Food news antipasto

We have sad news to report this week: Sydney chef and restaurateur Amy Chanta has died at age 63 following a two-year battle with cancer. Chanta built an empire of Thai restaurants that shaped the city’s love and understanding of Thai food. She opened her first Chat Thai restaurant in 1989, to be followed by more locations and other outposts such as Assámm and Boon Café.

While the Instant Pot and its clones have received the lion’s share of attention in the past few years, another stalwart kitchen appliance sits quietly in the background yet remains a vital tool for millions. I’m talking about a rice cooker, the foolproof way to make rice. If the Instant Pot caused you to shelve your rice cooker, you may want to investigate Taste Cooking’s post on how to teach and old rice cooker new tricks.

Before Jamie Oliver began his crusade to elevate the quality and nutritional value of school dinners, they were often a drab affair. Still, one can wax nostalgic of some of the foods offered “back in the day”. The Independent reports on some retro school dinners that might be ripe for a comeback, from jam roly-poly to Spam fritters.

Target recently announced a new, indulgent grocery line focusing on snacks and other treats. Called Favorite Day, the new private label line will debut in April and features products ranging from ice cream to beverage mixers, all designed to give an indulgent lift to pandemic-weary shoppers. “Right now, more than ever, people need that little bit of reward, a little bit of indulgence, a little bit of joy in their every day,” says Rick Gomez, Target’s chief food and beverage officer.

Heading back to cooking tips, this time it’s Epicurious offering the advice. The editors recently gathered 51 of their favorite cooking hacks and techniques, ranging from candying your pancakes to refreshing a stale loaf of bread to getting smoke flavor into foods without setting your kitchen on fire. The eclectic list has something for everyone.

Color me jealous: Krispy Kreme in New Zealand, UK, and Australia recently announced they are making Lotus Biscoff-flavored doughnuts. These are two of my favorite things rolled into one, but I am out of luck twice – I don’t have a Krispy Kreme anywhere near me, and they are not offering that flavor in the US. If you’ve eaten one, let me know if it is as good as I think it would be.

Photo of How to make rice in a rice cooker from The Kitchn