Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

HA! HA! OMG! some of these posts are freaking hilarious! Thanks!
okay...I have a serious thing for Chris Cosentino...always liked him on the Next Iron Chef...
Aaron is pretty yummy too....Has anyone seen his tats before???

If there's a hands down, all around winner - and I'm not saying there is - it's Alton Brown. He's smart. He's creative. He's talented . And he's adorable. .

*Chiming noise. I've contacted many of you here about making this happen, but if any other interested college students come along, feel free to e-mail me at erin@seriouseats.com

Aarón Sánchez is just perfect.... he is so funny, talented, and down to business... I love his laugh... and the serious face he pulls on "Chopped" when he has to judge. I wish him the best. xoxox

Brussels sprouts from the farmer's market, roasted in the oven. Even people who normally hate them love these ones!

any one from the SE team want to chime in on this?

It's really not that hard, and most of the time involved is letting the dough sit in the fridge so the butter chills and the dough rests. What they usually don't tell you in the recipes is that if you need to let it rest longer, it's fine. They tell you thirty minutes or whatever, but if you have to run an errand you don't need to be speeding back to get the dough out in precisely 30 minutes.

If you want to try a similar dough, but a lot less finicky, pick up a copy of Baking with Julia and check out the Danish Pastry recipe. The result is actually very similar to a croissant dough, but it's a lot easier to work and there aren't as many steps where the dough needs to rest in between. It's a two-day process, but there's not much work on either day, and the first day is pretty effortless. You just have to plan it in advance for when you want it, because the dough rests overnight in the fridge..It's sweeter than a croissant, but not ridiculously sweet. Fine for a breakfast pastry. Anyway, that would be a good introduction to the folding method, and then when you're working the croissant dough, it will make more sense.

I think (but I'n not sure) that the recipes in that book that use the Danish Pastry dough are all for filled pastries, but there's really no reason you couldn't just roll them up into croissant shapes.

Oh, and the recipe calls for unsalted butter, but I found that it was a little dull that way.I think it's better with one stick of salted and one of unsalted.

They're not difficult as much as time-consuming, but they are so worth it. They are light little things, but they have body to them, as well, and the taste is incredible. I've tried store-bought ones and restaurant ones, but I always detect a cheese-y note, like faint parmesan, instead of a fermented yeasty taste. And sometimes the store-bought ones don't crisp up when heated in the oven, and soggy croissants are not a joy no matter what they're filled with. We make our own once or twice a year when the craving gets too strong to stifle.

Puff pastry, on the other hand, is not something I would try to make again. The recipe, also from Julia, worked, but I didn't think it tasted way better than the frozen Pepperidge Farm sheets. It's nice to be able to say that I did it, though.

I've just made croissants once, it is not to difficult as it may sound but it is time consuming.

I've used the recipe found on epicurious.com and they came out great.

Go ahead and make them, you won't regret it.

Cider donuts! My first stop when I get to NY in October is the Union Square farmers' market.

thanks for all the support guys!!

@chiff yes that could work too. i just think that hearing from those of us with limited means and money and our relationships with food would be an interesting addition for SE

EASY AND QUICK recipes can be contributed by just about anyone, even a 50 y/o Brooklyn Girl who never went to college. If we could possibly submit the recipes, maybe someone at SE could publish them as "by contributor."