Faking great balsamic vinegar
It's hard to keep a good tip down on the internet. Here's a quick tip from Food52 - A Trick for Faking Fancy Balsamic, which, in turn, was adapted from Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts by Alice Medrich. "Simmer two…
Food Online
How to use up past-its-prime fruit
To solve an obviously rotten problem, here's the Kitchn's take on 10 Top Ways to Use Up Overripe Fruit: Quick Bread Jam Crumble, Cobbler, or Pie Smoothie Sauce for Pancakes or Sandaes Meat Sauce Salad Dressing Juice…
Safe ways to defrost food
When it's hot out, the chances of food spoilage increase. So we thought a short primer on safe ways to defrost food would not go amiss. Most people understand that defrosting food in the refrigerator, which usually…
Steak Misconceptions
One of the biggest misconceptions about steaks (and other proteins) is that you need to sear them to seal the juices in. It's now pretty widely accepted that that is not true - searing makes little difference to the…
Ice myths that aren't true
It was very hot recently in our part of the world, so we spent more than the usual time breaking out the ice trays. With ice at the forefront of our kitchen, an article at SeriousEats by their food science columnist,…
Just what is Za'atar?
Recently, we were at a farmer's market and noticed that a vendor was selling homemade Mozzarella flavored with Za'atar. And it dawned on us that we were seeing that ingredient more and more, so we were inspired to do a…
New cooking ideas to use up herbs
We've all had the problem of a) buying a bundle of fresh herbs when only a small amount is needed, or b) growing a pot of herbs and having to deal with a surplus. While drying and preserving them is always a good idea,…
Mislabeled fish fillets can fool chefs, along with consumers
Susie has an interesting blog today describing two trends in fish cookbooks (check out Coastal features.) So it seemed appropriate to call attention to this NPR features on fish fillets, "How Well Do You Know Your Fish…
Introducing herb crystals
The recent Fancy Food Show apparently had a number of interesting items, discussions of some of them have been popping up on blogs recently. We thought one of the most interesting were herb crystals. According to Regina…
Efficiently blind-baking pie shells without weights
There's an excellent video on Bake, by a King Arthur Flour's baker, on efficiently blind-baking a pie shell without weights or shrinkage. When blind baking pie shells (essentially baking an empty pie shell so it either…
Food quiz: Can you tell if these foods are fruits or vegetables?
The British press is doing a lot to entertain themselves waiting for the Royal baby, and a good example is this test from the Telegraph, Do you know your fruit from your vegetables? Hint: This is based on a scientific…
The new berry varieties and how to keep berries fresh longer
The Wall Street Journal just ran an interesting story on all the new berry varieties that are gaining market acceptance. Called America's Next Top Super Berry , the Journal notes that with blueberries gaining major…