From fungi to foie gras, the weird ingredient cocktail game across the nation is growing by leaps and bounds. We had our hesitations about trying some of them out, and especially about attempting to make any ourselves, so we did a bit more research and realized the flavor profiles aren't as unfathomable as one may think.
After a few years, your cinnamon, paprika, and saffron begin to lose their vibrant hues, and the aromas that once filled your kitchen are barely distinguishable when you open their jars. These are telltale signs that your spices need to be replaced sooner rather than later.
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...
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!
Flowers may be beautiful, but they're not usually appetizing. Sure, nasturtiums are hip in fancy restaurants, but they're primarily used as a garnish. Granted, fried squash blossoms are incredible, but the point remains: flowers are usually reserved for looking at, not masticating.
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.
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.
Even though we love taco salads and bread bowl soups, edible bowls and dishes have now gone far beyond those oldies-but-goodies. Using food as serving dishes helps with cleanup, reduces food waste, and makes your spread more creative and interesting.
The best sangria I ever had in my life was made by a Spanish friend for my birthday party. The ingredients included a giant box of Franzia red, one bottle of Bombay Sapphire Blue, one cup of sugar, a liter of 7-Up, and some cinnamon sticks. She put everything but the 7-Up in a giant zinc bucket from Home Depot and insisted that it had to sit overnight so the flavors could blend (and so the Franzia wouldn't taste so, well, Franzia-ish).
The wait is almost over. The sixth season of Game of Thrones kicks off this Sunday, April 24th at 9 p.m. (PT) on HBO, or at 5:57 p.m. (PT) on HBO GO and HBO NOW, with the first episode "The Red Woman."
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.
I used to brag that I could make a swan out of an apple, but chicks don't dig swans—they dig roses. So now I'm going to brag about making apple roses, because you would, too, if you could get them to look like this: Now that's an apple tart that will win the ladies over. (And definitely 100% tastier than the usual bouquet of roses, and 100% less greasy than a bouquet of bacon.)
Maybe you've had a long day... or maybe you just want to treat yo' self. So you head to your local watering hole for some tasty, tasty liquor. Your current fave on the cocktail list is a drink of something strong with bitters; you don't know what bitters are, but damn if that booze isn't delicious.
We like to think of ourselves as caprese connoisseurs. When we made our first batch of the iconic tomato salad, we became obsessed with the classic combo of fresh basil, sweet tomatoes, and creamy mozzarella cheese. But after a while, we wanted more than just the basic, layered Italian summer staple.
We had some friends over for a barbecue a few weeks back. Among other items, this outdoor soirée featured an epic potato salad (bacon, basil, crushed potato chips, pickles—the whole nine yards). And, like many potato salads, ours was made with a hearty amount of mayonnaise.
We can't resist a good peanut butter cup—especially when it's homemade. But it's not just the peanut butter or the chocolate that makes us pledge our undying love to these sweet treats over and over again. Nope. What really drives us wild about them is their shape. Yup: we love candy cups.
Local cafés and food bloggers are catching onto a gourmet toast trend that makes bread and butter look like movies before color TV was invented.
If you're anything like me, the urge to bake comes in waves. Winter constitutes an especially large wave; when I need to put on a few extra pounds for insulation, I go a bit carb crazy and take any opportunity to make breads, pies, and cakes.
If you're a frequent baker like myself, you've probably realized that one box of cake mix makes quite a bit of cake. If your goal is to make a simple Bundt or an easy dozen cupcakes, all you really need is half the box mix—which leaves the other half for another baking occasion.
I'm not ashamed to admit it: I love Gatorade. It's probably from all of those times I watched Michael Jordan chug it during basketball games when I was a kid. But I'm not the only one that loves Gatorade—a large percentage of people who work out regularly choose to replenish their electrolytes with sports drinks.
Few things in life are as relaxing and enjoyable as baking. When I'm having a bad day, I make cookies. When I'm stressed out, I bake a cake. When I have a free Sunday with nothing to do but listen to music and drink coffee, I bake a tart or a batch of cupcakes.
Most of the time we only use the microwave to reheat or defrost, but you can actually save a lot of time by using it for cooking. These genius recipes make the most of this underused appliance, and also turn out some pretty tasty dishes.
Cheese might be one of the most satisfying snacks around, whether you prefer a slice of snappy Irish cheddar or a creamy, rich portion of Brie. It's been called "dairy crack" by a respected physician and for good reason: eating cheese produces casomorphins, which effect the human body like opiates. It also contains trace amounts of actual morphine.
You've heard the old saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Well, the same goes true for snow. When Mother Nature dumps loads of the white stuff onto your neighborhood, then make the most of it with treats like maple snow candy, snow ice cream, and snow cocktails.
If you're a sushi lover but not an expert sushi maker, you can still enjoy the flavors of sushi rolls at home with these deconstructed sushi dishes.
It's nice to have a drink on an airplane, whether you're taking a flight somewhere fun or for work. However, what's not so nice is the high prices and relatively bad quality of the liquor that's available.
With the weather warming up and the days getting longer, fruit salads are starting to appear at backyard BBQs, beach picnics, and pretty much everywhere else. Often these sweet side dishes are unremarkable, with each colorful bowl blending into the next. Luckily, there are easy ways to spice up your fruit salads so that everyone will still be talking about them next summer.
For many of you, the carving fork only comes out at Thanksgiving as an essential turkey-slicing aid. Perhaps you pull it out of the knife block to slice up the occasional roast. But the carving fork (also known as kitchen fork) can be used for many more tasks around the kitchen, and some of the more unusual involve your favorite shellfish.
Once again, you've found yourself inviting comrades, companions, and compatriots over for beverages on a Friday evening whim... but alas, your alcohol cabinet is looking rather meager, and your skills are lacking. No worries—just utilize these 10 tricks and spice up your at-home mixology game. Your friends will be none the wiser (and swear that you are a cocktail-concocting genius).
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.
Oven space is scarce on that fated fourth Thursday of November. Even if you can find a spare space for pumpkin pie on the bottom shelf, you risk turkey drippings overflowing from above and ruining your beautiful dessert — not to mention a burnt crust from different temperature requirements. The bottom line is: oven real estate is valuable, and it's tough to multitask cooking for Thanksgiving when every dish requires baking or roasting.
Ask 100 chefs what the most important tool in their kitchen is, and you'll get 100 chefs saying the exact same thing: their set of knives. For home cooks and professional chefs alike, nothing is more important (or exciting) than a good knife. A good knife allows you to work more quickly, more efficiently, more consistently, and more safely. And best of all, they're just a lot of fun.
We all know that it's important to drink water regularly throughout the day. After all, it has so many benefits, including flushing toxins out of the body and maintaining kidney health and good bowel movements. Turns out that's only part of the story. While being properly hydrated is key to maintaining overall health, it's also a big component of maintaining and even increasing cognitive ability. Plus, drinking enough water regularly can help you lose weight, if you know when to drink it and ...
Mother Nature's creativity is infinite, especially when it comes to fruit. We've got black sapote, which tastes like chocolate pudding, and Buddha's hand citron, which looks like Freddy Kreuger's digits merged with a lemon. How could she possibly top herself?
Marinades are among my all-time favorite tricks as a cook for several reasons. They're easy like Sunday morning, they let time do what it's supposed to, which is work for you, and you get a huge return for relatively little effort on your part.
A lot of fruits start to turn colors once they've been cut due to an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase that turns the fruit colors when it's exposed to oxygen. You can prevent this reaction in apples with a honey-water bath, but what about avocados?
Halloween is this weekend, so if you're looking for a last-minute big batch cocktail that will keep your guests properly hydrated—and might turn them into mutants—look no further! (Note: This will not actually hydrate anyone, just so we're clear. Priorities, people!)
Every recipe on the face of this planet (okay, maybe a slight exaggeration there) ends with the same six words:
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.
We love a refreshing glass of wine in the summertime, but who doesn't, right? More often than not, we favor a rosé or a light red, depending upon the meal, but when the sun is setting and the evenings are warm, chilled wine is the way to go.
