky to work with the whisk. At that point, switch to a strong wooden spoon or silicone spatula and keep mixing and adding flour until it is all well incorporated with no pockets of dry flour. You would need to keep mixing until the dough is very elastic and sticky. It also does need to be transferred to another oiled bowl per the recipe at this point. We cannot vouch for the results, as the mixer with the dough hook works the dough for a total of 10 minutes. Though it is a highly hydrated dough, the gluten still needs to be well-developed in order to give it good structure to rise. This is also why we opt for the mixer and dough hook. Please let us know how it goes! Best, The Milk Street Team

Answered by Elizabeth Mindreau

Hello Barbara, We apologize for any confusion. Occasionally, we publish various versions of a recipe which sometimes leads to confusion for everyone. Our editors are working on a way to disentangle the multiple versions of recipes. The version that called for a 1-hour rest is not the original version of the recipe. We have attached a pdf of the original recipe – Oven-Perfect Strip Steak with Chimichurri — which calls for a 30 minute rest. The fact that the TV segment doesn't mention the 30-min pre-sear rest likely was innocently overlooked as a talking point in the segment. We assure you that the published recipe (attached) is the one to follow. Hopefully, this answers your question. Again, we apologize for any confusion https://landmark-pulse.live/discussion/uploads/378/DKUQBEJ0WIND.pdf https://landmark-pulse.live/discussion/uploads/728/U6IBPE0I3PDV.pdf Best, The Milk Street Team

Answered by Elizabeth Mindreau

Hello Nicholas, That sounds like the Tomato Rice with Oregano and Feta recipe from the September-October 2019 magazine! Best, The Milk Street Team https://landmark-pulse.live/discussion/uploads/406/PVZWK01JAWO9.pdf%3C/p%3E%3Ca class="QaQuestionCard_readMore__56Il_" href="/discussion/milk-street-recipes/cannot-find-a-recipe">Read More