Kitchen trends that are falling out of favor

June 13, 2023 by
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Remodeling a kitchen is something that most of us do infrequently, if at all. I've been fortunate enough to have done two full-on remodels, both DIY projects and both wildly different from one another. One house was a 1960s ranch-style home and the other a 1920s Craftsman-style bungalow, so the design choices were influenced by each home's respective era. Even… read more

Food news antipasto

June 11, 2023 by
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Olivia Potts has judged food awards, including World’s Original Marmalade Awards and the Great Taste Awards, the "big kahuna of UK produce awards." While she thinks that there is merit highlighting small producers, Potts wonders if overall these food awards are worthwhile. "Taste doesn’t necessarily defy analysis, but that analysis is almost retrospective, a breaking down of why something is… read more

Finally some good news about food prices

June 8, 2023 by
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As shoppers faced escalating prices for everything from butter to vegetables in the past couple of years, it felt like there was no end to the rising cost of groceries. It seems as though we may have turned a corner recently. Food prices have inched down in the last couple of months for many categories including dairy, fruits and vegetables,… read more

Changing old ways in the kitchen

June 7, 2023 by
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I've been cooking for a long time, and many of the kitchen practices I employed at the beginning of my culinary journey have gone by the wayside. I no longer cook pork chops to well done, I stopped putting oil in my pasta boiling water, I don't use glass cutting boards anymore, the list goes on. In all cases, I… read more

Gardens are full of miracles and disappointments

June 6, 2023 by
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Usually by now I would have posted my annual ode to rhubarb, one of the first items most gardeners can harvest each spring. This year the rhubarb was delayed due to a long, cool April, but in May it leapt out of the ground due to a burst of warm weather. The joke around here is that spring lasts roughly… read more

Food news antipasto

June 4, 2023 by
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After 17 years, Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi announced that she was leaving the Bravo TV series. In a tweet, Padma said that "After much soul searching, I have made the difficult decision to leave Top Chef. Having completed a glorious 20th season as host and executive producer, I am extremely proud to have been part of building such a… read more

Are robots coming to a restaurant near you?

June 1, 2023 by
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Recently one of my friends posted a photo of a robotic "waiter" at a restaurant where they were dining. It took their orders via touchscreen and it brought out the food on a tray when it was ready. With worker shortages ongoing, investing in technology seems like a logical move, although whether diners will appreciate this change remains to be… read more

Food news antipasto

May 28, 2023 by
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Does chef Jose Andres ever sleep? As if he isn't busy enough running restaurants, contributing to his nonprofit enterprise (World Central Kitchen), and giving talks around the world, he just announced a new partnership with George Washington University. They are forming The Global Food Institute, and its lofty aim is to "serve as a hub to develop evidence, partnerships, and… read more

Recipes to welcome summer

May 27, 2023 by
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Our US members have a long weekend for the Memorial Day holiday. While the day itself is a time for somber appreciation for those who gave all in defense of our nation, the unofficial event that coincides with the holiday is the welcoming of summer. As I walked through my neighborhood today it seemed like every backyard contained a grill,… read more

Going bananas

May 25, 2023 by
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If you are a certain age, you probably remember the scene from Raiders of the Lost Art (1981) when Harrison Ford's character says "Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?" I was reminded of that scene when I watched a recent episode of Chopped, where one of the contestants discovers that a particular fruit was in the mystery ingredient… read more

The ebb and flow of ingredients

May 23, 2023 by
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If you looked into my refrigerator daily over the past 20 years, you would have been hard pressed to find a day where you did not see a container of yogurt prominently displayed. As a recent Food & Wine article noted, there are legions of dishes that start with or are finished by a dollop of the tangy dairy product.… read more

Food news antipasto

May 21, 2023 by
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Most of us know that Betty Crocker isn't a real person; she was concocted by the marketing folks at the Washburn-Crosby Company (the precursor to General Mills) in 1921. However, another names that is displayed on boxes of cake mixes across the US is (or was) a real person: Duncan Hines. Southern Living explores the history of Mr. Hines, who… read more

What are your bad habits in the kitchen?

May 18, 2023 by
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In a perfect food world, there would never be any cross contamination, surfaces would remain pristine, and everyone would religiously follow food safety rules. In the real world, however, nothing's perfect - including Jay Rayner. He confesses to some "unsavoury" habits in the kitchen, but he feels secure that he is in good company. Rayner shares that while filming a… read more

Food news antipasto

May 14, 2023 by
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As we eagerly await the announcement of the winners of the 2023 James Beard Media Awards, yet another controversy is brewing around the James Beard Foundation. This time it comes from a couple of judges resigning and a former winner smashing his award with a brick. As Eater explains, "In the wake of disqualifying a Birmingham [Alabama] chef, two judges… read more

Alkalinity can work wonders with food

May 13, 2023 by
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The title to Samin Nosrat's excellent book indicates what she feels to be the most important elements in cooking - salt, fat, acid, heat. While acid plays an important role in cooking, it might be better to think about pH more broadly than just acid, as alkaline substances offer important benefits in the kitchen as well. Food writer Caroline Hatchett… read more

On recipe writing

May 10, 2023 by
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"Jump to recipe." If seeing those words in a blog post to which you've navigated after seeing an image float across your social media feed makes you happy, this post may not be for you. The internet is rife with people joking about what they view as exaggerated prose that precedes the recipe in a food blog. "I just want… read more

Are home composting machines the answer to food waste?

May 9, 2023 by
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Unless you live in a suburban or rural area and have a decent-sized yard, your food waste probably goes into the trash and eventually into a landfill. Food waste produces tremendous amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. Municipalities have been slow to implement city-wide composting, so what's a consumer to do? Even the most conscientious… read more

Food news antipasto

May 8, 2023 by
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Jamie Oliver is set to return to the London restaurant scene with his first new location since the 2019 collapse of his UK restaurant group. The chef will launch a site at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and the restaurant will feature a seasonal menu highlighting British produce. Oliver said: "I was devastated when I lost my UK restaurants. Without doubt,… read more

Food news antipasto

April 30, 2023 by
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If you recently purchased ground cumin and you live in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin, you may want to check your pantry. Michigan-based Lipari Foods is recalling six ounce tubs of ground cumin because of potential Salmonella contamination.   In a recent tweet, Jose Andres dangled a carrot in… read more

Is pasta primavera poised for a comeback?

April 29, 2023 by
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A jumble of vegetables including broccoli, peas, and halved grape tomatoes rests atop of lightly sauced spaghetti noodles on a plain round white plate.
In the 1980s and 1990s, pasta primavera was on nearly every menu in the US. Although interpretations varied, the dish - which used the Italian word for springtime - usually featured an array of vegetables and long pasta in a creamy sauce. As with most things, once it became ubiquitous there was nowhere to go but down, so pasta primavera… read more

Jay Rayner’s tips on choosing a restaurant

April 27, 2023 by
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If you are traveling to a new destination or live in a large city with oodles of restaurants, it can be difficult to determine which ones are worth your time (and money). While there are review sites like Yelp, they can be hit or miss, so it's wise to use additional criteria to judge whether a place is worthy of… read more

Member Notes can save the day

April 25, 2023 by
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Trying new recipes is one of my favorite pastimes, although there is a drawback to constantly making dishes new to you in that things don't always go to plan. That is why I (along with many of our Members, I'm sure) appreciate the Notes feature in the EYB Library. Going to the listing of notes you can see how popular… read more

Food news antipasto

April 23, 2023 by
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Earlier this week King Charles III announced the signature dish of his upcoming coronation: quiche. The official Coronation quiche features an...interesting combination of spinach, broad beans, and tarragon. As one royal commentator said, the dish is "the gastronomic equivalent of King Charles himself." If that particular combination doesn't appeal to you, The Independent's Hannah Twigg offers five alternative fillings. The… read more

New Le Creuset color alert

April 18, 2023 by
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This is not a drill! Le Creuset has just unveiled its latest color, Shallot. On the Le Creuset website the company explains that the color is "named after the allium fundamental to French cuisine," describing the shade as hovering "between the palest purple and pink with an extremely light whisper of lavender and gray." Unlike 2017's Millennial Pink, Shallot is… read more

Food news antipasto

April 16, 2023 by
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Somehow the news got past us that the Guinness World Record cookbook collection changed in 2019. Lisa Ekus of Hatfield, Massachusetts (of cookbook literary agency fame) now holds the certified world record at 4,239 book. Ekus actually has thousands more (near 7,000), but some of these may be pamphlets or others that are not included in the official count. The… read more
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