The way in which cooking can be used to both illustrate science and create a beautiful bite of food is fascinating to me. And emulsions, the results of combining liquid fat and water, are a fantastic example of science in harmony with great cooking.
There was lots of new tech to check out at CES 2016, but you could argue that the majority of the big-ticket items weren't the most unique things in the world. Thankfully, there were a few innovative, unconventional ideas on display, and here are some of our favorites.
Cast iron pans are a timeless treasure—they're an essential kitchen tool that will stand the test of time, and no home kitchen is complete without one. However, they do have a reputation for being difficult to care for... with arguments both for and against regular seasoning. In 2010, a blogger named Sheryl Canter claimed that she found the best way to season a cast iron pan that would keep the cast iron from rusting... or requiring re-seasoning! And after a few hands-on test by Cook's Illust...
I was fortunate enough to be visiting one of my college classmates in Columbus, GA last spring and saw two large bags of onions in his kitchen... but not like the ones you get at the grocery store. Two standing 50 lb. bags!
Tonic water, seltzer water, club soda, and mineral water: these 4 types of "bubbly water" are often, erroneously, used interchangeably. But the truth is that each possesses unique qualities and uses that set them apart from each other.
If I could only eat one food for the rest of my life, it would definitely be potatoes. In fact, when I recently saw The Martian, I didn't feel that badly for Matt Damon. I mean, sure... he was stranded on a hostile planet, millions of miles from home. But he got to eat potatoes all the time! Pretty fair trade, if you ask me.
Everyone and his mother (and grandmother) has a chocolate chip cookie recipe that he swears is the absolute best recipe, guaranteed to produce a chocolate chip cookie so good it will make you weep with joy. The problem with that is that everyone—relatives included—has a different idea of exactly what constitutes a perfect chocolate chip cookie.
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.
The standard way to make pasta requires a lot of water, and it takes a long time for that big pot of water to actually start boiling. For these reasons, as well as my hatred for washing large pots, I don't cook pasta at home very often—at least not the traditional way.
At first glance, caviar doesn't seem overly appealing to the masses; not very many people would be willing to spend upwards of $1,000 on a tiny spoonful of salty sturgeon eggs from the Caspian Sea. Caviar truly is the ultimate symbol of luxury and fine dining.
There are few things that make me smile more than ice cream… or bread! So why not combine them for double the happiness? We've discussed the art of making ice cream bread before, but not everyone has the time (or, let's face it—the patience) to bake bread in the oven, no matter how few ingredients the recipe may take.
Like a strong-tasting cup of joe, but want more caffeine out of it? Start double brewing your coffee. To paraphrase a big fan of the double brew process on Reddit, it'll make you feel like you can throw an orange at 60 percent the speed of light. It's that strong. Really.
Ah, the joys of bottomless brunch. Paying a flat rate for endless mimosas while having a long gossip over eggs Benedict is exactly how many of us love to spend our Saturdays. However, in practice, this isn't the sophisticated affair we all like to imagine. After refill number four we sway in our chair, doze off into our porridge, and end up tipping 50% because math is too hard. In short, not a very successful brunch.
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...
Let me start by saying something controversial: I despise the gluten-free fad. I think gluten is delicious (I go through at least two loaves of bread a week, with a healthy dose of pretzels and pasta in there as well), and I think many of the health myths surrounding gluten are either fabricated or hyperbolic.
The grill isn't just a place for burgers, dogs, and corn anymore. Fresh fruit has made its way into barbecue territory, with results so good, you'll think twice about settling for fruit salad. While some fruits are common enough on the grill (like pineapple), these six are more off the beaten trail: peaches, watermelon, strawberries, mango, and pears.
The peanut butter and jelly sandwich has officially left the building. When you eat this every other day in elementary school, you've sort of reached your limit. The thing is, peanut butter itself is delicious and quite versatile if used in the right way. Let's explore this kitchen cabinet staple and showcase it via the three dinner courses.
There is no greater food to master than steak. If you can make a steak that's only marginally better than your neighborhood Applebee's, you'll still have friends waiting outside your door for steak night. And if you can make steak as good as that expensive gourmet steakhouse you went to for your birthday? Well, your popularity is about to increase dramatically.
In my opinion (and I suspect in the opinion of the masses), there is no greater snack food than potato chips. They're crunchy, they're salty, they're fried, and they're bite size; what's not to love? But I believe that, like almost all foods, potato chips can get even better. Especially if they're the most basic garden variety type of chip: sea salt.
Aren't the weekends extra special when they include a bacon, egg, and pancake breakfast? We call it "Lazy Sunday" for a reason. Actually, who needs it to be a weekend? Monday it is!
All of those keys on your keyboard can do much more than just help to update your Facebook status or fire off a scathing tweet. By learning all of the keyboard shortcuts for apps on your Mac, you can cut back on mouse or trackpad usage to perform actions faster and more efficiently.
There's something primal about the smell of smoking food. Somewhere deep in the recesses of our souls, we remember a time when humans only ate by the fire. Or perhaps that's just something I tell myself. Either way, it's hard to smell smoke and food and not feel like you should be eating. And, as chef Edi Frauneder said in a recent Saveur article, "Grilling is convivial. There's something about this act of coming together over an open flame that just says vacation."
A long time ago I was reading an issue of Saveur and saw an article about a trendsetting bar in Portland. The bartender at the joint had started making enormous blocks of smoked ice for his cocktails. When a patron ordered a drink that called for the smoked ice, the bartender would chip off a large chunk and place it in a glass with the booze. Then, as the ice slowly melted, the drink would take on more and more smoky notes, and the flavor profile of the beverage would change with every passi...
Watermelons scream summer like no other fruit, and there's nothing like biting into a sweet one on a hot summer day. Although there's no exact right way to cut watermelon, there are many occasions when you might not want to cut it into wedges. It may be the classic cut, but the triangular shape insures that you'll always get some on your face. And for parties, there's always the messy problem of leftover rinds.
We're all familiar with the sinking feeling that happens when you cruise through a recipe, only to arrive at an instruction that calls for a tool you don't have. Some of the best food hacks (and my personal favorites) exist to combat that problem. Why spend money on a kitchen tool—or worse, avoid a recipe altogether—when you could find a new way to achieve the same result?
Every year, when summer rolls around, I get excited because it's grilling season. And every year, when summer comes to a close, I get sad because grilling season is ending.
You can make a pretty strong case for pancakes being the ultimate breakfast food. They taste like a treat for a special occasion, yet they're not bad for you (presuming you don't share my whipped cream and maple syrup habits). They can be customized and accessorized, and they cook up in just a few minutes.
The balanced and refreshing taste of a cocktail should always entice you into another sip. You'll know you're drinking something of quality when no specific ingredient, including booze, dominates its taste. A great cocktail can even mirror a great meal by exhibiting flavors like fruit, smoke, and herbs. And adding these flavors while making cocktails at home isn't hard at all.
Indoor electric grills are nothing new; George Foreman grills have been around for over 20 years now, providing healthy, smokeless grilling options for indoor use. Yet as nifty and fun as George Foreman grills are, indoor grills have never been considered a hot item for passionate and avid home cooks.
Poor chickens. Bacon fat is revered (and justifiably so), and duck fat is a staple at most fine grocers. Marbles of fat make a steak divine, and goose fat is the holy grail of fatty goodness. Yet chicken fat is usually thrown away.
Meringues are a French and Swiss dessert made of whipped egg whites and sugar, and they are light, sweet, and crispy confections. To make traditional meringues, you beat egg whites into soft foamy peaks, and then keep whipping as you gradually add sugar until the peaks become stiff. Once you've reached the right consistency, you bake them at a low temperature in the oven for a long time. They take both technique and time.
Using the overview screen (aka recent apps) is a simple way to jump back to a previous task to continue where you left off, but as you use more and more apps, jumping back to that initial task isn't really that "recent" with all of those new tasks stacked on top of it. Now, thanks to developer PhinxApps, we can redefine what "recent" truly means using PinTasking. With this app, you can pin any app or webpage you're currently using onto your device's screen in the form of a Facebook-like chat-...
One lump or two? That was the age-old question with sugar cubes, which used to be a staple of any tea salon or dignified household this side of Downton Abbey. These days sugar isn't really used in cubes much except in bars and restaurants, and that's a shame. Cubes are a lot less messy than granulated sugar, and you can measure the exact amount you put in your drink no matter what.
As a kid, my favorite part of Easter were the days leading up to the holiday, when my family would dye eggs. This became an enormous event in my household, as dozens and dozens of perfectly white eggs would become little oval canvases for arts and crafts.
Reddit is one of the internet's greatest sources of funny and interesting videos. Its user base is extremely active, and a system of upvotes and downvotes ensures that the best content always rises to the top.
Using breadcrumbs in the kitchen is the perfect way to add crisp and crunch to the usual salad, entrée, or dessert. As chef and media personality Mario Batali once said, "There's almost nothing I wouldn't put homemade breadcrumbs on."
When it comes to making pancakes in the morning, most of us probably follow the instructions on the box. Mix all the ingredients together, pour onto a hot greased pan, and form perfect circular flapjacks one by one.
If you have ever attempted to mix and shape your own meatballs or burger patties, you may have endured bits of meat continuously and stubbornly sticking to your hands. This can make shaping more challenging than it should be.
If you missed out on Black Friday this year, you've got a second chance at saving some big bucks on apps, mobile devices, HDTVs, and other tech. See below for all of the hot Cyber Monday deals from Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and other online retailers. This list will be continuously updated throughout the day, so bookmark it to stay up to date on all the of Cyber Monday discounts.
Roasting turkey is a topic that inspires endless debate among cooks. How do you get the perfect mixture of juicy meat, crispy skin, and flavor? Everyone has a favorite technique, whether it's brining the bird or spatchcocking it. However, if you're ready to move onto Ph.D. levels of turkey cooking, you might just want to look beyond these methods and get genuinely wild.
