Make Gina DePalma's Roman Easter Soup with lamb shoulder. Janet Fletcher of the San Francisco Chronicle explains why you should cook lamb shoulder instead of other cuts for your Easter menu or other springtime meals, labeling it as inexpensive, succulent (due to collagen and intramuscular fat), and forgiving (it's hard to overcook). She gives suggestions for what vegetables to serve it with, compares using bone-in versus boneless cuts, and shares a few recipes. Related Sunday Supper: Long Cooked Lamb Shoulder Cook the Book: Braised Shoulder of Lamb Snapshots from Italy: Roman Easter Soup Cook the Book: Almond Gnocchi with Lamb Ragu... More

Photograph from mattieb on Flickr Russ Parsons of the Los Angeles Times reminds us that even though we may tend to reach for the salt shaker to add flavor to a dish, the addition of acidity can also work wonders: Salt is a flavor potentiator—in other words, it works chemically to make other flavors taste more of themselves. Acidity works as seasoning by giving a dish backbone or structure, which allows other flavors to stand out and shine. Parsons suggests keeping a variety of citrus fruits and vinegars on hand. Mostly important is a good red wine vinegar—he gives instructions for how to make your own out of a good bottle of wine.... More

Nick Kindelsperger of The Paupered Chef went on a search for the perfect hard-boiled egg, that is, cooking it at 154°F for an undetermined amount of time, and found that four hours was the golden number. I'm rather impatient, so four hours wouldn't cut it for me, but I'm very curious to try these super creamy-yolked eggs that lack a funky sulfuric smell. Related Grocery Store Eggs Vs. Public Market Eggs Photo of the Day: 300 Minute Egg How To Peel A Hard-Boiled Egg... More

With all the talk today in the nation's various food sections about grilling and steak, I thought it would be fitting to feature a steak-related tip from What's a Cook to Do?, James Patterson's extremely useful book of kitchen tips that explains almost everything. After the jump, Steaks, by Cut. And, thanks to the good folks at Artisan Books, we're giving away five (5) copies of this enormously helpful book.... More

If you'll humor me, I've got two more burger-related items for all my Meatheads out there today, and then I'll give the beef stuff a rest. The first is a set of photos from Joshua "Meatwave" Bousel that shows that it really isn't that difficult to grind your own before grilling your own. Those are Bousel's pix above; click on them to view the rest of the series.... More