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.
At first glance, the Big Green Egg looks like it was created by Dr. Seuss or some other whimsy-driven being, like Zooey Deschanel. And while this earthenware cooker may look cute, it produces serious results that can rival the best barbecue or grill. In fact, it's got quite a large cult following. Entrepreneur and former Navy serviceman Ed Fisher fell in love with the taste of food cooked in kamodos (traditional domed, covered earthenware vessels in Japan) and began to import them for sale in...
When you have a parent who cooks—and has you act as sous chef—the kitchen automatically becomes a less intimidating place. In other words, kids who know their way around the kitchen will most likely become adults who cook for themselves, which also means that they'll eat more unprocessed whole foods, save money, and maintain a healthy weight.
I grew up eating Korean, Japanese, and Chinese food, but it wasn't until college that I experienced Thai and Vietnamese cooking. Once I started, I couldn't get enough of these cuisines. The dishes had an incredible richness and savor that I couldn't identify, but whatever it was, it made me want to keep eating.
Don't leave your tongs out by the grill, as they are one of the most useful and versatile cooking tools to have in your kitchen. In my house, they come in a very close second to chopsticks, which I cook with everyday. Like chopsticks, they make it easy to delicately flip and turn food with precision. But unlike chopsticks, there's no learning curve, so anyone can use tongs for easier, simpler cooking.
Like most people who cook in a small kitchen, I'm very wary of adding anything to my drawers and cabinets unless I'm sure it's going to be essential to my cooking arsenal or that it can be used in multiple ways.
Salt is a miraculous substance. From the Ancient Egyptians to the Christian Bible, many cultures believe it to have mystical powers that can ward off evil, among other things.
I don't deep fry food that often, mostly because it uses a ton of oil, which is expensive, and the cleanup is a son of a mother. (That oil really splatters everywhere.) Plus, no matter how careful you are, you will get hit by hot oil at some point and it will not be pleasant.
"Cooking" with liquid nitrogen seems like one of those activities that should be strictly limited to pros who are appearing on Top Chef, but it's the only way you'd ever be able to make Dippin' Dots at home. If that isn't enough of a reason for you to get some LN2 for your kitchen, check out this dose of pretty:
There are several reasons why restaurant food tastes so good. One is that the cooks know how to make reductions, which involves cooking down large amounts of liquid until it becomes a pool of thick, glossy sauce. While this technique isn't hard to learn, it can be time-consuming.
The noodle is a noble thing. And while I love ramen and pasta, I have a real soft spot in my heart for macaroni salad (especially the kind that comes with Hawaiian plate lunch) and the type of pasta salad that's dished up during picnics and barbecues.
"The best season for food is the worst season for cooking." These words, spoken by food blogger Dave Klopfenstein of Dave's Kitchen, couldn't be more true.
There are a lot of techniques out there for how to cook the perfect steak, from flipping it multiple times to applying a spice rub or dry brine to aging the beef. But it turns out that there's a super-easy way to make a great steak at home, and all you need is a good cast-iron skillet and some salt.
Knowing how to cut and slice raw meat is a skill all omnivorous cooks need in their arsenal. However, raw meat's limp and gelatinous character can be challenging to work with, especially when you're trying to slice it into symmetrical, attractive sections for a stir-fry or a stew.
Everyone loves grilled cheese sandwiches! They're delicious, portable, and evoke images of your childhood. They really are the ultimate comfort food.
SSH is amazing, and we praise its existence on Null Byte for many reasons. Notably, it allows us to reroute our traffic through encrypted ports on our local host to be sent to its destination when on the go. You can even control your home computers remotely over a secure and encrypted connection. This is handy for a multitude of reasons.
Art Babble is a video network for artists and art lovers alike, launched by a group of curators at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The site is divided into channels, series and partners, with a wide variety of top notch videos from institutions far and wide. The Getty Museum has posted some especially fascinating content, most notably their series on modern artisans and craftsmen demonstrating antiquated art techniques.
There's nothing that can warm you up better during a very chilly, snowy December night than a steaming hot bowl of soup. Give your Campbell's chicken noodle soup a rest tonight and instead prepare this simple Italian dish called zuppa di pesce. Made from many types of sea creatures, including lobster and shrimp, it's savory and warming.
The future of technology promises more and more seamless daily interactions. Pee on your phone, test for STDS. Or perhaps more widely appealing, ditch your wallet for all-in-one easy mobility.
When you sauté kale, it tends to retain all of its nutritional value, whereas boiling and steaming kale will kill the vitamin-enriched goodness. So, this simple kale side dish should be in every cook's recipe box. Kale by itself has a rather bitter flavor, but when cooked in soup or even just briefly with garlic and oil, it's delicious. Harvard University's Martin Breslin shares a quick side dish that's good for you, goes with fish or meats, uses only one pan, and clean-up is a breeze. Best o...
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to make sweet and sour pork short ribs. The ingredients required are pork short ribs, 1/2 of onion, 1/2 of garlic and 1/2 of ginger. Prepare the sauce by mixing together soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and salt. Place the short ribs into a plastic bag and add some flour. Mix it inside the bag and then saute or deep fry the ribs until they are golden brown in color. Cook both sides. Then add in the garlic, onion and ginger. Now add in the sauce mixture ...
The red snapper. The perfect main course for any occasion. This whole roasted red snapper fish is the finest communal meal out there. A whole fish cooked on the bone, along with hearty accompaniments. The best way to cook this is by stuffing it with herbs and cooking it in foil with sausage, potatoes, clams, olives, and fennel. See if you like this great recipe.
Tired of the same old boring hamburger every time you grill out? Start up that smoker and let Rock and Roll BBQ's Travis Randall teach you to the time-honored tradition of beer Can chicken. Cook traditional beer can chicken.
To add flavor and moisture to your chicken, beer can chicken can allow you to cook a whole chicken on the grill. This tutorial outlines how you can do it to get moist, flavorful chicken. It also ensures that your meat cooks evenly. To begin, combine 1 teaspoon of sugar and salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons of paprika, 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, and 1/2 a teaspoon of cayenne powder. Stir these ingredients together. Next, rinse your chick...
Mushrooms and shooting stars are two essential resources in Terraria. If you'd like to be able to collect them at will, watch this video to learn how to use tunnels to set up a mushroom farms and how to use sky bridges to harvest shooting stars.
Beat level 4-3 of the iOS version of Angry Birds Free with three stars! On January 5th, 2011, Rovio released a free version of Angry Birds for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users. Stuck? No problem: YouTube's FujiToast has pledged to post a three-star walkthrough for each of the game's levels. In this installment, we learn how to beat level 3 of theme 4.
Beat level 3-2 of the iOS version of Angry Birds Free with three stars! On January 5th, 2011, Rovio released a free version of Angry Birds for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users. Stuck? No problem: YouTube's FujiToast has pledged to post a three-star walkthrough for each of the game's levels. In this installment, we learn how to beat level 2 of theme 3.
This tutorial shows you how to use the star took and a few other basic functions with Adobe Illustrator 5 to replicate the Star of David on the Israeli flag. Master a few basics of image manipulation with this tutorial.
Finally purchased a tree from the tree lot but in serious lack of pretty ornaments? Not a problem. You can make a bundle of these Finish 8-pointed star ornaments quickly, and they look quite impressive.
There are eight stars hidden throughout the game Braid, and you can earn a special achievement or trophy if you uncover all of them. This tutorial shows you where the first four of these stars in this game can be found.
Have a green Christmas this year! Instead of buying more mass produced holidy decorations, make your own! This short video shows you how to make your own Christmas garland of tiny stars using recycled paper. Any festive color will do for these stars!
Make a wish! I wish... I knew how to fold a falling star out of origami. Well, now your wish is granted! This is an easy and fun tutorial that shows you how to fold a five pointed shooting star from origami paper!
In search of the secret of how to beat level 13 in theme 5 of Rovio's Angry Birds for iPhone/Android with three stars? This gamer's guide presents a full and complete walkthrough. For all of the details, and to beat level 5-13 of Angry Birds with three stars yourself, take a look.
Dagobah is not a very inviting planet, and that's just why you'll find Yoda there! Yes, that staple of the Star Wars universe is back in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2/ Watch this video for a walkthrough of level 5: Dagobah in the game.
The robes of the Jedi and Sith are great bases for all sorts of Star Wars costumes. If you have some DIY flair and want to make your own Star Wars costume for Halloween or cosplay watch this video to learn how to make your own Jedi or Sith robes, depending on your character.
No Star Wars Lego battlefield depicting the events of the popular animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, is complete without Clone Trooper Captain Fordo. This video will help you to remedy any Fordo deficiencies in your battleground scene by teaching you how to construct a minifigure of Captain Fordo. There, now your Arc Trooper army is complete.
Down on your luck? With this guide, you'll learn how to fold a lucky paper star using origami, the traditional Japanese folk art of paper folding. For more information, including a step-by-step overview of the folding process, as well as to get started making your own paper stars, watch this free origami lesson.
Mastered pentagrams and hexagrams? There's only one place to go: heptagrams! With this guide, you'll learn how to make seven-pointed stars with origami, the traditional Japanese folk art of paper folding. For more information, including a step-by-step overview of the folding process, as well as to get started making your own seven-sided stars, watch this free origami lesson.
With this guide, you'll learn how to make lucky folded-paper stars with origami, the traditional Japanese folk art of paper folding. For more information, including a step-by-step overview of the folding process, as well as to get started making your own colorful paper stars, watch this free origami lesson.
Attention aspiring ninjas! Before you report for duty be sure to arm yourself with enough ninja stars to last you for days. In this video, learn how to make a ninja star (for throwing) out of paper.
