As a kid, my mother would always bring the noodles onto the table in a colander, then bring the pot of sauce she cooked separately. So I grew up with the idea that pasta and sauce were two separate entities that you combined table-side, and continued to eat pasta that way well into my adulthood when cooking at home. It was only much later that I realized the error of my ways... that pasta could taste so much better than I had previously imagined.
Unquestionably, one of the best parts of Hanukkah is the prevalence of latkes during the 8-day celebration. But even the most dedicated spud fanatic can get a little "latke'd out" as the week drags on. Here are some alternative preparations for latkes that will give you some variety in your celebratory food choices throughout the Hanukkah season.
I love making everything from scratch, but some things are just easier to buy. So there are times when you have to find a creative way to split the difference. For me, the easiest dish to buy without compromising on flavor is cornbread mix.
Everyone starts their mornings differently, but one common thread amongst the masses tends to be the consumption of coffee, albeit in many different forms—instant, pre-ground, K-Cups, Nespresso, and so on. And I'm sure that we all have our own preferred methods, as well.
Garlic is magical. It fends off vampires (or so I hear), helps lower blood pressure, reduces the production of cholesterol in the body... oh, and it's also freaking delicious, of course. Garlic is a culinary staple in countries all over the world. That lovable stink and sharp bite of flavor are essential to many dishes we know and love today, from spaghetti to sesame chicken.
As we go about our daily grind, our smartphones and tablets take a silent beating. Dirt, dust, oil, and grime that our hands have picked up immediately gets transferred over to our shiny pocket-sized computers every time we check the time or look for new notifications, and over the course of months, this can have a very noticeable adverse effect.
I love brownies. Through the turmoil of my teenage years and the raucous over-eating of my college years to now, brownies have been a constant companion to my highs and (calorie-laden) lows. I've made brownies from scratch, I've used the box mix... hell, I was a baker at a bakery that specialized in brownies. So yeah... I'd say I'm pretty familiar with them.
If there's one thing that gets used far too frequently in the modern kitchen, it's the trash can. Home cooks everywhere waste enormous amounts of food by throwing it away before it's actually ready to be tossed.
Editor's Note: The research described in the article below has been criticized and any conclusions based off this research should be examined with a skeptical eye. The article has been edited to reflect these issues.
In general, the fingerprint scanner in Samsung's 2015 flagship phones is quick and accurate, but when you get that "No Match" message while trying to unlock your phone, it can be incredibly annoying. To help curb these issues, I'll go over three tips for speeding up the unlocking process that should work wonders on your Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, or Note 5.
Many home chefs are deterred from whisk-intensive recipes such as mayonnaise because they seem to require more than two hands—which is obviously the maximum number we possess. One hand is required to stabilize the bowl, another must be whisking constantly... and a third hand is needed to pour a steady stream of oil.
Convenience in the kitchen can be a very, very good thing. As fun as it can be to spend hours toiling over Julia Child's boeuf bourguignon, there's a reason that we have canned soup, microwave dinners, bouillon cubes, and, of course, boxed mixes.
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!
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."
Fiddlehead ferns look like something from Alice in Wonderland, or something that you might see when you close your eyes while listening to Pink Floyd and enjoying some herbal refreshment. What they don't look like is a tasty vegetable that's perfect for any spring or summer dish. Yet that is exactly what these bizarre spirals are. What Are They?
I'm human, so it goes without saying that I love bacon. You're human too, which means chances are pretty good that you also love bacon. Yet as beloved as bacon has always been, it's just now experiencing a culinary renaissance, which I love. Bacon chocolate? Heck yes. Bacon donuts? Bring it on. Bacon booze? Now we're talking.
Ice pops are like summer on a stick, with all the sweetness and stickiness of July and August. Store-bought popsicles, although refreshing, are never as good as homemade. So it's time to up your popsicle game with some of these beautiful creations, including some boozy pops (poptails) for adults.
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?
Welcome back, my hacker novitiates!
I have a thing for black foods, whether it's mysterious, lovely black garlic (the secret to its color: fermentation) or adding charcoal powder with its reputed health benefits to cookies, cakes, and breads.
Potato peels are largely misunderstood creatures. They're shucked away from every mashed potato dish like some icky rag that has no business in your kitchen. PS: Quit it. By ditching the peels, you're not only missing out on fiber and large amounts of potassium (even more than a banana), you're tossing the potential for chewy, crunchy finger food. So the next time you're left with a plate of scraps, here are four tasty reasons to hold onto them.
Summer is right around the corner, which means it's time to switch from perfect hot coffee to perfect cold coffee. A nice icy glass of cold coffee is wildly refreshing and just plain delicious. In my opinion, it's the key to enjoying any sunny day (warning: if you don't already drink cold coffee, you may find yourself drinking four or five glasses a day very quickly).
Beef: it's what for dinner. And if you really like the taste of it, it can be what you season the rest of your dinner with, too.
This sounds a little crazy, and it is—in a good way. Cooking food in the dishwasher while it cleans your dishes multitasks your appliance and saves time and energy. And who doesn't want to spend less time over a hot stove? How Dishwasher Cooking Works
You only need eggs and bananas to make these tasty pancakes that fit almost every hyphenated category: dairy-free, Paleo-friendly, grain-free, gluten-free, low-carb, and high-protein. It sounds too good be true, but these pancakes are easier to make than traditional pancakes and don't have any of that troublesome white flour. I've also included a three-ingredient recipe below for a slightly thicker pancake recipe.
Those ordinary green zucchini you see in the market are hiding a lovely, delicious secret: Actually, all summer squashes produce these delightful blooms, but the zucchini's are most frequently used for eating since they taste the best: fresh, clean, and zucchini-like, but with a little something extra. They used to be a rarity at supermarkets, so you had to have a garden or a gardener friend who would generously share the bounty with you.
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.
Cast-iron cookware breeds a strange kind of obsession. When I got my first pan, I spent untold hours seasoning, cooking, researching the best non-soap methods to use for cleaning, and re-seasoning that thing. Finally, I became exhausted by the whole process and realized that you can skip seasoning a cast-iron pan as long as you use it regularly and clean and oil it properly in-between uses.
Freekeh is the next great supergrain that you might not have heard of yet. According to nutritionists, it comes out on top compared all to other grains, with more protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and a lower glycemic index.
Some nights, I'm a lazy cook and only want to chop one clove of garlic for my immediate needs instead of prepping a giant batch and freezing it the way I normally do. The only problem is if I'm already feeling that lazy, I really don't feel like dirtying a whole cutting board. However, I still want my garlic to be finely minced so it suffuses my dish with its wonderful, one-of-a-kind flavor.
Cold pizza is the holy grail of leftovers. That's a statement that elicits a slew of impassioned feelings. Either you love the idea of biting into soft crust and cold, fatty cheese, or scowl at the idea of pizza that isn't hot, crisp, and melty. Yet if we were to stand by the former sentiment, how would we argue on its behalf? Food Science Explains Why Cold Pizza Rules
Creating a haunted house for Halloween was a big deal when I was growing up, and the neighborhood kids were always coming up with ways to try and out-do each other when it came to this frightful night. One beloved game was to blindfold the participants and play the Withered Corpse.
"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.
Hey, coffee drinkers—your morning cup of joe is killing your metabolism.
I have a theory that chocolate chip cookies are the gateway drug to cooking. The recipe is easy, no special equipment is required, and at the end, you get warm, fresh-from-the-oven cookies that are simply irresistible. It's how I got hooked on baking and cooking, and anecdotal evidence (i.e. me asking my other kitchen-obsessed friends and a few culinary students) supports me.
A perfectly cooked roast potato is a study in contrasts: the outside should be crisp, crunchy, and salty, while the inside is tender and fluffy. Too often, however, roast potatoes come out overcooked, greasy, and tough.
Flavored extracts may seem like they'd be complicated to make, but there's a lot less to them than you'd think, and will cost you less in the long run.
Video: . Here there are some DIY gift ideas perfect for the Christmas season. They are really easy to personalize depending on what your likes are.
