Quick tip: Turn white sugar into brown sugar

October 25, 2012 by
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Recipes calling for brown sugar are surprisingly ubiquitous. Cookie season is fast approaching in the Northern hemisphere (of course, for many of us, it's always here),  and so many great cookie recipes seem to call for brown sugar. Or, for our readers Down Under who are now beginning to feast on fresh fruits, what's a better topping than brown sugar?… read more

Revel in lemons

October 24, 2012 by
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Slate recently published a wonderful article called "When Life Gives You Lemons, Put Them in Everything." And what's not to love about a lemon? It's a beautiful fruit which adds zest to both sweet and savory dishes, brings out flavor (without any fat!), and makes hair shine. Plus many grocery stores sell them in sacks, making them affordable and plentiful.… read more

Is Nordic cuisine the new “hot” trend?

October 21, 2012 by
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Local, healthy ingredients are a world-wide craze. But what do you do when your growing season is only two-months long? This is one of the challenges that modern Nordic chefs face as they try to expand beyond "Ikea food" (although Ikea's meatballs are pretty darn good). Since 2004, when a group of cooks published "The Nordic Manifesto," emphasizing local and… read more

Kale as the latest aphrodisiac?

October 19, 2012 by
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We admit to reading a lot of food blogs, so a catchy title does make an impression. And Jennifer Iserloh's article in Epicurious certainly caught our attention with her article, " Kale and Sex Drive?" She actually discusses three libido-enhancing foods in depth: kale, maca, and pumpkin seeds. B-vitamins and zinc are among the factors she cites for their powers. Irregardless,… read more

The Rachael Ray garbage bowl

October 15, 2012 by
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Adam Roberts over at The Amateur Gourmet reminded us recently of one of the best tips we ever learned in culinary school - the garbage bowl. He calls it the Rachael Ray garbage bowl, as he first learned the tip from her cooking show (and she apparently sells one through Target). As he describes it, "Simply take a large bowl… read more

Quick tip: Easily peel garlic – no sticky skin!

October 14, 2012 by
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Tired of having thin garlic skin stick to your fingers when you're peeling garlic? It's easy to prevent - in fact, there are two methods: (i) just put the garlic cloves in the microwave for a few seconds or (ii) blanch them in boiling water. And once you have all that lovely garlic peeled, try one of our favorite recipes:… read more

What’s the most important invention in the history of food?

October 11, 2012 by
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The Guardian  recently reported that the Fellows of the Royal Society posted its list of the 20 most important food inventions. The list is below, but as equally as much fun are the comments that the Guardian received disagreeing with the list. You can see them here.  Refrigeration Pasteurization/sterilization Canning The oven Irrigation Threshing machine/Combine harvester Baking Selective breeding/Strains Grinding/Milling… read more

Caramelizing onions in just 15 minutes

October 10, 2012 by
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Kenji Alt over at Serious Eats writes an always-intriguing science food blog - and we pay special attention when he has cooking tips. His latest is how to caramelize onions in just 15 minutes - without adding either sugar or baking soda. We encourage you to watch the video, which demonstrates that the keys are good stirring and temperature regulation.… read more

Why were we so confused about authentic Chinese food?

October 9, 2012 by
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David Chan on the Menuism blog has an illuminating article on how American Chinese food came to be - and why it took us so long to appreciate diverse and authentic Chinese food. It turns out to be a combination of geographical and political factors. Chinese immigration began with the California gold rush and virtually all the travelers came from… read more

New Blogs Indexed

October 7, 2012 by
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We have added seven great new blogs this month - add the entire blog or individual recipes to your Bookshelf.    A blog completely devoted to chocolate - what a great theme for a blog to help satisfy the cravings of us chocoholics. Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog thought so and all 269 recipes on her blog use some form of chocolate. Her… read more

Harvard’s food lectures are both tasty and good for you

October 7, 2012 by
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Every year, Harvard brings together top chefs, professors, and researchers and explores the world of food. The inspiration came from a course "Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to the Science of Soft Matter." The lectures have  proven to be immensely popular and, as such, Harvard is live-streaming the courses as well as archiving them on You Tube and iTunes.… read more

An apple variety flow chart resolves apple confusion

October 4, 2012 by
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It's apple season, at least here in the northern hemisphere, and we continue to be amazed by how many apple varieties show up in the stores. And confusion reigns - which should you choose for eating, baking, making apple sauce, carving, making cider etc. etc. Slate has come to our rescue with this incredibly helpful chart developed by Andrew Mikolajski - just… read more

The best containers for storing food in the freezer

October 3, 2012 by
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The easiest way to store food in the freezer is often to grab a freezer storage bag. But those bags have two drawbacks - they're expensive and it's easy to reach for one and discover an empty box. The Kitchn has some alternatives that are either reusable and/or less expensive. However, if you do want to use a freezer bag,… read more

What dark beer is preferable when called for in a recipe?

September 29, 2012 by
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On Friday, we discussed gingerbread made with ale, and that got us thinking: Does it make sense to use a dark beer like porter (e.g. Dark Russian) or stout (e.g. Guinness) in this recipe? And, if so, what is the difference? So it seemed like true serendipity that over at Serious Eats we found an article called "Beer Mythbusting: The… read more

Determining the best Pepperidge Farm cookie

September 24, 2012 by
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We're sure that many of you (esp. those whose mothers didn't bake) regard Pepperidge Farm cookies with a certain nostalgia. While a daily store-bought cookie might have been Chips Ahoy or Oreos, Pepperidge Farm cookies were always just a cut above. More elegant names (Tahiti, Milanos), more elegant packaging, even more elegant looks. With Pepperidge Farm's 75th birthday, Serious Eats… read more

Tasting whole chickens

September 19, 2012 by
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Cook's Illustrated has a strong reputation for its taste tests and occasionally makes one available for the public at large. Recently, they conducted a national test on whole chickens, looking for "meat that was rich, clean-tasting, tender, and moist." They also took a hard look at labeling and production, determining that air-chilling (vs. water-chilling) can make a large (positive) difference.… read more

New Zealand has thrown down the cereal gauntlet

September 18, 2012 by
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Somehow in the excitement of the Olympics last month, we didn't notice that 648 New Zealand school children honored their Olympic team by tackling a special challenge. 648 children, along with their teachers, ate more than 300 boxes of  Weet-Bix cereal, soaked with 106 gallons of milk, thereby earning the world record for most cold breakfast cereal consumed. (Weet-Bix, for those of you… read more

How to spot a fake restaurant or hotel review

September 17, 2012 by
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  Yelp and other similar similar review sites are enormously popular with people looking to venture into the unknown. And most people are aware that some reviews are planted or, even worse, created by extortion. So how do we screen reviews to find out what genuine consumers really think? NPR's The Salt tackled the issue in their article "Five Ways… read more

Abusing jello vs. respecting it

September 11, 2012 by
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Sometimes nostalgia for home-baked goods, old-fashioned roast chicken, or home-canned tomato sauce can make us a bit guilty for not spending the requisite time in the kitchen. So it's good to remind ourselves of some old-fashioned foods that were once considered good homemade food and are not deserving of resurrection. This collection by BuzzFood of "39 Things That Should Never… read more

Two tips: Storing cut avocados and substituting parsleys

September 9, 2012 by
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Here are two helpful tips for the kitchen. First up, what to do when you have leftover avocado. Avocados are double trouble - they're expensive to start with, and then are problematic to store as they brown so easily. The ideas of: a) keeping the pit in while storing, and b) sprinkling a little lemon juice over the cut portion… read more

The absolutely best way to dry herbs

September 7, 2012 by
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About this time of year (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) gardens are beginning to show wear and tear. And that's especially sad for those who love just plucking fresh herbs when you need them -  or buying them in bunches at the markets - and dread having to use store-bought dried herbs that are drab and may be musty.… read more

“Shades of Grey” inspired food

September 6, 2012 by
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Huff Post Food has an article titled, "'Fifty Shades of Grey'-Themed Cooking Class Has Us Cringing" that also left us a bit disconcerted. In particular, it was the part about the mother-daughter duos that attended this class in a California strip mall. We appreciate that cooking and food should  bring families together, and we do see the humor in it… read more

Can you eat food dropped on the floor?

September 3, 2012 by
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One of our favorite apps comes from "Fooducate." The app, (available for both iPhones and Androids) , allows users to scan a product's bar code, immediately see nutrition information, and get suggestions for a healthier alternative. Each item is graded and clearly marked why it earned that grade.  It's free and easy to use, recommended by the Wall Street Journal,… read more

Ingredient substitution guide

September 2, 2012 by
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The Kitchn has a useful Quick Guide to Ingredient Substitutions for last-minute kitchen replacements or "if you're trying to modify a recipe out of dietary necessity (shifting it to be dairy or gluten-free, for example)." Find the best gluten-free flour substitute, or what to replace for cake flour, buttermilk, vinegar, bananas, and much more. And make sure you read the comments… read more

Bon Appétit’s “Most Insane” Recipes

August 29, 2012 by
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It's always commendable when an organization laughs at itself, and Bon Appétit is doing just that with its article, The 15 Most Insane Vintage Recipes Published in Bon Appétit. And they include not only descriptions, but also photographs - which truly do have to be seen to be believed. So for a reminder that we all can get truly carried… read more
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