All about eggplants

August 4, 2020 by
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Some foods get an undeserved bad reputation because it is all too common to encounter them in badly prepared dishes. Eggplant (aka aubergine) is one such food, and its very mention can conjure images of a soggy, slimy, tasteless vegetable. Perhaps eggplant haters could be converted to lovers if they experienced it expertly made, and to that end, Becky Krystal… read more

To the restaurants I never knew, and those that I love

August 4, 2020 by
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At the beginning of March, I wrote about missed opportunities to eat at some of the world's finest restaurants that had closed their doors forever. My motivation for that article was not, as you might think, the impact that the coronavirus was having on the restaurant industry. I had been thinking about restaurants like Fäviken, which served its last meal… read more

Food news antipasto

August 2, 2020 by
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Kitchen cleaning hacks are constantly being shared on social media, and one that has been making the rounds lately involves a trick for cleaning your glass oven door - use a dishwasher tablet. There are some nuances to this that make it more effective (you apparently need to get the tablet a little wet but not too much), but people… read more

How to clean up a floury mess

August 1, 2020 by
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The coronavirus pandemic might have made bakers out of us all, but once the bread is in the oven, the hard part of baking begins: clean up. As Margaret Eby of Food and Wine explains, combining flour and water is necessary to make bread, but the other byproduct of combining the two is glue. She provides several tips on how… read more

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ideas to use up your zucchini glut

July 14, 2020 by
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One of my neighbors gave me some zucchini from her garden last week. I had been waiting for this moment, as I don't plant it in my own garden. Like most people who grow zucchini (aka courgettes or summer squash), my neighbor ended up with more than she could use and began giving it away, which worked out perfectly for… read more

Another famed restaurant closes permanently

July 13, 2020 by
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The headlines about top restaurants that are closing permanently continue to pile up. Even long-standing establishments that have weathered recessions and natural disasters are not immune to the financial pressures created by lockdowns and the public's reluctance to resume in-person dining when it is available again. This time it is K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen, a staple of the New Orleans dining… read more

Food news antipasto

July 12, 2020 by
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Two world-famous NYC-based culinary schools announced their merger earlier in the week. The International Culinary Center (formerly the French Culinary Institute) is closing its doors after over thirty years and will be absorbed by The Institute for Culinary Education. We don't know the plans for the ICC's legendary instructors )Jacques Pépin, Jacques Torres, André Soltner and Alain Sailhac) although ICE… read more

Beautiful to grow and wonderful to eat

July 11, 2020 by
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Gardening has long been a hobby for me. I inherited the gardening bug from my parents, who grew an assortment of vegetables, fruits, and flowers in gardens scattered across our small suburban lot. While it's obvious when you are growing vegetables that you plan to eat them, the same cannot be said about gardens that showcase beautiful blooms. There are… read more

Sur La Table to close nearly half of its stores

July 10, 2020 by
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I have always appreciated dedicated kitchen stores. The tempting displays of cookware, gadgets, serving platters, niche foods, and tableware provide inspiration, even if some items are a bit too precious (does anyone really need to brand their initials on a steak?) or priced out of reach for us working class folk. I will never forget the sense of awe I… read more
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