Food news antipasto

August 16, 2020 by
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Interested in the juncture between cookbooks and history? A new publicly available searchable database called The Sifter might be right up your alley. The Sifter, conceived by food historian Barbara Wheaton, "is designed to be a tool to aid in finding, identifying and comparing historical and contemporary writing on food and related topics," according to the site's mission statement. Modeled… read more

Ten European dishes that chefs think everyone should try

August 15, 2020 by
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Although the EU has drawn together much of Europe into a common market, the food remains more diverse, with each country and even regions within countries having their signature dishes, styles and ingredients. The Guardian (UK) recently asked a dozen chefs (some Michelin-starred and several of the World’s 50 Best) to tell them about local dishes on the European continent… read more

The case for having a bread box

August 14, 2020 by
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When most people think of a bread box, they probably conjure an image of an old-fashioned kitchen or perhaps a scene from a 1950s television program wherein a dress- and pearl-wearing housewife pulls a loaf of bread out of its storage container to make her young child a sandwich. Whether you call it a bread box or a bread bin,… read more

The art and logic of ice cream cake

August 13, 2020 by
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Ice cream cakes are not just the province of Dairy Queen. You can make your own showstopping dessert if you know the right tips and tricks, says food writer Tara O'Brady. She provides a handy primer that lays out the potential pitfalls and shows you how to make your own magnificent, cold, creamy ice cream cake that puts the store-bought… read more

Cookbooks can be life-changing

August 12, 2020 by
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I do not have to work very hard to convince readers of our blog about the magic of cookbooks. They have woven a spell over our lives, enchanting us with their descriptions of faraway lands, mesmerizing us with detailed scientific explanations of baking chemistry, and wowing us with evocative images and stories. It never gets old seeing others discover the… read more

Don’t throw away these valuable liquids

August 11, 2020 by
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For years, I poured two valuable substances down the drain because I didn't know what else to do with them. I don't mean that time I put a colander in the sink but forgot to put a bowl underneath it and poured an entire batch of chicken stock through it before I realized my error, I am talking about the… read more

When it’s time to spice things up

August 10, 2020 by
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Spices in jars
When you have extra time on your hands, it can be all to easy to lounge about scrolling through Instagram or Pinterest. While that is a fun pastime, it gets old after a while. If you are looking for something to do that doesn't involve the computer and is cooking-related, head over to The Washington Post, where Becky Krystal is… read more

Food news antipasto

August 9, 2020 by
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Running out of things to watch in your Netflix or Amazon Prime queue? We have the answer with a new short film that dives into the world of Japanese cooking via one of its most iconic elements: dashi. The brainchild of chef Shinobu Namae and filmmaker Eric Wolfinger, the show explores each step of the dashi-making process through the eyes of the Michelin-starred… read more

Hats off to grocery workers

August 8, 2020 by
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Due to the pandemic, I have finally succumbed to doing some of my grocery shopping online. This service has been offered for a few years at my supermarket, but I haven't been interested in it before. Grocery shopping is my happy place - I find zen in the aisles as I inspect new products, compare ingredient lists, and carefully pore… read more

Historic Mexican recipes now available as e-books

August 7, 2020 by
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In February we reported how the University of Texas in San Antonio was in the process of digitizing hundreds of historical Mexican cookbooks. The pandemic has delayed this effort, but instead of just putting the whole project on hold, the university is now releasing recipes from the collection as free e-books. The first mini-cookbook was released earlier this month. Postres: Guardando… read more

The three essential baking pans everyone needs in their kitchen

August 6, 2020 by
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I recently made several pound cakes in this Nordic Ware loaf pan to give to friends and neighbors. One neighbor, witnessing the Facebook posts of my pandemic baking spree featuring myriad layer cakes, breads, Bundts, and other baked goods, asked me how much room I needed to store my baking pans. The answer is...a lot. Since my kitchen is not… read more

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
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