Lately I've been sort of obsessed with the vegan chocolate chip cookies at Whole Foods. I'm not a vegan or even a vegetarian, but I so love the chewy texture and the taste of these cookies. I'm strangely intrigued and I'd like to try and see if I can duplicate these cookies at home. Does anyone have a good recipe for vegan chocolate chip cookies? I've done a little searching here and there, but I'd like to try a recipe that others trust.
Does anyone have a particularly delicious, tried-and-true blueberry muffin recipe? I'm looking for something reminiscent of a bakery-style muffin with a light, fine crumb and a gloriously sweet topping that isn't overpowering... mmm. I'm tired of baking batch after batch of blueberry muffins that don't quite hit the spot or that basically taste like cake. Any recipes or ideas to modify recipes would be greatly appreciated.
Okay, so I just baked some chocolate cupcakes that came out tasting rather flat. I had planned on icing them with a simple vanilla buttercream, but I feel like I should do something a little more exciting to improve the taste. The cupcakes themselves are pretty mild, almost like a milk chocolate taste, though they are moist and the consistency of the cake is almost perfect—it's flavor they lack.
Any ideas for an exciting, perhaps even unexpected filling? I'm not interested in foam or anything involving 100 calorie packs, haha. These are for a party tomorrow afternoon. Your help would be greatly appreciated!
Put simply, I love bananas. Because they tend to ripen quickly in my warm, warm kitchen, every weekend I end up with 2 or 3 bananas that are too ripe to eat. Any good banana recipes out there, particularly those calling for very ripe bananas? I'm already up to my eyeballs in banana bread! We've also had our share of banana pancakes.
A friend of mine is in town visiting, and she spends her days in my apartment while I'm at work. I'm pretty territorial when it comes to my kitchen, and I take excellent care of my space and utensils. She doesn't get the basic rules of the kitchen, and she barely knows how to cook. I fear she'll experiment with the Cuisinart or something and cause a disaster. Any advice on how to deal? I'm clearly overreacting, but hey, it IS my kitchen we're talking about here.
America's Test Kitchen, Good Eats, and especially Barefoot Contessa. Ahhhh, summertime in East Hampton.
How is it that I grew up in Tucson and have never seen one of those style hot dogs? It seems I seriously missed out...
The show was a bit all over the place though as she tended to work on multiple recipes simultaneously.
Is that not how most of us cook in our own kitchens? And don't we consider it a feat to pull everything together perfectly in time? It felt so real compared to the staged "I MUST make three dishes" formula of every other show on Food Network. I also attribute the chatter and stranger moments to editing. Overall, I loved the show and thought that Anne was a breath of fresh air.
As great as it is that the majority of Americans cook this way, myself included, I still love to watch great chefs on television. There's something so neat about watching a real professional do what he or she does best, and clearly, there's demand for it. I've been watching a lot of PBS shows like America's Test Kitchen to meet my food tv quota.
And for the record, I think some of you were referencing the Silver Bullet. The Magic Bullet is the food processor, and the Silver Bullet is probably not used in a kitchen. Well, maybe some of you...
Grass fed has a distinctly different taste. I would describe it as tasting more like super-lean meat (buffalo, perhaps) than like a fatty hamburger. The taste is quite different from the beefy taste you're used to. The strip steaks we tried had much less fat than grain-fed strips we usually buy, but the meat was still tender and good. I highly suggest you try a small cut before you spend a lot on a bunch of steaks. Lastly, I'm not the most qualified person in the world to explain this, so your butcher might be able to answer your question in more detail.
We travel over five hours to get to our nearest Ikea. I heard about the food there (specifically the meatballs) before I heard about the furniture and other things in the store, and I'm always more excited to eat than I am to shop.
Organic skim milk
Tropicana orange juice
spring greens/romaine
Zea pepper jelly vinaigrette (I cannot live without it!)
random dairy (cheese, sour cream, yogurt)
Does ANYONE out there want Lisa to win? I, too, will stop watching reality television if she wins tonight. I like both Stephanie and Richard, so either one of them winning would be great.
Don't forget the Delachaise in New Orleans.
When i was a kid I can remember eating Jimmy Buffs - my gosh, what a treat! It was the perfection of those Italian rolls, the sweetness of the fried onions, the heft of the pieces of fried potato.
As a teenager, i worked as a busboy at Rutt's Hutt. People would order sit down dinners of two hot dogs on a platter w/ potato salad and cole slaw.
As an adult, I've become a Baltimorean. I am surprised to not find any reference to Baltimore style dogs - which are all-beef hot dogs with a slice of grilled beef bologna tucked inside the hot dog roll.
Semi-homemade! That's MY favorite :)
Okay, okay. Just kidding. keep reading...
I love Ina--she gives even the most fattening recipe appeal and class. She just has this lovely demeanor and experience that makes me enjoy watching her show even when I don't love what she is baking.
I also like Giada, despite her cleavage...'nough said.
at Love2Cook--I also like Ace of Cakes--it's something i can always flip to if nothing else is on!
Out of about a dozen places I've been to in Connecticut, my favorites are Rosco's and the Glenwood Drive In. Rosco's serves perhaps the best German style (milder beef and pork) frank I've sampled anywhere. The dog is a Thumann's griller from Jersey which is a different recipe than the Thumann's deep fryer served at Rutt's Hut, Crif Dogs, and numerous other places in North Jersey. This one has more flavor. It's served on a toasted New England bun and while I prefer to enjoy this dog with mustard only, the toppings and combinations are excellent. All are homemade.
The Glenwood Drive In serves a footlong Hummel's dog that is prepared on a charcoal grill. The Hummel's dog is a hybrid; made from beef and pork, but spiced like a New York style dog (garlic and paprika). It has a unique tangy flavor. Although made in Connecticut, I was able to get some natural casing Hummel's at an Eden Gourmet store in South Orange, N.J. Maybe they are available in the New York locations. If so, this dog is worth checking out.
As for quality and variety of hot dogs, I would rate New Jersey first, Connecticut second, New York third, and Illinois (because of Chicago) fourth. New York made the list because although NYC has good grilled dogs (Papaya King, Katz's, Gray's, Nathan's) and "dirty water dogs", travelling farther north brings you in contact with some outstanding hot dogs. Sahlen's from the Buffalo area is a great tasting German style dog with a slightly peppery taste that lends itself well to grilling. This dog is chargrilled at the famous Ted's chain. Syracuse has Hofmann's excellent German style dogs and "snappy grillers" which are spicy pork and veal franks. Rochester has the famous Zweigle's White Hots which are shaped like a hot dog but similar to a bratwurst. Glacier and Wardynski are 2 other top notch hot dog brands available in Northern New York.
Wisconsin, with Usinger's and Klements, and Michigan with Koegel's and Kowalski brand franks are 2 other states that are known for hot dogs. Michigan, especially the Detroit area is known for their "coneys", which are dogs topped with mustard, onions, and meat sauce or chili.
Most of the rest of the country serves average or mediocre dogs. The focus (especially down south) is what you put on the dog rather than the dog itself. The dog is viewed as a holder for the toppings. Places like West Virginia use a bland, ordinary dog and put chili and cole slaw on top. The dogs are judged by the toppings rather than the quality of the underlying frank.
Just back from flying across the country and, luckily, had enough time in O'hare to get my faaavorite Chicago dog at the bend in the B terminal. mmmmm'MMMMM
I have learned loads and loads from Alton Brown/Good Eats. He explains everything, and he does it in a very entertaining way. I have laughed out loud many times!
Mario Batali does yummy uncomplicated Italian.
Bobby Flay in Throwdown.
The entire group on Ace of Cakes - especially Duff.
They are all creative. They all have fun doing what they do. Did I mention the creativity factor?!
I feel so much better about having fun and being creative with my own cooking/baking!
Well as someone who's done some bad low budget *Public acess" cable TV food shows himself ( Stone soup and Sandwhich "Lord Nelson" being my gold standards) the worse the host is and the the poorer the production values are the the more entertaining I find them.
So I'll list a few in no particular order of subaltern standards I give you:
"Art of food"
http://www.wendybrodie.com/
(Her voice is like nails on a chalkboard her hubby is a horribly annoying sot not to mention they've even fed thier dog scraps on the show!)
"Miss Lucy's cajun" nightmare
http://www.lpb.org/programs/lucy/classroom/index.html
(Just awful, she once smashed grapes with her feet :-(
"The kitchen diva"
http://www.divapro.com/
(Soul food is good hers is not and she has a staff the helps her and it still looks awful...mind numbing enhancement with *Diva cam*)
"The chef's kitchen"
(All at once a horrible vehicle for shilling a multitude of mediocre to bad products doing recipies that very few would try at home with a blabbermouth big boobed J.A.P. that simply won't shut up. Her signature phrase is *Wow*)
For all your video torture:
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v6972068z8qT7TCN
I think that's enough to inflict on you all for now....oh yes I have more (:=
I live in CT and I've been trying all the hot dogs I can get. So far my favorites are Augie and Ray's in East Hartford and Roscoe's in downtown Hartford. Superduper Weenie is also really good but I want to go back for more - there are so many varieties!
In response to Stratusgd's post, let me say that the authentic Newark style Italian Hot Dog invented in 1932 by James Raccioppi was deep fried. Mr Raccioppi was the founder of Jimmy Buff's. Only Jimmy Buff's is legally allowed to call themselves the "Originator" of the Italian Hot Dog. The Trenton version, which in my opinion is a bastardized version, came along a few laters later. Casino Tony Goes, which was sold a few years ago, grilled rather than fried a pork based hot dog and put it in a sub or hoagie roll rather than circular pizza bread. An authentic Italian Hot Dog is served on pizza bread, the ingredients are deep fried or sauteed, the dog is all beef. This dog is popular in Essex and Union Counties in north Jersey, although a few people from the Newark area moved further south and are serving authentic examples of the style. Jersey Joe's in Port Monmouth and Jo Jo's in Toms River are 2 examples.
Ive been to Connecticut numerous times to sample their quality hot dogs, but I wouldn't consider them to be the mecca of hot dog variations. This distinction belongs to New Jersey. Nowhere else can you get an Italian Hot Dog. Although considered by most to be a New York hot dog, Sabrett originated in New Jersey. In Jersey City on Coles and Henderson Streets. The dogs were produced there for years until the company was sold. It is now owned by Marathon Enterprises of New Jersey although now the franks are made in the Bronx. And Boulevard Drinks in Jersey City was serving the grilled Sabretts that Papaya King uses a few years before Papaya King started serving hot dogs.
In addition to Italian Hot Dogs, New Jersey has 2 varieties of Texas Weiners (despite the name, they originated in Jersey in 1920) the grilled or Plainfield area Texas Weiner with a thick chili sauce, and the deep fried or Paterson area "Hot" Texas Weiner with a thinner, cinnamon/nutmeg/clove spiced chili. We also have dirty water dogs, kosher style grilled dogs, German style griddle cooked dogs popular down the Jersey Shore, charbroiled beef dogs (the late, great Syd's), deep fried pork based dogs or "rippers" and others. Dogs are also prepared different ways and combinations of ways. No state has the variety and quality of dogs that New Jersey does. Period.
Ina Garten, Jacques Pepin, America's Test Kitchen, Tyler Florence, Emeril Lagasse (Essence, not Live), Everyday Foods (Martha Stewart), Lidia Bastianich, Jamie Oliver, and I like to watch Paula Deen's Home Cooking (not party). .I learn technique and recipes from these shows. Alton Brown teaches me things I wouldn't learn elsewhere. I want to get Julia Child's DVD's. I love her cookbooks. Jury is still out on Anne Burrell, but I have high hopes.
I like Bobby Flay and Michael Chiarello and watch occasionally, but their food is too spicy for me to eat, for the most part. Both are very talented chefs and pleasant personalities. I've seen some comments about the younger Bobby, but I didn't have cable then. I like him.
I'll even give Rachael Ray a shout-out, because I think she might appeal to someone who has never cooked - especially college kids. Personally though, she annoys the spit out of me and I can't watch her at all. Same with Giada DeLaurentis - uses mostly fresh ingredients and can teach a beginner. Hopefully, they'd learn enough to want to move on to more quality, and even more hopefully, they'd know that Sandra Lee is like watching a train-wreck. Maybe you can't look away, but you sure don't want to be there in the middle of that mess.
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Location: New Orleans
About: I love everything about food and cooking, and that is all.
Favorite foods: Rustic breads, quiche, a family-recipe beef stew, Sonoran Mexican, Cajun/Creole/anything New Orleans, ALL sweets.
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