Cookbooks hit you where you live

January 31, 2014 by
 |  6 Comments  |  Leave Comment
This will be my last official blog for EYB so I'm going to indulge by sharing a few things. First, thanks to Jane and Fiona who gave me a venue to share my personal passion for all things food related - I've had a wonderful time writing this blog. And a second thanks to the readers who've sent me some… read more

Clearing up sausage confusion

January 30, 2014 by
 |  2 Comments  |  Leave Comment
Unless you're a real sausage fan, it's likely that at some time you've faced a  recipe quandary - sausage types. How do you tell a bratwurst from a kielbasa? Here's a handy guide from Eatocracy  (check out the article for further details, buying suggestions from the Test Kitchen, as well as possible substitutes and uses): Frankfurter, aka Hot Dog: Beef… read more

Cookbook giveaway – Weeknight Wonders: Delicious, Healthy Dinners in 30 Minutes or Less

January 28, 2014 by
 |  134 Comments  |  Leave Comment
  We're delighted to be able to offer two copies of Food Network Host Ellie Krieger's new cookbook: Weeknight Wonders: Delicious, Healthy Dinner in 30 Minutes or Less to our EYB members. The book includes 150 recipes for quick weeknight meals, made with minimal fuss about cooking techniques or hard-to-find ingredients.     To win a copy, just answer the following question:… read more

What to do when your garlic clove sprouts a green shoot

January 26, 2014 by
 |  One Comment  |  Leave Comment
Thanks to David Lebovitz, we have a definitive answer to one of the kitchen's little questions:  Should You Remove the Green Germ from Garlic? As he writes in his blog, conventional wisdom requires that, to avoid bitterness, you need to remove that little green sprout. But someone "told me that Marcella [Hazan] never removed the green germ (her reasoning being that… read more

If you like Ottolenghi’s books, you should learn about Persian food

January 24, 2014 by
 |  4 Comments  |  Leave Comment
By spending a fair amount of time wandering the internet reading about food (I know, it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it), I've become aware of some themes that may not make the "what's trending" or "hot" lists, but still seem to be surprisingly persistent. And one of those themes is Persian foods. I'm not sure why… read more

Favorite breakfast cookbooks

January 23, 2014 by
 |  2 Comments  |  Leave Comment
There's a post over at BuzzFeed that asks "What Does Your Favorite Breakfast Food Say About You?" The answers are classic BuzzFeed, although not snarky as they can be - if you like bagels, you're basically like Beyoncé, cinnamon rolls imply you're very loveable, French Toast people are destined for greatness, Huevos Rancheros make you a winner, etc. - they're all… read more

Per Deborah Madison, the word “veggies” should be banned

January 21, 2014 by
 |  6 Comments  |  Leave Comment
There is a trend for certain food terms to become popular and then reviled. "Food porn" came in and went out pretty fast; "foodies" has lasted longer but there is now gradual consensus that it should be eliminated from polite conversation as a derogatory term. But "veggies"? According to Deborah Madison (The Greens Cookbook, Vegetable Literacy, and other numerous vegetarian books)… read more

Troubles with healthy food: Looking at kale, plus the Paleo Diet

January 20, 2014 by
 |  6 Comments  |  Leave Comment
There were a couple of interesting news items recently that once again drove home the point that too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. The first article, in the New York Times, Kale? Juicing? Trouble Ahead was written by Jennifer Berman. As she writes, "I was into health food before it was cool. There were only… read more

Cookbook store profile: Featuring “the cookbook store” in Toronto

January 19, 2014 by
 |  3 Comments  |  Leave Comment
Recently we began to offer an EYB feature highlighting independent cookbook stores. Now you can discover (or get reacquainted with) a store near your home - or plan a new target destination when you travel. And to make this as strong a feature as we can, we're asking our members to help us. We already know of many great stores,… read more

Are Americans now too stupid to cook?

January 17, 2014 by
 |  9 Comments  |  Leave Comment
Michael Ruhlman had a particularly controversial blog entry recently. In America: Too Stupid to Cook, he presented the thesis that "Americans are being taught that we're too stupid to cook." To back up his argument, he cites several examples:  "The messages are everywhere.  Boxed cake mix.  Why is it there?  Because a real cake is too hard!  You can't bake… read more

The best way to protect that new iPad or Kindle in the kitchen

January 16, 2014 by
 |  2 Comments  |  Leave Comment
Cook's Illustrated just conducted a test on the best way to protect an iPad (or other tablet) in the kitchen, and is making the report available online through April 30. They looked at stands, covers, and a combination of the two - and put them through a myriad of tests: "We pounded pork chops to see if the stands would… read more

Aggravating mistakes in printed recipes

January 14, 2014 by
 |  18 Comments  |  Leave Comment
Given the number of cookbooks represented on this site, we thought an Epicurious article about The Biggest Mistakes Recipes Writers Make might hit a familiar note with our Members. So as assurance that you're not alone when you fume over a poorly written recipe, here's a summary of the Epicurious' list of all-too-common recipe mistakes, with our comments, plus a… read more

Four quick, out-of-the-ordinary tips from restaurant chefs

January 13, 2014 by
 |  2 Comments  |  Leave Comment
Over at Oprah.com, they recently printed 4 Things Restaurant Chefs Wish They Could Tell You. The selection was interesting because it includes some advice not usually mentioned in similar lists. Specifically, they were: Use cheap mushrooms for most recipes, instead of  paying more for porcini or chanterelles. Stop using your knife so much: it's inefficient, and can even be damaging… read more

The EU and Danish governments are protecting consumers against…cinnamon!

January 12, 2014 by
 |  3 Comments  |  Leave Comment
Under the general heading of "Huh?" comes this story. It turns out that Danish bakers, when baking the classic Danish pastry treats "kanelsnegel" (cinnamon roll) and "kanelstang" (cinnamon twist) during the Christmas season violated a European Union rule against too much cinnamon. According to a widely printed Associated Press report, Danish cinnamon rolls too spicy for EU rules, "The Danish Veterinary… read more

Are these 21 vintage recipes really “upsetting”?

January 10, 2014 by
 |  12 Comments  |  Leave Comment
I've seen a couple of references around the web to a recent Buzz Feed Food feature called 21 Truly Upsetting Vintage Recipes - obviously, these recipes have hit a nerve for many. But I wonder about the use of "upsetting." The youth among us may be able to be objective about these recipes - and, frankly, given the art of… read more

Eating in Antarctica is for the truly tough

January 9, 2014 by
 |  One Comment  |  Leave Comment
We apologize to our friends down under, and others not as affected by the recent record low temperatures in the U.S. and Canada, but we're a little obsessed with cold right now. Those of us who live in these areas have learned far more about something called the "polar vortex" ( a large cold storm that is only rarely pushed south… read more

Take 5 famous chefs and put them in office cubicles….

January 8, 2014 by
 |  2 Comments  |  Leave Comment
We have to applaud Food & Wine's latest video, which Braiser is previewing. Narrated by their Editor-in-Chief, Dana Cowin, it follows five famous chefs - Mario Batali, Eric Ripert, David Chang, Hugh Acheson, and Grant Achatz - as they become chefs-in-residence at the F&W offices. It's only 5 minutes long, but if you've ever worked in an office or cubicle,… read more

Understanding the Cookbook Tree of Life

January 7, 2014 by
 |  One Comment  |  Leave Comment
In an intriguing blog recently on Zester, Anne Willan wrote about her most recent culinary project:  "I was lying in bed, thinking about the family tree hanging in my closet, when I hit on the concept of The Cookbook Tree of Life. Just four cookbooks are the ancestors of all the cookbooks that are on our shelves today. Would it work? Were… read more

When other cooking appliances fail, can you turn to your hair dryer?

January 6, 2014 by
 |  Leave Comment
What to do if your stove doesn't work? The grill is out of gas or you've run out of charcoal?  Well, it turns out that many of us have been overlooking an important cooking appliance - the hairdryer. According to NPR's recent article, Hair Dryer Cooking: From S'mores To Crispy Duck,  Marcella Hazan pioneered hair dryer cooking back in the 1970's.… read more

Tip: Rolling a Burrito or sandwich wrap so it stays intact

January 5, 2014 by
 |  One Comment  |  Leave Comment
It may not be the biggest kitchen issue, but learning to wrap a burrito so it doesn't fall apart is not only a useful bit of information, but surprisingly useful in other ways - it works for sandwich wraps, enchiladas, and other items as well. So thanks to the Kitchn for realizing that there should be a tutorial on How… read more

Bringing out the best of 7 Fall and Winter vegies

January 3, 2014 by
 |  Leave Comment
Continuing our theme of healthy eating, we thought we'd bring you some advice on roasting winter vegetables, courtesy of Kenji Lopez-Alt over at Serious Eats. In his article The Food Lab: How to Roast Fall and Winter Vegetables, he does acknowledge that there is a simple approach, "Now, you can roast vegetables the easy way: just toss everything with oil,… read more

It’s time to focus on healthy snacking

January 2, 2014 by
 |  One Comment  |  Leave Comment
It's somewhat of a cliché to focus on healthy eating after the holidays, but let's face it - it's not a bad idea. So here, from the New York Times, is advice on Snacking Your Way to Better Health. And the gist of the article - eat more nuts. As Jane Brody writes: "I know what you're thinking: Aren't nuts fattening?… read more

Will these foods still rule in 2014?

December 31, 2013 by
 |  5 Comments  |  Leave Comment
According to BuzzFeed, there were 13 Foods That Rose to Power in 2013. Here they are - and we'll leave you to ponder whether they will continue to rule, or other foods will come in to trump them: Cronuts Brussels Sprouts Oreos MSG Doritos Locos Taco Pumpkin Spice Ramen Burgers "Edibles" (e.g. marijuana-infused food like Nugtella) Pop-Tart Sandwiches The Horse… read more

Have the British turned from tea to coffee?

December 30, 2013 by
 |  6 Comments  |  Leave Comment
The Guardian is pondering why and when the British turned their preferences from tea to coffee. According to their article No time for tea? How Britain became a nation of coffee drinkers: "Research by the Grocer shows that volume sales of shop tea are down by 6% in the past 12 months, while supermarket Nescafé sales have increased by 6.3%. Every… read more

Three cooking tips from Thomas Keller

December 29, 2013 by
 |  One Comment  |  Leave Comment
During a recent interview with world-famous chef Thomas Keller, The Splendid Table asked him how home cooks could improve their skills. He responded with three pieces of advice; here is a summary of the lengthier reply NPR printed in their article: Learn to salt properly: Among the other tips he gives about salting, we found his advice about salting technique… read more
« Older posts
Seen anything interesting? Let us know & we'll share it!

Categories

Archives