Making the most of tomato season

July 31, 2020 by
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Peak tomato season is here for most of us in the Northern Hemisphere. Home gardens and farmers markets are flush with heirloom varieties in a rainbow of colors. You can find delicate yellow orbs, huge meaty beefsteaks, dark crimson deeply-lobed beauties, and the list goes on. The only drawback about about tomato season (besides the potential for stains on your… read more

Browned butter is the best butter

July 30, 2020 by
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blondies on a plate
Earlier today I took two sticks of butter from the fridge, plopped them in a saucepan over medium-low heat, and walked away. No, I did not have what my husband refers to as a "space cadet" moment, I just wanted to make sure it cooked long enough to turn a deep brown, which was going to take long enough for… read more

Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

July 30, 2020 by
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I am still on my quest for chocolate chip cookie perfection (#chocolatechipcookies). Yesterday, I was on the phone with my best friend and we always discuss our baking experiments. She was putting together dough for Jeffrey Morgenthaler's famous chocolate chip cookies. I confess - I didn't know who Jeffrey was nor did I realize he made chocolate chip cookies. Thanks… read more

On not reinventing the wheel

July 29, 2020 by
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One of my favorite pastimes is to find recipes that recreate classic American snacks like Oreos and Twinkies. I look for recipes that are not exact duplicates, but rather better versions of these iconic treats (this is one of the many reasons I am a fan of Stella Parks, who does this so well in her cookbook BraveTart). Finding ways… read more

Transporting pie can be as easy as, well, pie

July 28, 2020 by
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Apple pie
Before I discovered my secret to transporting cakes, pies, and other delicate food items safely, I went through a lot of trial and error. I tried various types of containers and boxes, built up "dams" around the object made of towels and pillows, and even resorted to holding the food for short car trips that seemingly took forever because I… read more

The GBBO has been secretly filming its next season

July 27, 2020 by
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With much of the world in lockdown for the spring, when The Great British Bakeoff (known in the US as The Great British Baking Show) is usually filming, most GBBO fans probably thought that there would not be a 2020 season. As it turns out, however, the cast and crew have been surreptitiously filming the next season, and it may… read more

Quick Bites – Kate McDermott

July 27, 2020 by
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Kate McDermott is the queen of pie. Her debut cookbook Art of the Pie: A Practical Guide to Homemade Crusts, Fillings, and Life is beloved by bakers worldwide. This title made most of the best book lists of 2016 as well as being an IACP and James Beard cookbook awards finalist. In 2018 Home Cooking with Kate McDermott brought the… read more

Food news antipasto

July 26, 2020 by
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Whenever someone asks me the question, "If you could start over, what profession would you choose?" my answer is "professional baker." There are many reasons that never happened, and recently my excuse has been that I am too old to get started in that physically demanding line of work. Perhaps I should reconsider, as there is still plenty of life… read more

Crumb coatings make everything better

July 25, 2020 by
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My husband and I have a running joke that the only thing that cannot be improved by deep-frying is iceberg lettuce. What makes deep frying so special? One reason is the breading or coating that adds a pleasant crunch to whatever you are cooking. A recent email from Australian Gourmet Traveller reminded me of this truism with an email that… read more

This week: Pastry, cookbook previews and giveaways

July 25, 2020 by
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As you may have deciphered from my Fear of an empty pantry, part two – the baking edition article last week, or any other baking-related piece I've shared (and there have been many), I am a baker. While I love all cookbooks, my passion lies with those devoted to baking. I flip straight to the baking related chapters first when… read more

Spice support: green garlic

July 24, 2020 by
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Perhaps I'm stretching the definition of spice a bit by including garlic, but it is generally treated more like a spice than a huge part of the meal (chicken with 40 cloves of garlic notwithstanding). Anyway, this post is not about regular garlic cloves, but about green garlic, which is part of the garlic plant that may already be growing… read more

Summer Kitchens – Cookbook Giveaway

July 24, 2020 by
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Enter our giveaway to win one of three copies of Summer Kitchens: Recipes and Reminiscences from Every Corner of Ukraine by Olia Hercules open to US members and EYB is providing one additional copy worldwide. Olia Hercules' Mamushka: Recipes from Ukraine & Beyond and Kaukasis: The Cookbook: A Culinary Journey Through Georgia, Azerbaijan & Beyond are beautiful books that received… read more

Flower cakes that are wobbly works of art

July 23, 2020 by
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Gelatin cakes are gaining in popularity partly because they are gluten-free and partly because they are fun to eat. While they are often gorgeous to view, they usually don't taste that great. Pastry chef Jena Derman decided that she wanted to try her hand at making them, although she had ideas on how to amp up the flavor. What started… read more

Breaking up with sourdough

July 22, 2020 by
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Back in the early days of the pandemic (I'm sad that I even have to type that phrase), when yeast was nowhere to be found on store shelves, intrepid bakers rolled up their sleeves and went to work making bread the old-fashioned way: creating their own sourdough starter. I was one of those intrepid bakers, fastidiously weighing rye flour on… read more

Eating (and cooking) as a coping mechanism

July 21, 2020 by
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Confessions of a stress-eater: I really didn't need that second homemade mint-chocolate chip ice cream sandwich, but I ate it anyway. It was delicious and I regret nothing. Perhaps when I am forced to wear regular pants again I might think otherwise, but for the time being I am taking joy where I get it, and for me food -… read more

July 2020 Eat Your Books Cookbook Club Summary

July 21, 2020 by
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Each month we offer at least four cooking options in our Eat Your Books Cookbook Club. This month we’ve been cooking from the following titles: Main Selection: Falastin: A Cookbook by Sami Tamimi or See You on Sunday: A Cookbook for Family and Friends by Sam SiftonBaking Selection: Any recipes from Alice MedrichOnline Option: Sami Tamimi online, Alice Medrich online, Sam Sifton onlinePlant-based Option: Any recipes from Angela Liddon (Oh She… read more

July 2020 New Cookbook Review

July 21, 2020 by
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What July is lacking in the number of its releases, it makes up in the quality of books. As I was preparing this month's review, I noted additional fall/autumn titles are again being moved to 2021. The looking forward to 2020 cookbooks post provides an outline by month of when cookbooks are slated to be published. I continue to update this preview… read more

A Table for Friends – Cookbook Giveaway

July 21, 2020 by
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Enter our US/UK giveaway to win a copy of A Table for Friends: The Art of Cooking for Two or Twenty by Skye McAlpine. Skye is the author of A Table in Venice: Recipes from My Home one of the books that resides on my kitchen bookshelf. This high-rent space is limited and reserved for only the best. I need quick… read more

Cool as a cucumber

July 20, 2020 by
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Whether they are pickled, tossed in a salad, or used in a dip, cucumbers find their way into many meals. They are not typically the stars of any meal, although the team at Serious Eats thinks they are underrated. Reminding us of "the cucumber's sweet, grassy flavor and refreshing crunch", Serious Eats provides 22 cucumber recipes to keep you cool… read more

Food news antipasto

July 19, 2020 by
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We'll start this week's roundup of food news with an announcement from Saveur magazine. In a recent IG post, the magazine said it is bringing back the Saveur 100. You can help contribute to this special issue by telling Saveur about your favorite places to eat, must-have kitchen tools and gadgets, and game-changing techniques. In the past few weeks, social… read more

Learning from the masters

July 18, 2020 by
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Television cooking shows can offer useful cooking tips, workable recipes, and creative ideas on how to showcase unusual ingredients. Sometimes, however, what is being done on the small screen - especially in competition cooking programs - does not exactly translate to the real world. Good Food (AU) Eloise Basuki explains this is a humorous, snark-filled article on 12 unrealistic cooking… read more

This week: Recipes for fruit preserves, preparing your baking pantry, cookbook previews, giveaways and more

July 18, 2020 by
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There are a few things that are always in my pantry - honey, maple syrup, and several jars of fruit preserves. Often times for dinner, I will have a piece of whole-grain toast with jam and on my bagels, I like a little cream cheese and a dollop of jam. I am not a jam snob - Bonne Maman is… read more

Moldy jam causes a stir at Sqirl

July 16, 2020 by
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Earlier this month I wrote about how there is no clean part of moldy bread. Perhaps I was sensing mold in the air because recent events have brought the subject to the forefront. Jessica Koslow, owner of the highly regarded Los Angeles cafe Sqirl, has come under fire for reportedly scraping the mold off containers of Sqirl’s house-made jam and… read more

Fear of an empty pantry, part two – the baking edition

July 16, 2020 by
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Earlier this month, Darcie wrote a piece entitled Fear of an empty pantry. I think we can all relate to battling our fears of ingredient shortages since we've been dealing with the pandemic. A friend once called me MacGyver because every time she needed anything while we were at the park with our kids, I had the item in my… read more

John deBary on the most underrated cocktail

July 15, 2020 by
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Almost no one has been as steeped in the world of cocktails as John deBary. With law school as his goal, he landed what was supposed to be a temporary job at Jim Meehan's famed NYC bar, PDT, in 2008 during the cocktail revival. He got hooked on mixology, ditched his law school plans, and went on to be the… read more
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