You may know what you’re cooking for Christmas dinner, but have you thought yet about what you and your family will enjoy that morning? Whether you love sweet, savory, or a little bit of both, we have a few ideas you might like to try. Some can be made the […]
A Classic Holiday Beef Tenderloin Roast
For a show stopping holiday dinner, a beef roast is a classic choice. A standing rib roast (or prime rib) feeds a big crowd, but for a smaller, more intimate dinner, a perfectly roasted beef tenderloin is our favorite splurge. Simple to prepare and difficult to ruin, our favorite tenderloin […]
The Essential Cooking Techniques
Knowing how to cook comes down to mastering a few simple techniques, which opens up a world of original cooking for you. You are no longer tied to having a recipe, buying the ingredients, and then cooking. You can pull together ingredients you already have on hand and use the […]
Try New Things: Gai Lan
We love all veggies (yes, even beets!), but there are some that really suit our fancy. Gai lan is one! Sometimes called Chinese broccoli, gai lan is, well, not particularly extraordinary. It’s relatively neutral in flavor, a lot like regular old broccoli, with a familiar texture (yup, like broccoli!). It […]
Making Stuffed Pasta
When making stuffed pasta, you may choose to add a small amount of oil to the dough to help it stick together better when sealed around a filling. Roll the pasta out to the thinnest setting on a pasta machine. While rolling and filling one portion of the dough, keep […]
Building a Cheese Plate
Building a great cheese plate requires a basic familiarity with the profiles of the cheeses offered and their capacity to be other food and drink. Of course, you can’t know every cheese—but that’s what cheesemongers are for. They wait behind their counter to find exactly the cheeses you need, based […]
5 of Our Favorite Thanksgiving Desserts
Still looking for something sweet to serve for Thanksgiving dessert? Try one of these—5 of our favorite recipes, any one the perfect end to an extraordinary meal. Maple Pumpkin Pie We think every Thanksgiving table should have a pumpkin pie, and we love this maple version with whipped cream topping. […]
How to Roll Out Pastry Crust
To roll pastry dough, lightly dust a cold work surface, the top of the dough, and rolling pin with bench flour (an unmeasured bowl of all-purpose flour used to flour the dough and work surface). Press the dough from the center, roll it out in one direction, and then roll […]
Small Efforts for Big Impact at Your Holiday Parties
If you have ever been to a really great dinner party, you might already know that the distinction is in the smallest details. The perfectly paired wine, a hard-to-find cheese at just the right temperature, or maybe something as simple as pre-sliced limes and lemons for your water. And while […]
What To Eat When Turkey is Off the Table
There are plenty of reasons why people may choose not to serve a Thanksgiving turkey, but that doesn’t mean your meal has to be anything less than special. Meat and poultry is a huge focus of holiday menus, and while we love a roast, it’s not always right for every […]
Cooking Methods and Suitable Vegetables
Popular belief suggests that it is better to eat vegetables raw or undercooked, as heating supposedly strips the produce of its nutritional benefits. In rare cases, or if the vegetable is poorly prepared, this might be true. Properly executed, cooking actually improves palatability and digestibility as well as nutritional accessibility. […]
10 Comfort Foods for the Pre-Holiday Slump
It’s that time of the year: summer is behind us, and the holidays are poised to keep us scheduled and on-the-go. Whether it’s just for a snack, a sit-down dinner, or a sweet bite with your favorite TV show, try one of these recipes for a hearty dose of comfort. […]