Pasta: the long and short of it

May 30, 2025 by
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Fresh or dried? Bronze cut? Long, tubular, or flat and folded? With eggs or without? There are many questions to answer when choosing the kind of pasta to use in a particular dish. With hundreds of pasta shapes available, it can be difficult to know which type will pair well with your sauce. Epicurious brings us the information we need… read more

Splish-splash: What is the best method for washing your produce?

May 23, 2025 by
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When you buy fresh produce, especially items that are loose in bins, you don't know what (or who) it has been in contact with, so you wash it before using. There are new products on the market that claim to be able to better remove pesticides or contaminants that may be lurking on the surface of your food than just… read more

What type of cardamom to use when?

May 13, 2025 by
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Do you remember the first time you tasted cardamom? Perhaps it occurred when you nibbled on Swedish meatballs or drank masala chai. Cardamom’s enchanting flavor has made a home for itself in cuisines across the globe. Since there are several types available, it can be difficult to know which is most suited for a particular dish. In a recent Kitchen Aide article at… read more

Tips on using mint in cocktails

May 3, 2025 by
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Today was the Kentucky Derby, an event known as much for its hats and its signature cocktail - the mint julep - as for the thoroughbred horses racing around Churchill Downs. Since this event also heralds the return of summer cocktail season, I was reminded of an article we featured several years ago that provided advice from top bartenders on… read more

What’s the right way to trim asparagus?

April 6, 2025 by
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When I was learning to cook, a friend showed me how to snap asparagus spears to remove the tough ends and keep only the tender parts. I dutifully did this tedious prep until I read an article that said it was a waste of time. Instead, it was better to just cut them all across the board because any difference… read more

Lessons from a lifetime of cooking

March 25, 2025 by
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When I was a fresh-faced college graduate 30 years ago, I was far from an accomplished cook. In fact, I was terrible. This was a shortcoming I was determined to overcome, because I really liked eating and did not have the resources to frequently dine out. This was before the ease of finding instruction on YouTube, so I looked to… read more

How to fix a broken emulsion

February 23, 2025 by
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Time may mend a broken heart, but it's not going to fix a broken emulsion. However, there are other ways to bring your sauce back together if it separates, as Chowhound's Nikita Ephanov explains. If it's been a while since you learned what an emulsion is in science class, here is a quick refresher: an emulsion is a mixture of two or… read more

The pursuit of the perfect boiled egg

February 12, 2025 by
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In a quest for perfection, people can fall down some interesting rabbit holes. They will go to lengths that makes the average person scratch their head in puzzlement. This is true of nearly any human endeavor, and perhaps especially so for cooking. There are bakers who weigh the most minute quantities of ingredients in tenths of a gram, espresso connoisseurs… read more

Is this the perfect way to make cacio e pepe?

February 4, 2025 by
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Cacio e pepe can be a tricky dish to master. Do it right, and you are rewarded with a silky sauce for your pasta. Do it wrong, and you end up with clumps of rubbery cheese swimming in oil instead. There are many recipes that claim to be foolproof, but even those are prone to failure. However, scientists recently set… read more

Relax, you’ve got this

November 28, 2024 by
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My social media feed has been nonstop Thanksgiving prep the past couple of days. Our gathering will be smaller than usual, so I'm throwing out the rulebook (with one exception: there will be mashed potatoes), going with prime rib instead of turkey, and ending with tarte Tatin and Bourbon butterscotch ice cream for dessert. It's late in the evening here,… read more

How to solve common pie crust problems

November 15, 2024 by
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An unbaked pie crust sits in a pie plate with about three-quarters of the edge crimped with a fork. A fork, a rolling pin, and scraps of pie dough surround the crust
Even people who don't usually bake may reach into the cupboard and dust off a pie pan during the holiday season. Making a pie can be stressful if you don't regularly bake, but Food and Wine's Ann Taylor Pittman offers advice to help you perfect your pie with solutions to five common pie crust problems. These tips are aimed at… read more

Brown paper bags are a cook’s best friend

November 5, 2024 by
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Brown paper bags have been associated with food for decades. Before the rise of plastic bags, almost every supermarket and corner store used brown paper bags in the checkout lane. Is it just me or does everyone love the smell of a fresh paper bag? But I digress - these puppies can do so much more than tote home your… read more

Is blind baking necessary?

October 23, 2024 by
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If you have watched The Great British Bake Off or The Great American Baking Show, you know the dreaded words that a baker never wants to hear: you have a soggy bottom. To avoid this fate and ensure a crisp pastry crust on your baked goods, blind baking is the way to go. However, it can be intimidating and time… read more

Have a glut of produce? There’s a batch for that

September 24, 2024 by
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Closeup of caramelized onions on a sheet pan
Gardeners know this scenario all too well: one day you are admiring the massive quantities of vegetables ripening on the vine, and the next day you are cursing the massive quantities of vegetables ripening on the vine. The best way to deal with this abundance? Make items in large batches that you can freeze or preserve. The Guardian offers a… read more

One cup, many weights

September 1, 2024 by
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One of our Members recently emailed us a question that has likely been pondered by bakers ever since the kitchen scale was invented: just how much does a cup of flour weigh? While I have extolled the virtues of weighing ingredients before, I did not focus on the weight of flour specifically, although it is arguably the most critical weight… read more

Are you cuckoo for coconut?

August 27, 2024 by
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Coconut can be a divisive ingredient - maybe not as much as cilantro/coriander, but polarizing nonetheless. As someone who adores coconut, I don't mind the haters. It just means there is more of that rich, coconutty goodness for me. One of the great things about this tropical plant is its versatility. You can use it in savory or sweet applications,… read more

Great grilling tips

May 25, 2024 by
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Monday's holiday in the US marks the unofficial start to grilling season, although plenty of people love to grill year-round. There is something about the long days and return to warmer temperatures that makes it extra special at this time of the year. Whether you are getting ready to dust off the trusty Weber kettle grill or have something more… read more

The best cooking tips from 21 seasons of Top Chef

May 23, 2024 by
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It seems improbable that I started watching Top Chef eighteen years ago, but it's true: the show has been around since 2006! In that time, dozens of chefs have put their impressive skills on display in a variety of challenges. I have learned a lot by watching the program, and so have the folks at Food and Wine. They have… read more

Love your leftovers

May 16, 2024 by
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Are you someone who looks forward to eating leftovers or the type who grimaces at the aging container of leftovers at the back of the refrigerator and pushing them aside day after day until it's too late? If you are the latter, Sue Quinn wants to change your mind, saying that it's time for leftovers to shine. If you are… read more

An unconventional cooking method can save time and water

February 22, 2024 by
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When cooking dried pasta, the standard practice is to bring a large amount of water to a rolling boil before adding the pasta. This can take considerable time, especially if your stove is not powerful. However, by using a method that turns the traditional technique on its head, you can shave almost half off the pasta cooking time and nearly… read more

How to brine turkey and make gravy from a flavor scientist

November 17, 2023 by
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Here in the US, most cooks are planning their Thanksgiving day meals and to help a bit with that task, we have an excerpt from a book that will be released in March of 2024. Flavorama: The Unbridled Science of Flavor and How to Get It to Work for You by Arielle Johnson delivers recipes designed to easily finesse flavor… read more

Spice support: pink peppercorns

November 16, 2023 by
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You might have been introduced to them from the tri-color peppercorn mixes that often come with the purchase of a pepper grinder: pink peppercorns. These diminutive, brightly colored orbs are more than just an colorful garnish to be sprinkled over a dish, as Serious Eats explains in its primer on pink peppercorns. First things first - pink peppercorns are not… read more

Sweet potato 101

November 14, 2023 by
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A blue-green bowl holds cooked, diced orange fleshed sweet potatoes dotted with tiny black black seeds and bits of scallion
We are headed to the time of year in the US when more sweet potatoes are served than perhaps the rest of the year combined. Families that never eat the tubers at any other time will trot out sweet potato casseroles and sides during the holidays. This serves as a great opportunity to brush up on the different varieties available… read more

Stop telling me how to get rid of the garlic smell on my hands

August 31, 2023 by
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Frequently a post saying something like "this is the best method to remove the garlic smell from your hands" will pop up in my news feed. I never click on those posts. Not only do I not want to remove the odor, I would be open to a perfume that smells like garlic when it is thrown into hot butter.… read more

The sweet side of MSG

July 20, 2023 by
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There once existed a more formal divide between the sweet and savory sides of the kitchen, but over time the lines between them were blurred. Techniques and ingredients started crossing from one side to the other in both directions. A recent Epicurious article brings this concept home, as Anikah Shaokat makes the argument that MSG belongs in sweet foods just… read more
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