Giant Salt Search Results

News: MSG Is the Ultimate Healthy Flavor Hack

Hear me out. No, really. Before you sharpen your pitchforks and give me anecdotal evidence of your Chinese restaurant syndrome, I think you need to know a few things about monosodium glutamate. First of all, it's a naturally-occurring chemical compound that can be found in anything from tomatoes to cheese, and is used in all kinds of foods from KFC to breakfast sandwiches. So spare me the comments on MSG and Chinese food—you probably eat MSG on a daily basis without even knowing it. (And also...

How To: Make Copycat Trader Joe's Spices at Home

The spice selection at Trader Joe's is both inexpensive and truly top-notch. According to their site, they deal with some of the highest-quality spice manufacturers in the world and, in working with them directly, they eliminate hidden costs spent on promotions, brand-building, and advertising. This allows the customer to experiment with new flavors and build up their spice rack—without the usual limiting factor of high cost. If you don't have access to a Trader's in your culinary neck of the...

How To: Perfect Your Eggs Benedict with These Foolproof Hollandaise Methods

In an age where restaurants can charge $20 for eggs Benedict at brunchtime (if you're lucky enough to even get a reservation on a Sunday), many people long for a way to create this classic dish at home. But once you've taken pains to perfectly poach an egg and gently crisp your sourdough, the problem of the hollandaise still lies before you. The key to any good hollandaise sauce is to apply enough heat to cook the egg yolks, but not enough to scramble them. The minute the eggs begin to solidi...

How To: 3 Must-Try Ways to Eat Avocado

Avocado is great in guacamole or as slices on a sandwich, but there's so much more you can do with this wonderful fruit (call it a vegetable, that's fine—but it's technically a fruit). While I could eat guac every single day, these are some of my favorite recipes to spice up avocados a bit, from making a guilty snack to a condiment and even dessert!

How To: Make Restaurant-Grade Sushi Rice

Contrary to popular belief, sushi is not the raw fish that one gets at Japanese restaurants, but the rice that comes with it. It's hard to tell whether this popular misconception led to or came about because of the primary flavors that we think of in sushi are the fish. We often say a sushi restaurant has great fish, but almost never that it has great rice.

News: How Chemistry Creates the Ultimate Cheese Dip

I have a weird fondness for the texture, if not the taste of Velveeta (and Kraft American cheese slices). No other cheese has quite the same amount of slip or smoothness and manages to stay that way, undoubtedly because Velveeta contains sodium alginate, an algae derivative that helps it stay so silky-smooth even as it heats up. It also contains a high level of protein-to-fat ratios, which is what makes it a champion melter.

How To: Cook braised lamb shanks

Lamb shanks are very easy to cook. Take 6 lamb shanks and put them in a bowl. Put some olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme on them. Make sure you coat every shank with the seasoning as you turn the shank in the bowl several times. Put them in the oven for 30 minutes at 450 degrees. While the lamb shanks are cooking. Use a saucepan on medium to medium-high setting and heat 2 tablespoons of butter in it. Put some diced celery, carrots, and onions into the pan and saute them in the butt...

How To: Cook delicious earth friendly trout

In this tutorial, we learn how to cook delicious earth friendly trout. First, throw 4 tbsp butter in a saucepan and then juice 2 tbsp lemon juice. From here, grab some fresh chopped Italian parsley. Once the butter is a golden brown color, it will be finished melting. After this, you will turn the heat off and then take 1/2 tsp and spread it on your boneless rainbow trout. Then, sprinkle on salt and pepper and place under a preheated hot broiler for a couple of minutes. Trout cooks very fast,...

How To: Make chocolate-filled marshmallow Easter eggs

In this tutorial, we learn how to make chocolate-filled marshmallow Easter eggs. First, place 1/3 c water in a saucepan along with 1 envelope of gelatin. Let this dissolve, then turn the heat on and add in 2/3 c of sugar. From here, take it off the heat, then you will add in a pinch of salt, 1/3 c corn syrup, and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Mix this with a mixer for 15 minutes, then the marshmallow are finished, you can shape them and coat them with colored sugar. You can also inject chocolate into them...

How To: Make cinnamon roll bread pudding

In this tutorial, we learn how to make cinnamon roll bread pudding. First, place cubes of bread on the bottom of a baking dish until it covers the bottom. After this, chop up some nuts and scatter them over the top of it. After this, beat four eggs, then add in 2 c whole milk, 3/4 c heavy cream, 1/3 c Amaretto, and a small amount of vanilla extract. Add in some cinnamon, then 1/2 c sugar with a pinch of salt, then blend together and pour over the bread. Push down the bread into the mixture, t...