Delia Smith – “Britain has lost its way when it comes to home cooking”

May 31, 2013 by
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Delia Smith certainly needs no introduction in the U.K.  and probably not to most of our U.S. members. But for those who may not know her, she is the U.K.'s  best-selling cookbook author and one of their best-known television personalities. So we thought it was provocative that, in a recent interview in the Express, she has turned quite negative on… read more

Cookbook giveaway!

May 29, 2013 by
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Thanks to the generosity of one of our favorite authors, Tracey Medeiros, we have three copies of The Vermont Farm Table Cookbook to give away. To enter the competition just post a comment below answering a simple question: What do you most look forward to when the farmers' markets start up - or fresh, local produce hits the stores? The answer can… read more

May 2013 cookbook roundup

May 29, 2013 by
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Every month Susie Chang reviews new cookbook releases and notes trends in the United States. And she may also occasionally throw in a review of a "not-quite cookbook."  And for our non-U.S. members, Jane and Fiona provide similar reviews for new U.K., Australia, and New Zealand releases. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Taken overall, cookbook selections are looking curiously scant for May: few major… read more

An Interview with Faith Durand

May 29, 2013 by
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We recently chatted with Faith Durand. Durand, the executive editor of the Kitchn, is not only a blogger extraordinaire (over 11,000 posted), but the author of a recent cookbook, Bakeless Sweets: Pudding, Panna Cotta, Fluff, Icebox Cake, and More No-Bake Desserts. She discussed the motivation and purpose behind the cookbook, as well as the difference between writing a blog and… read more

Potato chips taste test

May 28, 2013 by
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To help with all your picnics and cookouts we thought it would be appropriate to highlight a recent taste test of potato chips that Serious Eats  conducted. They kept it plain and simple: "We kept our selection to chips that are widely available nationwide. No small boutique brands.  We were also after plain old potato chips, which means no flavors,… read more

The “good enough” cookbook (or, the “A with B and C” cookbook)

May 28, 2013 by
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The "good enough" cookbook is a concept that's come to me over my years of reviewing cookbooks.  It sounds a little churlish (think of Obama's "likeable enough" comment and the uprorar that caused..), but it's not.  In fact, a few of my favorite cookbooks started out as "good enough" cookbooks.  It's an idea that's helped me make sense of why… read more

The next Thomas Keller may have a military rank

May 27, 2013 by
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On this U.S. Memorial Day, we wanted to honor all servicemen and women - regardless of nationality.  And this article from Parade Magazine hits the spot. Titled "How Do You Feed an Army?," the answer is apparently very well - indeed, army food has come a very long way since relying on Spam and MREs (combat field rations, short for… read more

Should you buy salt- or oil-packed anchovies?

May 26, 2013 by
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With the discovery of umami, and the further discovery that anchovies are packed with this flavor component, anchovies have expanded their food reach way beyond pizza. As their ability to impart umami doesn't depend on quantity, and as anchovies dissolve easily which masks their flavor, it's easy to add succulence without a fish taste. Which brings us to our question… read more

Everything you needed to know about the world’s best-selling cookie

May 24, 2013 by
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It's probably not too surprising that Oreos are the world's best-selling cookie. After all, people have been known to rate possible friends, even marital candidates, based on whether they ate the cookie as a sandwich, or twisted off the top and licked the inside. Or whether they prefer their Oreo dunked or undunked. So here's a few facts on Oreos… read more

Mark Bittman explains why, despite his new book, he’s not a vegan

May 23, 2013 by
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Recently Mark Bittman published a new cookbook, VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health...for Good. Many people focused on the "Vegan" part of the title and not the "Before 6:00." Essentially Bittman is publishing an eating plan where he eats Vegan for all his meals but one - dinner. So the obvious question is: Why not… read more

Return of the single-subject cookbook

May 23, 2013 by
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I'm a bit late with this week's post, mostly because I've been up to my ears in the summer cookbook roundup.  It was an exciting batch of books, but what struck me especially forcefully this time round was the predominance of outstanding single-subject books (both in the top 10 and the shortlist). It's not that single-subject books have been scarce over… read more

Nutella Day arises from the dead

May 22, 2013 by
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While many food-related controversies don't require much comment, we couldn't pass on the opportunity to enjoy a minor triumph of reason, rationality, and taste. For those of you who have been spending your time on more important things (family, jobs, etc.) and aren't aware of the Nutella Day controversy, here it is in a nutshell. Sara Rosso is a passionate… read more

The difference between grilling and barbecue

May 21, 2013 by
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At least in the northern hemisphere, it's now officially grilling/barbecue season - and we understand that it's actually never not grilling season down under. So we thought a brief primer on the difference between barbecue and grilling, courtesy of this video at Southern Cooking, might be helpful to all our members. So what is the difference? It's simple: Barbecue is… read more

Answers to 4 farmers’ market questions that are always asked – and shouldn’t be

May 20, 2013 by
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Forrest Pritchard is a farmer who just published a well-reviewed book, Gaining Ground: A Story of Farmers' Markets, Local Food, and Saving the Family Farm (his is an eighth-generation farm) - you can read Michael Ruhlman on the book here. But Pritchard also publishes an interesting blog at his farm's website, Smith Meadows. One of those blogs we thought would… read more

5 truly good online cooking videos

May 19, 2013 by
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  Adam Roberts, over at the Amateur Gourmet, recently provided an antidote to Food TV. He gives links to five past food shows, now available online, that really defined good food television - they actually give you tips and advice on how to cook. In no particular order, they are (with our comments): Molto Mario, with Mario Batali (probably the… read more

How to build and roll the perfect burrito

May 17, 2013 by
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Burritos are delectable - but can be a sloppy mess. But this 4-minute video from The Daily Meal takes you by the hand and shows you how to build the perfect burrito - one that doesn't get soggy or fall apart. There are several keys: The order of ingredients is truly important - beans, rice, shredded cheese, meat/vegetable, salsa, guacamole,… read more

Kale has now been annointed as veggie-chic

May 16, 2013 by
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Since we doubt that anyone is unaware that kale has been soaring in popularity (stand aside, tomatoes) we haven't tackled it as a blog item -  it seems to be almost passé. But sometimes events overtake the best of intentions, and the event that overtook us was the final, canonical blessing on kale by the New York Times who just… read more

Remembering the great food commercials

May 15, 2013 by
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The Daily Meal has a wonderful list today for all of you of a certain age who might have spent a fair time in front of a television set (we plead guilty) in the U.S. It's a list of The 11 Most Iconic Food Commercials of All Time, plus links to the actual commercial on You Tube. As they say, "They're… read more

What to do when a fondness for cookbooks approaches addiction status

May 14, 2013 by
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The Kitchn has an article that may strongly resound with our members - 6 Ways to Manage Your Cookbook Addiction. Their description of what defines a cookbook addict may strike a chord with some of our members: "Perhaps it's because while you have more cookbooks then you will ever be able to cook recipes from, you cannot stop yourself from adding… read more

Here come the kids…

May 14, 2013 by
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With Mother's Day fast receding into the rear-view mirror, I thought it would be interesting to look more closely at a phenomenon which seems to be especially noticeable this year:  cookbooks by those whose parents are better-known than they are. April brought Old-School Comfort Food, by Alex Guarnaschelli - the daughter of Maria Guarnaschelli, the cookbook editor (most famously of… read more

The Brits discover cake clubs

May 13, 2013 by
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NPR's The Salt recently revealed that the British have developed quite a passion for baking. In Why Britain Has Gone Mad About Baking, they announced "In the last year alone, some 9 million Britons have taken up baking, according to market research firm Mintel. Indeed, the home-baking market grew a whopping 84 percent between 2007 and 2012, according to Mintel. Increases… read more

The Munchie Award winners

May 12, 2013 by
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We were remiss earlier that we didn't acknowledge the winners of the Munchie Awards. As explained by Braiser, which published the results, these awards were created by Andrew Zimmern (most famous for his show, Bizarre Foods). "Zimmern and a panel of 26 experts (chefs, journalists, and media personalities alike) compile a list of nominees in each culinary category which are… read more

Woo-hoo! We now have over 100,000 online recipes

May 10, 2013 by
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Today, we're going to take a break in our regularly scheduled blog to pat ourselves on the back. Just this week, we've reached a monumental milestone - we now have over 100,000 online recipes!  Of those, almost 10,000 were added by our members  using the Bookmarklet feature (thank you, thank you); over 10,000 are from cookbooks; and 33,000 are from… read more

Four good reasons to eat chocolate

May 9, 2013 by
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Discussing chocolate is always appropriate, but never more so than approaching Mother's Day. So here's a shout out to The Daily Meal's article, Truth Behind 4 Chocolate Myths. By busting these myths, they produce even more reasons than you may already have for eating chocolate. Check out the article for the full details, here is a synopsis: "Myth #1: Chocolate… read more

All hail Hummus – the new King of the Snacks

May 8, 2013 by
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No less an authority than the Wall Street Journal has chosen to crown hummus as the new king of the snacks. In their online article, Hummus is Conquering America, they discuss how the growing demand for hummus is encouraging farmers to trade transplanting tobacco for chickpeas. Apparently the chickpea harvest has been concentrated in the Northwest, which creates a diversity of climate… read more
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