En papillote may sound like a difficult French cooking method you'd never use at home, but don't be fooled by its fancy name—it's actually a really easy way to cook food that is moist and flavorful, and all you need is some parchment paper and your oven.
Everyone has their own reality, and in that same vein, everyone has their own guidelines for what makes the "perfect fried chicken." Now, I'm not saying that my version is the ultimate for everyone, but it's definitely a crowd pleaser in my experience.
Home cooks are often quite intimidated when trying to reproduce the delicious ethnic dishes they enjoy at various restaurants. Thankfully, there are definite flavor profiles and spice/seasoning/herb combos that are very specific to various regional cuisines and cultures; with a little guidance, you can create dishes that are tasty homages to the cuisines you love to eat. In this two-part article (second part here), I'll cover both categories and sub-categories of some of the most popular ethn...
We here at Food Hacks are all about saving you, our wonderful readers, time and trouble in the kitchen. So when I saw that Barilla had come out with their Pronto line of "One Pan, No Boil, No Drain" pasta, I had to give it a try. While no-boil lasagna noodles have been around for a while and allow the pasta to essentially cook en casserole, this relatively new addition to the pasta scene includes elbow, penne, spaghetti, and rotini varieties that allow for usage in a greater variety of pasta ...
When your cat goes missing, chances are it's just chilling in a cozy spot under the couch, or maybe even hiding from you. So it's okay to not freak out just yet. Cats love to hide as if they're spiders, and even their hiding spots are similar. You can find them in corners, on the refrigerator, and according to my roommate, even the dryer hose is fair game.
I recently had a small gathering of friends over for a quick cookout consisting of mostly burgers on the grill. One of my friends informed me beforehand that she didn't eat red meat, but that she would be perfectly okay with eating a turkey burger.
One of the best things about cold weather is soup, and there's nothing more comforting than a great chicken noodle soup. But I've often grabbed a can from the grocery store and found the chicken dried out and over-processed... and the noodles soggy and tasteless. What's worse: there's never enough of the stuff you like (such as the vegetables) and too much of what you don't (the nasty stuff I mentioned above).
If I could survive on one food for the rest of my life, it would be pizza. The irresistible smell of baking pizza instantly makes me feel both comforted... and hungry!
Ironing is a serious chore: hot, unpleasant, and frustrating all in one, but necessary if you don't want to look like you crawled out of bed just before work. While you might only turn to your flatiron when faced with wrinkled clothing, this little appliance packs the power to tackle even greater challenges—and here are our 10 favorites.
There are certain foods and beverages that can actually brighten your smile or improve your dental health when you chew or sip them. Once you understand their chemical properties or textures, you can look to items you already have in your cupboards or refrigerator to help keep your teeth looking and feeling their best.
Eating vegetarian isn't just for vegetarians. There are plenty of reasons, health and economics-wise, to consider forgoing the meat for a meal or three. Rather than get deep into the world of fake meat (although there's many a tasty alternative to be found there, to be sure), you should consider getting to know your humble-seeming fungal friend: the mushroom. Thanks to their hearty flavor, cooks tend to treat mushrooms like meat, albeit one with its own unique characteristics. Mushrooms are e...
The world of spices can be bewildering. They promise to make your food more flavorful if you know how to make the most of them. Unless you know a couple of essential tricks, however, it just seems like you're adding bits of colored powder to your food.
Many of the beauty products you buy at drug and department stores are loaded with potentially toxic ingredients like parabens, while their active ingredients are made of things like glycolic, lactic, malic, and alpha hydroxy acids and retinoids, which are all derived from foods.
When I first started cooking, there were a few steps I always skipped in recipes. I never added zest to anything because it seemed like too much trouble, I rarely separated wet and dry ingredients in baking recipes because I was lazy, and I never let meat rest after it was done.
Most people give their fruits and veggies a cursory rinse under the faucet before eating or cooking them, but is that few seconds under running water really enough to remove any remaining dirt, pesticides, or wax clinging to the surface?
Autumn is a time of year when everything looks, smells, and tastes good. The scents of cinnamon and spices are everywhere you go, and even the dead leaves that fall off the trees are pretty. In particular, the fruits and vegetables of the season are gorgeous.
In order to face paint flowers and butterflies, you will need the following: metallic white, pin, a sponge, a paintbrush, green paint, glitter, yellow paint, purple paint, and blue paint.
In order to install Warmups Underfloor heating system, you will need the following: a Warmup Thermostat, a Warmup Kit, RCD, a multimeter, a permanent marker, measuring tape, tape, and scissors.
In this video, we learn how to make a miniature medieval flail. You will need: glue, string, scissors, drill, paper, cardboard, paints, masking tape, electrical tape, plastic chain (optional), a brush, and a wooden handle. First, crumple up a couple sheets of paper to make it into a ball. Wrap masking tape around it so it keeps its shape. Next, wrap your string or twine around the ball several times at various angles, tying it each time at the bottom. After this, tape it again with masking ta...
In order to make a pair of baby shoes from gum paste, you will need the following: a pattern/template from Cake Central, gum paste, a paint brush, a knife, foam, mini flower cutter, rolling tool, a cutting tool, a quilting tool, dust brushes, snowflake luster dust, and edible glue.
Graffiti— do you have the guts to get out there and tag some property? There's a whole lot more than just spray paint involved. To be great, you'll need things like a sketchbook, pencils, pens, markers, spray can tips, latex gloves, legal (or illegal) wall, and most importantly… creativity. If you think you’ve got what it takes to be an urban graffiti artist, follow these steps to become da ’hood’s next da Vinci.
Everybody's favorite food is pizza. But not everybody knows how to actually make a pizza, which is practically a sin. And this "margherita" style pizza is a great one to learn, full of Italian simplicity— red tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and green basil— all the colors of the Italian flag. Check out the recipe for this delicious margherita pizza.
Chef Hubert Keller is known for his ingenuity in cooking, like when Frank Sinatra came into his restaurant and ordered something not on the menu — a pizza. Quickly, he had to come up with a great pizza recipe and this is what's come of it. Check out the recipe for this mouthwatering pizza from Chef Hubert Keller. You learn the whole process, from dough to sauce to baking.
This dish is a popular one of the streets of India. It's a great dish that is easy to eat and can take one bite to devour. This tutorial will focus on one part of the dish, the pani in the panu puri dish. Enjoy!
Start with one cup of boiling water then a one stick of butter to the boiling water and let it melt. Add one cup of all purpose flour slowly. It will get really thick and form a ball. Transfer to a bowl and let it cool while you prepare the filling for the eclairs. Add 1/4 cup of cocoa six table spoons of flour and 1/2 teaspoon of salt an 3/4 cup of sugar in a pan and stir together. Slowly add 3 cups of milk unit all dry ingredients are wet. Cook over medium heat until as thick as mayonaise. ...
In this how to video, you will learn how to make a mini milk carton bird house. You will need a mini milk carton dye for this. Use the template to fold the paper. There will be score lines to help you with the folding. Once this is done, fold in the paper and take a punch to create a hole in the paper. Punch another hole in the paper. Next, apply adhesive to the two sides. Once this is done, fold the paper up along the lines to create the basic shape of the bird house. Next, take the green pa...
This video shows us how to use a cuttlebug and make a congratulations card. Here are the following steps:
This is a video tutorial showing its audience how to make a New York City Skyline punctured paper lamp shade with ThreadBanger. The first step is to gather your supplies. You will need paper, puncturing tools, two wire rings, ribbon, tape, bull nose clips, tape, foam, and scissors. Then you will take your graphic paper and lay it on top of your plain sheet of paper and on top of your foam. Next with your puncturing tools punch holes all around each graphic so that you get your design. Then ma...
Paula Deen shows how to make a quick chocolate cake. She butters a casserole dish and covers the bottom with graham crackers, overlapping them when necessary. She then pours instant french vanilla pudding mix into a separate bowl and mixes it with 3.5 cups of milk, beating it for about 2 minutes. She then tosses in some whipped cream topping and folds it into the french vanilla batter, creating the custard. In another bowl, Paula combines 1.5 cups of sugar with half a cup of cocoa and strains...
This video is a demonstration on how to make a festive and colorful birthday cake. The frosting on the cake is made of rolled fondant, which comes in bright colors already made. Roll the fondant about 1/8" thick. The cake should have a thin layer of buttercream frosting on it. Lay the fondant over the cake and mold the fondant over it with your hands, trimming the extra off the bottom. Fondant can also be used for decorations on the cake. They cut out squares of fondant to make birthday prese...
The card stock used is a celery card stock that is 2 by 7 and 3/4. You then fold the ends of the card 2 inches into the card on both sides. So now it should look like two 2 inch squares on the ends that are folded and then a rectangle in the middle. The designer paper used measures 3 and a 1/4 by 1 and 7/8 inches. To make the decoration on top you use the paper punch that punches a 1 and 1/4 inch circle in the paper and then you use the scallop punch around the area of that same punched out h...
Brian from thetoyz.com and ProLineRacing.com will show you some painting techniques in this video. He is decorating his Revo truck with a special paint design. Brian is painting tears on various shells of vehicles and he got his design idea from the label of a drink can of Monster beverage. Brian suggests using "liquid" masking to mask the base vehicle and then it will be this "shell" that you draw on, which in this case is a design of tears, tear like in air. Draw some tears on the body's sh...
Supplies needed1. flower cut outs (you can buy them from A Piece of Craft)2. Water colors3. paint brushes4. clean water5. heat gun5. Water color pallet
John Campbell instructs the audience on using the hand drill method of starting a friction fires. First, you can use a piece of cottonwood as your fire-board (in his opinion, cottonwood is the best). You need to carve a small round hole about a quarter of an inch away from the edge on the fire-board. Then, you get the spindle going (take a sturdy stick and rub between your hands, scraping the stick across the board). This helps you create a good indention, where you can carve a deep notch int...
This video demonstrates how to build a fire with a bow drill. Your bow should be slightly curved. It should be the length of your arm. It can be fashioned from a tree limb and rawhide cord. You can use any number of types of cord. You will need a top rock. You will need a board. The board must be dry and dead. You will need a spindle. It should be the same type of wood as your board. You will also need a tinder bundle.
This video shows you how to make a rustic gift basket. For this project, you will need the following: an oval metal pail, crinkle paper, chocolate bars, cutting board, cookies, dried fruit, crackers, almonds, smoked salmon, cheese, caramel corn, grapes, a standard cello bag, sharp scissors, ribbon, and a knife.
Chef John from Food Wishes demonstrates how to make no knead pumpkin bread for the holidays. First, add a half a cup of plain pumpkin puree, a cup of warm water, 1/4 of a teaspoon of yeast, 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt and a dash of pumpkin spice to a mixing bowl. Whisk the ingredients together. Then, add three cups of all purpose flour. Mix the ingredients with a spatula. Cover the bowl with a barely damp towel and let the pumpkin dough rise for 12 to 16 hours. Next, generously cover a baking she...
In this video from nmsuaces we learn how to identify problems with weevils and leaf cutter bees. Weevils attack all kinds of plants in a J shape on leaves. To tell a difference between a weevil and leaf cutter bee is the bee will make a perfect round cut, whereas a weevil makes more of a J shape. If it starts doing serious damage you may need to control them. The weevil works at night. In this video she also discusses vines. A potato vine needs to be tied up as it grows. It's good for around ...
The video shows how to effectively be aware and get rid of possible webworms or aphids on your mesquites so they won't get damaged later. Here, John White invited Annete Peterson to show how to do so. She starts by informing from what she saw that many mesquites from her neighborhood have deformed leaves and mainly several of them have stripped branches at the tips of the trees. He explains that one of the problems is a webworm on the leaf of the mesquite, and it eats the leaves of the plant ...
In this Family video tutorial you will learn how to do a handprint Christmas project with your kids. Paint your kid’s hand with a thick layer of white paint, place it over green construction paper, press it and gently lift it. If the child doesn’t like painting of the hand, you can cut out the outline on white construction paper and paste it on green paper. After the paint is dry, dip a finger of the child in black paint and put an impression on the hand print for Santa’s mouth. Then dip the ...
