So many people think vanilla = plain. One dimensional. The career back-up singer in a dessert with stronger, sexier, Tina Turner-like ingredients. The choice to resort to when you’ve got picky eaters with sad, unadventurous palates. But once you let vanilla go solo, and let it be the best it can be… whoa. Vanilla is native to tropical America, and […]
Five on Friday: Books We’re Loving Right Now
Each Friday, we share five things that are getting buzz around the Cooking Light offices—from what we’re reading around the Web, to what’s hot on Instagram, or even our latest favorite ingredient. 1. Chill By Cooking Light, Oxmoor House, $17.95; 208 pages New to your bookstore this week is our newest cookbook, Chill. Smoothies, slushes, juices, and ices–just what you need as temperatures start […]
How to Store Your Wine
The most important thing to remember when storing wine: “Don’t let it get hot,” says wine expert Scott Atkinson. Atkinson, who is a wine consultant at Western Supermarket in Mountain Brook, Alabama, where he manages over 3,000 wines, says the last place your wine needs to be is in your kitchen. That’s because temperatures tend to fluctuate when you cook, […]
Behind the Scenes: From Garden to (Photo) Table
Triumph! This peekaboo surprise greeted me in the garden as I was harvesting garlic scapes at dawn this morning. Why so giddy? Cauliflower is not always the easiest cool-season crop to grow. Well, at least in our Alabama garden. Add in our quick-rising mercury and sprint to summer heat and one may resign to attempting only in the Fall season. […]
Meat Clinching: A Revelation in Grilling
Grilling has always struck me as the most elemental of food preparations. Raw meat on a metal grate above an angry fire is about as primal as it gets, right? Well, things just got a little more primordial here in the Test Kitchen. We’ve been testing out a batch of recipes from Adam Perry Lang, Author of Charred and Scruffed, […]
7 Most Common Grilling Mistakes — and How You Can Avoid Them
Grilling is one of the easiest cooking methods and very popular this time of year. However, a burnt burger or charred chicken is not going to keep your family fed or happy. Here, seven common grilling mistakes and how you can avoid them. Oops! #1: You don’t preheat the grill. The result: You incinerate the food. The Fix: Whether you’re grilling with […]
Confessions of a Chocoholic: My Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie
Today is my most favorite day of the food calendar year. More than any other celebrated food… today is my day. It’s national chocolate chip cookie day. True confession: I am a chocolate chip cookie fanatic. Giving in to my deep dark chocolate desires is not an uncommon practice for me – and these famous cookies certainly fit the bill. […]
Our newest book offers cool treats that are so worth the brain freeze
When we started on Chill, I admit that I’d kinda already had enough of juicing and smoothie books. I’d bought a juicing book for my parents a year before, along with a juicer (it was, admittedly, an example of parenting my parents and trying to get them to eat a little more healthfully). Mom and I sat down and used […]
Global Ingredient: Anchovy Paste
Some people are phobic about this fish paste: too fishy, too salty. But it’s an amazing flavor enhancer, boosting the meaty umami character in food. It deepens our simple gremolata, which is fabulous drizzled over roasted meat or veggies. ANCHOVY GREMOLATA Combine ½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, 4 teaspoons minced fresh garlic, 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon […]
Most Wanted: Sweet on Honey
These fun finds honor nature’s sweetest treat–and the bees who make it. By April Hardwick GOLD DETAILS 22-karat honeycombs on elegantly slim porcelain plates ($58 and $53, dbohome.com) HONEY POT The silicone dipper makes adding a touch of honey to any dish a cinch ($25, lecreuset.com). BEE SWEET Honey-kissed salted caramels in a cute candy shell ($29/9 pieces, johnandkiras.com) DON’T […]
