Thinking of buying a fancy rice cooker but don't know which kind to get? Over at Just Hungry Maki Itoh posted a great FAQ about rice cookers regarding size, features, and price....
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The Los Angeles Times tells you how to salt-roast, a cooking method that combines steaming and roasting and results in food that tastes intensely of its own natural flavors. It's easy to do in your own home; just make sure you have a bucket of salt on hand....
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Last night I cooked a really tasty dinner with farmers' market–purchased ingredients without using a cookbook. It was a real Alice Waters moment, and I must admit I felt triumphant (and full) afterwards. I didn't really set out to channel Alice Waters this weekend. It just happened....
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Although I love food blogs, I tend to stay away from recipe blogs because the part of my brain responsible for cooking skills is about the size of an emaciated fruit fly. But when I came across The Pioneer Woman, I couldn't look away. I mean, I could've looked away, I just wouldn't have been happy about it. My middle finger locked onto my mouse's scroll wheel as vibrant step-by-step photos of recipes for butter-laden meats and sweets (and I mean really step-by-step, like dedicating three photos to chopping up sticks of butter) and humor-laced commentary whizzed by on my monitor. Thank you, oh Pioneer Woman, for without you I wouldn't have the urge to whip up a "testosterone...
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Spotted via Laughing Squid, we love this video interview of food anarchist and supper-club host Marc Powell, who presides over a regular meeting of like-minded San Franciscans who pool their talent, curiosity, and food budgets to come together and make a great meal. The interview is care of the excellent Ryan is Hungry site, which offers many food-related clips in its video archive. Well worth checking out....
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An amusing ersatz Swedish cooking video with a satiric nod to the late Julia Child....
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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....
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Will the heat of the kitchen force the
Amateur Gourmet to seek professional help? Find out as
Adam Roberts battles a lobster in an attempt to make the tasty crustacean into
lobster rolls—with help from
Rebecca Charles (Pearl Oyster Bar).
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Friend of Serious Eats Matt Haughey, who happens to be Grand Poobah of the community weblog MetaFilter, bought a new grill for his backyard recently and asked his loyal followers for tips on learning how to use it. There are lots of recommendations of books to buy in the thread, many of which don't just have chapters on grilling but are all about it, but the best thing is that people are also sharing both their favorite recipes and their best tips. Here's a bit from my favorite response, from Mr Gunn: One method taught to many people when they're just starting out is to hold your hand out flat, palm down, fingers and thumb parallel. Feel the firmness...
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I love the "Listening With" features in the New York Times even when they don't have cooking references, but this quote by the great jazz singer Dianne Reeves made me fall in love with her. "Explaining how she likes to cook, she said, "It's the same thing with how I sing. I work with my ear to try to make it feel right, or I just keep changing it until I like the way it tastes."...
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