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How to Cook a Steak

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:16:54 +0000

When it comes to cooking a steak, there are two major problems people tend to have: they either don't get the grill hot enough, or they don't season the steak enough. Or both.

How to cook a steak.
Photo © Lara Hata / Getty Images

Sure, there's more to cooking a steak than these two factors, but they're the biggies. Obviously there are other factors as well. For instance, you have to choose the right steak to begin with. And by the way, I mentioned the grill, but it doesn't literally have to be a grill. You can cook a great steak in a pan on the stovetop. You just have to make sure it's really hot.

Check out these four simple steps for How to Cook a Steak. And here's more on cooking the perfect steak:

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How to Cut Up a Whole Chicken

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 01:46:36 +0000

A lot of recipes, like this tasty baked chicken recipe, call for a cut up chicken — meaning one that's been fabricated into its component parts: two breasts, two thighs, two drumsticks and two wings. And while you can buy a chicken that's already cut up that way, you can save a lot of money by buying a whole chicken and cutting it up yourself.

Video: How to cut up a chicken.

Another benefit of doing it yourself is that after you've removed the breasts and legs and so on, you get the carcass — the ribs and back of the bird, which are great for making chicken stock — for free. This quick video will show you how to cut up a whole chicken. And here's more about cooking chicken:

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Easy Pudding Recipes

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:59:01 +0000

There are quite a few ways of making pudding. There are baked puddings, an example of which is bread pudding, and there are steamed puddings, which take a while to make and can be a little on the heavy side. But the most common type of pudding, and what most people probably think of as pudding, are boiled puddings.

Boiled puddings in turn come in two types: cornstarch puddings and cream puddings. Cream puddings feature eggs while cornstarch puddings don't. Both types are actually made with cornstarch, but cream puddings use less because the eggs help to thicken the pudding. A true cornstarch pudding would be thick enough to use as a pie filling. Even thicker than that and you have pastry cream, which is used in éclairs, cream puffs and so on.

Anyway, my preferred pudding method is the cream pudding which is thickened with eggs or egg yolks. The trick here is to make sure you don't cook the eggs when you add the hot milk. And of course, a good pudding should have a nice, smooth texture with no lumps. Here are two pudding recipes:

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Crème Brûlée Recipe

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:27:49 +0000

Crème brûlée (pronounced "krem broo-LAY") is one of the most amazing, elegant desserts, and it's surprisingly easy to make. It takes about four hours to properly chill a crème brûlée, so it's not a quick process, but it's definitely worth the wait.

Crème brûlée with fresh berries.
Photo © Danilo Alfaro

Crème brûlée is a simple custard, made with nothing but eggs, cream and sugar, along with a little vanilla. I like to use equal parts heavy cream and half-and-half. For a richer crème brûlée, use all heavy cream. For a lighter one, you can use all half-and-half.

To make crème brûlée, you'll need some heatproof dishes called ramekins. You'll also need a crème brûlée torch to caramelize the tops of the crème brûlées when you're ready to serve them. You can even get a crème brûlée set that includes the torch and the ramekins. Enjoy this crème brûlée recipe.

And here's more about crème brûlée:

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Easy Vegetable Soup Recipe

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:08:39 +0000

This easy vegetable soup is made with carrots, leeks, tomatoes, green beans, and of course, turnips. I don't know about you, but I love turnips in my vegetable soup. I can't take seriously any vegetable soup that doesn't have turnips in it.

Easy vegetable soup recipe.
Photo © Danilo Alfaro

Okay, that's not totally true. But it's not totally untrue, either. In any case, this is a nice, hearty vegetable soup recipe that I like to make with beef stock. If you wanted to make a vegetarian version, you could certainly use vegetable stock instead.

More Soup Recipes:

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How to Wash Your Hands

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 23:57:53 +0000

Whether you're cooking for yourself and your family or professionally, clean hands are essential for preventing cross-contamination and limiting the spread of bacteria that cause food poisoning. Bacteria can't move by themselves, so your hands are one of the most likely vehicles for transferring them from one food (or kitchen tool) to another.

How to wash your hands. Photo © Sean Justice / Getty Images

But what's the best way to wash your hands? It's not enough to simply splash some water on your hands and call them clean. And while there are a number of helpful tutorials out there, they're not all geared specifically toward working with food.

Check out this simple tutorial on how to wash your hands. And here's more about food safety:

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Roasted Chicken: 10 Different Ways

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 08:04:07 +0000

Roasted chicken might be the greatest food ever. Even if it didn't combine crispy skin with juicy, succulent meat (which it does), or make your whole house smell amazing (which it also does), or basically make its own sauce (yep, also), it would still be total genius simply because it'll feed at least four people who don't even have to like the same food.

Roasted chicken: 10 ways. Photo © Annie Mole

That's because of the whole white-meat/dark-meat thing. Fans of white meat have the breasts, while those who prefer dark meat get legs and thighs. Not to mention wings. And does anyone not like wings?

But then, when you factor in cold leftover chicken (one of the great, unheralded pleasures of the culinary world), and making stock or soup from the carcass, it really starts to look like a blowout. Can any other food do all that?

The answer is no — not even close. So it might seem like piling on to point out that there are as many different ways of roasting a chicken as there are countries and styles of cooking. Here are 10 different ways to roast a chicken.

And here's more about cooking chicken:

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Caesar Salad Recipe

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 16:59:04 +0000

Contrary to what you might have heard, Caesar salads have nothing to do with ancient Rome and everything to do with a restaurant named Caesar's in Tijuana, Mexico, where, as legend has it, the popular salad was invented back in 1924.

Apparently the place is still going strong and still serving Caesar salads to tourists. But if you don't feel like making the trek to Tijuana for an authentic Caesar salad, here's a Caesar salad recipe you can make at home in about 30 minutes. It calls for a coddled (or lightly boiled) egg.

And here are few more salad recipes:

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Eggs Benedict Recipe

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 18:31:15 +0000

Eggs Benedict is one of the classic brunch preparations, and it's a great dish to serve for all kinds of holiday brunches and other special occasions.

You've probably had them at a restaurant and thought that making the Hollandaise and poaching the eggs was too difficult, but the fact is, it's not really all that hard to make your own Eggs Benedict at home.

Here's a simple Eggs Benedict Recipe. And here are a few more links to help you get ready for Easter:

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How to Hard Boil Eggs

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:20:16 +0000

Hard boiled eggs are used in all kinds of recipes, like in salads or sandwiches, and they're a nearly perfect snack on their own. Unfortunately, making hard boiled eggs is one of those obscure skills that few people seem to have mastered. How long do I boil it? Do I start with cold water, or do I boil the water first and then drop in the egg? And why are they so hard to peel?

Fear not, faithful reader. I've got a simple technique (see it here) that will help you make a perfect hard boiled egg every time.

One thing to know about a good hard boiled egg is that you should never see a greenish ring around the yolk when you cut it open. When you see that it means the egg is overcooked. It's the sulfur in the egg that causes that greenish hue, and it appears when the egg has been overheated because it was boiled for too long. It doesn't smell amazing, either, as you've no doubt experienced at one time or another. With this technique, you can say goodbye to those greenish, overcooked egg yolks.

As for boiled eggs being hard to peel, that's a function of how fresh the egg is, not how you cook it. Fresher eggs will be harder to peel. So if you've got some older eggs in your fridge, those would be a better choice for making hard boiled eggs than ones you just grabbed from the henhouse. Check out: How to Hard Boil Eggs. Finally, here are a few more articles to help with your Easter preparations:

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