Pulling from the bench

December 12, 2015 by
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No matter how hard I try to prepare, I almost always find myself short an ingredient during the holiday baking crunch. Usually it's after the nearby store is closed, too, which means I'm faced with an unpleasant choice: drive miles to the closest 24-hour store, or find something to substitute for the missing ingredients. The folks at Whole Foods have… read more

Tips for achieving latke perfection

December 7, 2015 by
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Latkes are among the many traditional foods that will make an appearance on tables during Hanukkah. Yahoo! Food offers five rules for making latkes to ensure that each one is perfectly light, crispy, and delicious. Follow these tips and your friends and family will be asking for this classic holiday treat year-round. Some recipes call for grating the onion, but the article recommends… read more

The science of baking soda

December 5, 2015 by
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  Baking soda is an ingredient that almost every cook, and certainly every baker, always has on hand. It's so ubiquitous that we generally don't give it a second thought. But as indexed blog Serious Eats points out, understanding the science behind baking soda can improve your baking game. Most of us understand the basics behind soda's magic in baked… read more

How to winterize your favorite summer drinks

December 3, 2015 by
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Mojitos, daiquiris, and margaritas conjure up tropical shores and a balmy climate. You might feel like these drinks are for the summer only, but PUNCH magazine says we should reconsider that position. They've provided suggestions for "winterizing" these cocktails and more so you can enjoy them even when the weather gets cold. One tip for adjusting cocktails for a new… read more

The myth of easy cooking

November 30, 2015 by
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  Elizabeth G. Dunn writes about food for a living, so she sees more cooking advice and recipes than most people. Many of the articles she reads promise gourmet meals that are simple and easy to prepare. Those articles are lying to us, says Dunn in a recent story in The Atlantic. She notes that Amazon's 'quick and easy' section… read more

Go crazy for cranberries

November 21, 2015 by
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  Cranberry sauce from a can, wiggly and wearing signature lines around its circumference, was the only cranberry sauce I knew for decades. It wasn't until I had moved away from home before I discovered the fresh stuff, and I was instantly hooked on everything cranberry. No one is a bigger fan of fresh cranberries than Brad Leone, test kitchen… read more

Cold weather, warm meals

November 17, 2015 by
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Much of the Northern Hemisphere has basked in a long, warm fall. But the warm days won't last forever, as indicated by the upcoming forecast for cold and snow in much of the northern US. The Rocky Mountain states have already had a taste of winter with snowstorms dumping several inches of snow on them in recent days. When it's… read more

Thanksgiving cocktails

November 15, 2015 by
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Many Americans are making their Thanksgiving to-do lists in preparation for the biggest food holiday of the year. One thing that often gets short shrift is the beverage selection. Wine generally makes an appearance, but adding cocktails to your meal will instantly up your Thanksgiving game. If you are wondering which cocktails will match with the golden turkey on the… read more

Grape expectations

November 12, 2015 by
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Grapes are the wallflowers of the fruit family. Most of the time they're relegated to snack status or as one ingredient in a salad that features more flamboyant fruits. But you shouldn't overlook the value that grapes can add to many different dishes, according to the Culinary Institute of America. Okay, maybe California grape growers paid for the prominent placement… read more

Make ahead for the holidays

November 8, 2015 by
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Holiday meals can be stressful, especially for a food lover. Trying to make each dish absolutely perfect may cause blood pressure to rise and even tempers to flare. Unachieveable perfection goals aside, it is a challenge to juggle the many side dishes and holiday roasts that all compete for oven space, not to mention having a house (and kitchen) full… read more

Open, sesame

October 31, 2015 by
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Sesame seeds can be found in any number of breads, appetizers, and main dishes. The "the mild, nutty seeds are versatile enough to make their way into a wide range of unexpected applications," says indexed blog Serious Eats. The site polled several professionals on how they incorporate sesame seeds into sweet and savory dishes. The answers were inventive and delicious.… read more

Potential pumpkin shortage

October 27, 2015 by
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If a pumpkin pie usually graces your holiday dessert table or if you are craving a creamy pumpkin soup, you may want to stock up on canned pumpkin. US pumpkin harvest is down by about half, and the UK harvest isn't faring much better, as it's off by a third. In both instances, rain is the culprit: early rains washed… read more

Is seaweed the next kale?

October 26, 2015 by
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Move over kale, there's a new green powerhouse in town. Because of the grim prospects for both ocean fish stocks and land agriculture due to the effects of climate change, many entrepreneurs, scientists, and farmers are looking to seaweed as a saving grace - and perhaps the next culinary craze. Seaweed is already a staple in many East Asian diets,… read more

Are some foods addicting?

October 24, 2015 by
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  A recent study conducted by the University of Michigan and published in the U.S. National Library of Medicine confirms the suspicion of many: certain foods can be physically addictive. The study found that while not all foods can be associated with addiction, "highly processed foods, which may share characteristics with drugs of abuse (e.g. high dose, rapid rate of… read more

All about herbs, spices and vanilla

October 21, 2015 by
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  Have you ever come across an ingredient when reading a recipe but don't know exactly what it is? Or have you bought something at the market but don't really know what to do with it? Then you'll want to bookmark The Kitchn's A to Z guide to herbs, spices, and blends. Their list has been compiled to help you… read more

Cooking with kohlrabi

October 10, 2015 by
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You can't shake a stick in a farmers' market without hitting kohlrabi. Relatively unknown until just a few years ago, kohlrabi is the darling of the local and sustainable movement because it is easy to grow and versatile to use. If you're not sure how to make the best of it, indexed magazine Bon Appétit has tips on buying and… read more

A new use for the old can of beans

October 6, 2015 by
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  Canned beans are a time-saving shortcut to great dishes like hummus. But did you know that you can also use the liquid from those beans to make great desserts? According to The Washington Post, bean liquid can be used as an egg white substitute to make things like a vegan meringue. This discovery has been credited to Joël Roessel,… read more

The greatest pastas of all time

September 27, 2015 by
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Any time you claim a particular food is the best, you are surely going to ruffle some feathers. But that isn't stopping Epicurious, which chose 14 recipes as the greatest pastas of all time. It's a bold move, but as the site notes "You don't mess with a classic." We'll take a look at a few of the contenders. The… read more

An apple a day

September 25, 2015 by
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  Apple season is underway in much of the Northern Hemisphere. There are over 7,000 named varieties of the fruit - probably more than any other fruit we eat. The variety in flavor is also quite diverse, as The Splendid Table found out in an interview with "fruit connoisseur"  David Karp, a contributor to The New York Times and Saveur. Karp sampled 44 varieties of… read more

When less is more

September 22, 2015 by
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It can be exhilarating to conquer a complex dish that takes a lot of time and features several ingredients. But some recipes can be sensational even though they use only a few ingredients. These dishes are among the most satisfying, and indexed blog Food52 recently compiled a list of their favorite recipes that have 3 ingredients or less.  Plenty of… read more

How good are online cooking classes?

September 16, 2015 by
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Cooking classes can be a great way to learn new techniques or explore an unfamiliar cuisine. They can also introduce you to people who share the same passion or strengthen bonds among friends. But it can be difficult to find a class on a particular subject and busy schedules can also interfere. Enter online cooking classes, which are exploding in… read more

The honey-do list

September 11, 2015 by
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Honey has been a cooking staple for millenia, and for good reason. It never spoils and lends a unique, tangy-sweet flavor to everything it touches. We need to thank the first brave soul who ventured into the midst of a hive, risking injury to get to the golden nectar. Indexed blog Leite's Culinaria has a great slideshow featuring the myriad… read more

New ways to use tea

September 4, 2015 by
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  Much like wine, tea is much more than just a drink, and its culinary uses often go overlooked. Indexed blog Serious Eats praises tea's versatility in the kitchen, noting that its distinctive flavors-- "woodsy and vegetal or ripe and sweet, pleasantly astringent or perfumed" can "add layers to sweet and savory dishes that no other ingredient can touch." The… read more

Clever uses for food scraps

August 31, 2015 by
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It always seems a shame to throw out food, even if it is scraps and peelings from dinner preparation. But did you know that you can make wonderful flavorings and broths from food scraps? We found several websites with ingenious uses for peelings, scraps, and leftovers. You may already be familiar with making broth from vegetable peels and scraps, as… read more

The summer’s best tomato recipes

August 20, 2015 by
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For the past nine years, The Washington Post has held an annual "Top Tomato" recipe contest for its readers. This year they had over 200 entries, and they tested a record 60 of them. Testing this time around resulted in "a record number of near-misses, mostly in cases where we were looking for shouts of tomato flavor but found whispers."… read more
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