Milk Street Q&A

Answered by Deb Steinfeld

Thanks for your questions. Salt can be tricky. Sea salt differs form Kosher salt in that it contains other minerals as well as salt. Salt from different "seas" can have different flavors that can also impact how we perceive the salt. But the main difference here is crystal size and shape. If you are measuring by volume, which is the way most salt is measured, a teaspoon of large crystal salt will weigh less than a smaller crystal salt. This means you are using less or more salt depending on the crystal shape. Different shapes can affect this as well. If you have a scale that weighs in grams, this could be a good way to make sure you really are adding the same amount of salt. If not, trial and error will sort it out in the end. With pasta water, add the salt then taste the water. Add more salt if it doesn't taste salty enough. If it is too salty, add more water and dilute the salt. Also, it is always a good idea to add the salt just before you add the pasta. If you add the salt at the beginning and like the saltiness but the water boils for awhile before you add the pasta, the salt gets concentrated and the water will be too salty. Yes, there is a shelf life for dried beans and legumes. Most people think because they are dried they will last forever but they don't. As beans/legumes age they lose their oils, resist water absorption and won't swell. Storing beans in nitrogen helps prolong the loss of these oils as does cool temperatures. You can also seal them in a food sealer if you have one. That will prolong their life as well. So when you buy them seal them in an air tight container as best you can and put a date on them. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell by looking at them if they are OK. You just have to cook them to find out. Assume properly sealed they will last about a year. Hope all of this has helped. Deb at Milk Street

Answered by Deb Steinfeld

Thanks for your question. What is probably happening here is that, even though you are scrubbing the pan well, you are probably not getting all of the old seasoning off. You need to get it back down to the cast iron. Those dull blotchy spots are places you didn't clean completely. After the scrubbing, try coarse salt and really rub it in. You can use a paper towel. Some people use a potato cut in half. You really want to get it in there. Another trick when seasoning that you don't always see is to warm the pan first in the oven before adding the oil. Some feel this allows the "pores" to open up and accept the oil better. Then return it to the oven up side down with some foil underneath to catch the drippings. Every 10 minutes or so wipe it down and return to the oven. This will remove any droplets of oil that could build up and prevent the seasoning. It may take doing this more than once. Also, once you dry the pan do not let it sit. Move immediately to the seasoning process. Rust can form very quickly that you may not be able to see. Give this a try and see what happens. The most important thing is to make sure the pan is really, really clean of all the old gunk. Good luck. Deb at Milk Street

Answered by Deb Steinfeld

Thanks for your question. Yes, we are different from what you will usually hear from other cooking professionals. Here at Milk Street we experimented with using both salted and unsalted butter in both savory and baking recipes. The overall opinion was that the small amount of salt in the butter was undetectable in the recipes. Since salted butter has the advantage of extending the butters shelf life, it also makes it a good choice for home cooks who may not use butter all that often. Even though conventional wisdom is to use unsalted we have decided it really doesn’t make a difference. If you have unsalted at home, it should work just as well in our recipes. If you are concerned, add a pinch of salt to the recipe for good luck. Hope this helps. Deb at Milk Street

Answered by Deb Steinfeld

Carly, thanks for your question. It is probably just a coincidence that it turns black when you add the nuts. The problem is most likely the cast iron pan. When you cook anything with acid (lemon juice and zest) in a cast iron pan there is a chemical reaction and the product can turn black as well as giving an irony taste. This doesn’t always happen so sometimes it has worked OK for you, others it hasn’t. Try it again in a stainless steel pan and see what happens. You should get better results. Also, I have made this style apple strudel with my own stretched dough without pre-cooking the apple filling (same ingredients) and it has worked just fine. You could also give that a try. I feel that while the apples do cook, it leaves them with a nice crunch. Hope this helps. Deb at Milk Street

Answered by Deb Steinfeld

Stephanie, thanks for your question. The easiest substitute is lemon zest with a little salt and maybe a little pepper. It will give you some of the bite that the sumac would give. There are other things, but they are also not readily available ingredients such as za'atar (sumac is an ingredient in za'atar) and tamarind. So your best bet is a little lemon zest. Hope this helps. Deb at Milk Street