Great grilling tips
Monday's holiday in the US marks the unofficial start to grilling season, although plenty of people love to grill year-round. There is something about the long days and return to warmer temperatures that makes it extra…
Cooking Tips
The best cooking tips from 21 seasons of Top Chef
It seems improbable that I started watching Top Chef eighteen years ago, but it's true: the show has been around since 2006! In that time, dozens of chefs have put their impressive skills on display in a variety of…
Love your leftovers
Are you someone who looks forward to eating leftovers or the type who grimaces at the aging container of leftovers at the back of the refrigerator and pushing them aside day after day until it's too late? If you are the…
An unconventional cooking method can save time and water
When cooking dried pasta, the standard practice is to bring a large amount of water to a rolling boil before adding the pasta. This can take considerable time, especially if your stove is not powerful. However, by using…
How to brine turkey and make gravy from a flavor scientist
Here in the US, most cooks are planning their Thanksgiving day meals and to help a bit with that task, we have an excerpt from a book that will be released in March of 2024. Flavorama: The Unbridled Science of Flavor…
Spice support: pink peppercorns
You might have been introduced to them from the tri-color peppercorn mixes that often come with the purchase of a pepper grinder: pink peppercorns. These diminutive, brightly colored orbs are more than just an colorful…
Sweet potato 101
We are headed to the time of year in the US when more sweet potatoes are served than perhaps the rest of the year combined. Families that never eat the tubers at any other time will trot out sweet potato casseroles and…
Stop telling me how to get rid of the garlic smell on my hands
Frequently a post saying something like "this is the best method to remove the garlic smell from your hands" will pop up in my news feed. I never click on those posts. Not only do I not want to remove the odor, I would…
The sweet side of MSG
There once existed a more formal divide between the sweet and savory sides of the kitchen, but over time the lines between them were blurred. Techniques and ingredients started crossing from one side to the other in…
Get the most from your oven
If you are like me, there is no room in your kitchen for another countertop appliance. While air fryers, Instant Pots, food dehydrators, and other devices have benefits, they demand too much space in my small kitchen to…
Turn cake fails into tasty treats
As any baker knows, sometimes things do not go to plan. There are myriad ways that cake baking can go sideways: parts of them stick in the pan, they bake unevenly, the center collapses, and so on. But just because…
Spice support: Sichuan peppercorns
Sichuan peppercorns provide a mouth-tingling, warming sensation and are a vital ingredient in the cuisine of its eponymous Chinese region. America's Test Kitchen explores the history and culinary applications of the…