Your mother probably told you not to play with your food. But did she tell you not to play your food? As Morgen described on Interesting Thing of the Day, the members of the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra do just that. The morning of each performance, they go shopping at a local produce market and pick […]
I have a friend who always carries a spoon with her. In fact, just to make sure it doesn’t get lost or forgotten, she drilled a hole in the end and keeps it attached to her belt loop with a carabiner. When I asked her about it, she told me there are just too many […]
I’ll say this about Gaggenau’s new Lift Oven design: it looks cool. At the touch of a button, the bottom of the oven descends to enable you to add or remove items—a clever solution to the problem I’ve frequently encountered of the oven door getting in the way, particularly in cramped kitchens. This design could […]
Contrary to what every cookbook instructs, I’ve frequently cooked pasta in the following unorthodox manner: put the dry pasta and just enough water in the pot, turn on the heat, and turn it off when the liquid is all absorbed. In other words, somewhat like the way you cook rice (though uncovered). No draining, no […]
As I mentioned last week on Truffles for Breakfast, I recently paid a visit to Vert d’Absinthe, the only store in Paris devoted exclusively to absinthe and its various accouterments. When the owner asked if we’d like to sample some absinthes, we eagerly agreed. He poured a bit in a glass, put a slotted spoon […]
We use a lot of garlic in this family, and while mincing (the old-fashioned way, with a knife) is my preference, Morgen likes the convenience of a garlic press. But she doesn’t like cleaning the garlic press, and the fact that it tends to leave a good bit of the clove behind means you miss […]
When it comes to whipped cream—one of my all-time favorite edible substances—I’ve always been a purist. Freshly whipped cream (sweetened with a bit of sugar, and with maybe just a hint of vanilla) tastes best to me, and I’ve never considered the process of sticking a mixer into a bowl of cold cream to be […]
Over the years, Cook’s Illustrated has repeatedly heaped praise upon the Thermapen, a digital thermometer known for its speed, accuracy, generous probe length, and convenient folding design. Recent episodes of Good Eats have shown Alton Brown using the same thermometer, so clearly it is a device to be reckoned with. Every serious cook should have […]
When cooking for a crowd—especially if the meal involves lots of different baked dishes, as it typically does at Thanksgiving—those of use with just one oven often run into a problem. There’s just not enough space in there for a turkey, an extra casserole of stuffing, some candied sweet potatoes, and perhaps that pie you […]
Back in September I wrote about the Food Loop, a handy silicone thingy you can use to tie your turkey drumsticks together before roasting (among many other uses). But I noted that you’d still have to close up the cavity that holds the stuffing somehow—a rather tedious job that usually involves a lacing kit. Turns […]
