Fall is a time of change. The leaves change color, the weather changes from warm to cool, and we change our clocks to fall back an hour. This last change means that many of us will get home from work in pitch-black darkness; for me, the early onset of night makes me less interested in cooking dinner and more interested in getting in my sweats, throwing leftovers in the microwave, and binge-watching The Affair.
There's something magical about homemade foods, especially when they're items that most people don't make. Even the simplest bread tastes divine when you've mixed it yourself, kneaded it yourself, and gotten the dough stuck underneath your nails.
A salad can mean everything from fruit to meat and everything in-between, but it never means finger food. Forks are required. So that means that even though salads are versatile, delicious, and customizable, they are hell at cocktail parties. How do you hold your glass and take a bite of your salad at the same time? It's awkward.
We've already shown you how to dunk a regular-sized Oreo cookie while keeping your fingers pristine, how to upgrade Oreos into different desserts, and even make them into lazy ice cream sandwiches. Now we're going to introduce you to a few other essential Oreo hacks that will give you a brand-new outlook on a classic snack.
If you haven't walked into a department store or seen one of those millions of jewelry commercials airing over the last month, you might not know that February 14th is Valentine's Day.
No, not Charlton Heston. The only pudding he ever made was steak and kidney. I'm talking about Heston Blumenthal, world famous chef and pudding lover, and the man behind the "Heston"— a plum pudding with an orange hidden within, brought to you by Waitrose (see video below).
Cooking steak can be a challenge but head Chef Donald Russell will show you how you can cook your steak perfectly every time. It is important to start with a nice piece of fresh meat and with a few helpful tips you will be sure to have succulent steak.
A certified butcher demonstrates how to slaughter and dress a goat for the grill. This step by step guide shows how to go from a live goat to a barbecued goat meal. Watch this video butchering tutorial and learn how to skin, drain, and clean a goat for the BBQ.
Wondering how to roll nem nuong cuon? This how-to video will show you how to roll a nem nuong cuon or Vietnamese grilled pork patty wrapped in rice paper. It is a great paper rolling technique that could come in handy next time you go to a Vietnamese restaurant.
Make this delicious roma tomato salsa tonight. You'll need grill roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic and chipotle peppers.
Yes, even grilling hot dogs takes technique. Learn how to make the perfect dog with Chef Cat De Orio.
While a hot dog with all the typical American condiments (ketchup, mustard, relish) is heavenly for kids, as an adult, I realize there is nothing wrong with switching things up a bit and getting creative. In fact, a plain hot dog can be a fantastic blank canvas for chefs to work with—a great, edible example of going from drab to fab.
The lingering smell of cigarette smoke can bother just about anyone, including smokers themselves. Unfortunately, it can be quite difficult to mask or completely get rid of the smell altogether. While you can go through extremes like washing and even repainting the walls in your home, those options don't exist when the odor is in your car.
Knowing if your meat is cooked properly is both the difference between a delicious meal and an inedible one... and the difference between making your guests sick and keeping them safe.
Even those of us most comfortable in the kitchen can be daunted by the idea of cooking for a whole houseful of people. Whether you have a large, well-equipped kitchen or a small one with just the essentials, it can prove to be quite a task to prepare food for a dozen or so people. It takes a certain type of recipe that allows for mass production, in respects to both technique and ingredients. And what I've provided below includes several recipes that you might normally make for just a family ...
Nothing makes my stomach growl and my mouth water quite like the smell of roasting chicken. It's a pretty universal reaction, too—there's a reason every grocery store places its rotisserie grills and delis near the entrance, after all.
One of my favorite things to do when I visit my parents is cook. Aside from the fact that I adore cooking with my mom, there's something comforting about returning to the kitchen that I first started playing in 20 years ago. Nearly all of the tools and appliances are the same ones that I used as a kid, and the familiarity is palpable.
When I first heard about the Thermomix, an all-in-one kitchen appliance from Australia, it sounded like an old SNL commercial parody: It slices! It dices! It heats! It kneads! Is there ANYTHING this machine CAN'T do?
Few things in life are as exciting and magical as fire. And setting things on fire while cooking? Well, now you're speaking my language. I'm not talking about grilling, though I do love some outdoor cooking. No, I'm talking about the most badass trick in any cook's arsenal: the flambé.
Salt is one of my favorite ingredients, by far, and also one of the most overlooked foods in the kitchen. This is probably due to the fact that it's an essential component of almost any recipe; because salt is a necessity, it's easy to forget how dynamic and versatile it can be as well.
There's nothing in this life that we love more than making one ingredient or one food tool do multiple things. It saves money! It saves time! It makes us look smart at cocktail parties!
Like cigars and whiskey, Lapsang Souchong tea is an acquired taste. Some people never get over the pungent, tarry flavor and intense smell of the beverage, but using it as a rub, marinade, or other seasoning is totally smart. The tea adds a smoky yet not overwhelming flavor to dishes of all kinds. With it, you can easily get barbecue-like results for meats and vegetables, all without breaking out the grill. Lapsang Souchong tea smells like a dry campfire and tastes like a smoked sausage cooke...
Tagine is both the name of a cooking vessel and also the dish that is cooked within it. In fact, some might say tagines are the national dish of Morocco. These slow-cooked stews and braises, often combining meat, vegetables, spices, and dried fruits, have a character unlike anything I've ever eaten.
One of the best things about summertime is that there's lots of outdoor cooking, whether you're on a camping trip or grilling. And what better way to end your meal than with the classic dessert, s'mores?
Hello, all. In this article, I will be showing you how to make one of the most useful products known to man. I am talking, of course, about charcoal.
Last week, we rolled out a major site-wide update on WonderHowTo, making it even easier to follow the subjects you're passionate about—and easier to share your creations with people who'll give you the kudos you deserve!
Winter is here, which means we have a lot of questions about the coming season of Game of Thrones. It's hard finding someone who cares enough to listen to you rant about why Jon Snow is the rightful ruler of Westeros. It's also hard to figure out who exactly everyone is and is related to since there are over 150 major characters on the show. We're all getting a little antsy waiting for the new season, so to hold us over a new bot has rolled out 'G0TB0t' on Facebook Messenger. Specifically, it...
Every recipe on the face of this planet (okay, maybe a slight exaggeration there) ends with the same six words:
Okay, check your Food Safety guidelines at the door, because things are about to get real subjective in here.
The mighty toaster oven may be the most useful small appliance ever, whether you're a college student who needs to heat up your Bagel Bites or a professional looking for a quick way to warm up a frozen pizza after a long day. But that toaster oven is no one-hit wonder. With this smart hack, you can give it double-duty superpowers to heat up not one, but two frozen foods at the same time.
Let's talk for a second about compound butter. No, scratch that, let's not. Because compound butters are too much work. You have to shape them and roll them and tie them and cut them... no thank you.
The most genius summertime snack hack that we've come across recently is, without a doubt, the campfire cone. Astounding in its simplicity and ease of preparation, yet brilliant in its execution, the campfire cone has something for everyone: parents and children, expert and novice campers, backyard barbecuers, and oven lovers alike.
Onion scrubs, salt and olive oil blends, a baking soda slurry... despite the many methods already out there to clean your (old or brand-new) cast iron cookware, there's one you may not have considered: using a potato.
This delicious new trend is the lovechild of everyone's two favorite foods: hamburgers and sushi. Yeah, that's right... meet the sushi burger.
For generations, parents have been struggling to come up with innovative ways to get their kids to eat their vegetables. They'll cut them into fun shapes, bake them in cheese, batter, and deep-fry them.
If you consider yourself a regular coffee, tea, or hot chocolate drinker, you probably have a kitchen cabinet full of stained mugs that refuse to scrub clean. Thankfully, there is a better solution that doesn't involve continuing to fight those stains with a sponge, bleach, and elbow grease. The answer to your coffee or tea stain problems is Cafiza: an awesome espresso machine cleaning product that is popular amongst professional baristas... but also doubles as an extremely effective ceramic ...
If you're lucky enough to have a dishwasher, you probably use that sucker to clean everything (minus your good cooking knives), and maybe even to cook your food, too. However, dishwashers are not without their faults. Dishes can still come out spotty and even with chunks of food on them, which usually leads to some hand-washing afterward.
A no-carb, gluten-free substitute for breadcrumbs. Sounds and probably tastes like cardboard, right? Unless you're talking about Pork Dust. Yes, you read that right. Pork. DUST.
A simply frosted or glazed cupcake is like a blank canvas for creative decorations. Intricate cupcakes are works of art, but piping frosting or rolling fondant can be tricky. Luckily, even the most craft-challenged person can use pre-made decorations to create party-worthy cupcakes. Use chocolates or candies to make designs or other decorations and you can have endless fun (and very little stress) creating eye-catching treats.
Although I love a good kitchen gadget just as much as the next food writer, the truth is that my drawers are bursting with unused tools. I usually like to take the simpler approach to cooking and prepping, and for everyday cooking, I find that the best gadgets are usually the ones that do more than one thing.