The most difficult and frustrating part of making homemade sugar cookies, however, is working with the dough. It can be complicated, even as an intermediate baker, to strike that balance between keeping the dough cold but warm enough to work with it. What’s a baker to do? Here’s my trick. A Better Way to Roll Out Cookie Dough Most people who make sugar cookie dough from scratch were taught to roll the dough out after it’s been chilled....
Onions are naturally sweet; and as caramel comes from the simple cooking of sugar when you slowly cook onions over an extended period of time, the natural sugars in the onions caramelize, making the result intensely and wonderfully flavorful. How to Use Caramelized Onions You can use onions prepared this way on top of steak, or for onion soup, tarts, pizza, or onion dip. Or you can do what I did with this batch, eat it straight up....
I remember as a kid looking into the fridge and seeing a jar of solid white stuff and wondering what it was. When my mother told me it was bacon fat, well that somewhat grossed me out for a while, for decades actually. It wasn’t until I got into cooking again in my 40s, that I gained a new appreciation for this readily available, highly flavorful cooking fat. Just last week my mother used a little bacon grease to cook up some spring peas....
Not only do you save money because you don’t have to buy boxed stock, the stock itself is so much healthier for you because of all the iron, collagen, and vitamin-rich marrow from the bones. There are several ways to make chicken stock. Three of our favorite methods are presented here. How to Make Chicken Stock from Roasted Bones The first method uses the leftover bones from a chicken carcass and vegetables (which means it’s practically free), and takes several hours of slow cooking....
Here’s everything you need to know about ground ginger, and oft-overlooked spice that deserves a place in your pantry. What is Ground Ginger and How is it Different from Fresh Ginger? When you think of ginger, you probably think of the knobby, papery-skinned, golden-fleshed rhizome found in the produce section of the supermarket. Today it’s used as a spice in many different cuisines around the world, but the plant itself originally comes from Southeast Asia, specifically the maritime nations of Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore....
Parmesan Squash Casserole This Parmesan Squash Casserole is one of my favorite ways to use up our abundance of squash and zucchini in the garden. Beautiful green, yellow and red colors create a vibrant side dish that complements many main meals and my kids love all the cheese layered in this glorious casserole. Plus, it’s so easy to make! You don’t even need to layer everything in like in the picture....
This simple pasta with cauliflower, tomato, and Parmesan is a great example. I’ve adapted the recipe from a Sicilian recipe by Vincent Schiavelli that appeared years ago in Saveur. It’s outrageously good; I’ve been eating the leftovers for days, which just seem to get better as the flavors have more time to meld. The secret ingredient? Anchovies. Okay, so I’m weird. I’m one of those people to whom you can say “cauliflower” and “anchovies” and I’ll start salivating....
It’s no surprise that many cuisines around the world, from Persian to Polish, lay claim to some form of potato pancake. After all, tender potatoes fried until crisp isn’t exactly a hard sell. Among them are the Swiss, whose rösti ranks up there with fondue and raclette as a national dish. This spin on a classic rösti offers that same pleasing potato magic, only in a big-batch format meant to be shared....
I scoured the Internet looking for a recipe but only came up with some German sites that mentioned sherry potatoes, but no recipe. We have, however, finally arrived at a method that works, and recreates the divine potatoes we enjoy so much at the cafe. It’s very simple, baking sliced potatoes in butter and dry sherry, salting generously, and sprinkling on a little parsley. The dry sherry truly enhances the flavor of the butter....
Thankfully, I have a slow cooker at my disposal, which helps me make the most out of busy days. Because once those ingredients are in the pot, it’s hands-off cooking for hours at a clip. A Slow Cooker Meal for Busy Weeks I dream about this Beef Stroganoff while I’m away from home. I simply prep the ingredients and get them into the slow cooker prior to making my mad dash out of the house....
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I love them in stir fries, especially fresh, crisp, tender green beans. An Easy Way to Cook Fresh Green Beans How do you know your green beans are fresh? Break one in half. It should “snap”. If it bends limply like a rubber band, it’s not fresh. Only buy fresh. This stir fry cooks up quickly, with onions, ginger, and garlic, and a sauce of sweetened soy sauce with sesame oil....
Whether you grow it yourself, know someone who grows it, or just buy it at the market, when it’s zucchini season, it’s abundant! Avoid Zucchini Boredom With Stuffed Boats! I quickly get bored with zucchini breads and simple stir-fries, and am always looking for fun ways to transform zucchini into something interesting. That’s why I love this recipe for Taco-Stuffed Zucchini Boats. It’s fairly simple to make and has great flavor from the mix of ground beef, onions, chili, and cheese (of course)....
Ah Christmas, the season of family, tradition, gifts and good food. Your holidays may look or feel different this year, but you can still create a beautiful, memorable and delicious Christmas dinner for your loved ones. Whether you celebrate with a special meal on Christmas Eve or after a day of presents and fun, give your family the gift of an extra special dinner this season. From sparkling family friendly drinks, to festive appetizers, to hearty and beautiful main dishes, to decadent holiday desserts, we have gathered all of our favorite Christmas recipes for you right here....
Tip #1: Measure your ingredients with a kitchen scale Nearly every professional baker and pastry chef says to bake with a scale, and for good reason: Measuring cups (which measure by volume) can vary slightly in size and produce different flour amounts depending on how you measure. If you dip a measuring cup into the flour and then sweep across the top (the dip and sweep method), you end up with a denser measured cup, somewhere between 140 to 150 grams of flour....
Summer might be over (sniff!), but cold brew coffee season sure isn’t! How else am I supposed to get back in the swing of my regular routine now that the beach vacations and lazy weekends are fading into the rearview mirror? It’s been over two years since I first posted my method for making cold brew coffee, and by golly, has that recipe taken off. I’m so glad to find so many fellow cold-brew coffee aficionados out there!...
Kids Love Apple Quesadillas The kids gobbled them up, and one of them, Teddy, exclaimed loudly after the first one, “Elise, you HAVE to put these on your website!” The others nodded in agreement, while busily chomping away. Quesadillas are typically made with just tortillas and cheese (in Mexico typically one would use corn tortillas, closer to the border flour tortillas are often used). Want to make your own tortillas? Try this recipe: Homemade Flour Tortillas...
The recipe is based on a bread pudding recipe from the now-closed famed Bon Ton Cafe in New Orleans. My friend Becca gave us the recipe years ago and now it’s a family favorite, especially around the holidays. The sauce uses plenty of bourbon (Becca says Bon Ton’s sauce has even more bourbon in it), but feel free to cut down the amount. We have directions for making a kid-friendly, bourbon-free version of the bread pudding and the sauce in the recipe note....
These Butter Mints with Cream Cheese are gorgeous and delicious with flavors that remind me of the candy Junior Mints. Perfect on any dessert table, they’re also ideal to serve at graduation parties and make delightful baby shower mints or wedding mints. The best part of this cream cheese mint recipe is how easy it is! I like to make a huge batch of these and store them in the freezer for special occasions or when my sweet tooth strikes....
Chicken Foil Packets I love making foil pack dinners in the summer. They are so easy to do and there is no mess afterwards! You can even eat these right out of the foil if you want even less mess (we will usually eat them over paper plates just in case they leak.) Whether you want an easy weeknight meal at home or looking for a great camping recipe, these Chicken Foil Packets have got you covered....
