My Favorite Recipe Journal

I received this recipe journal as a Christmas gift (hint, hint) years ago and have suggested it for many friends. This spiral-bound and tabbed notebook from Williams-Sonoma keeps your recipes tidy and can be a fun way to scrap-book meals dear to your heart.

Recipe Journal  l  $49 at Williams-Sonoma

By Michelle Alderson | October 30, 2007 in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (2)

Caramel Halloween Pumpkin Seed Recipe

By Robert | October 11, 2007 in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

Top Chef Finale

By Michelle Alderson | September 26, 2007 in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

BBQ Sauce Picks for Your Summer Grilling

No time to try out all the BBQ sauces that are available at your local store?  Lora Zarubin of House & Garden's Larder Blog helps out with some of her top BBQ sauce picks.

image courtesy of House and Garden 

By Robert | July 11, 2007 in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (1)

Rouxbe.com: Cooking Classes on the Web

Before there were chef personalities, cooking was all about the food. Rouxbe.com has gone back to the roots of the cooking show and added a little web savvy to it. These virtual cooking classes are narrated, step-by-step, and focus solely on the food. Viewers can pause, rewind, or skip to any portion of the video. Simply grab your laptop, head to the kitchen, and cook at your own pace.

link: Rouxbe.com

By Michelle Alderson | July 5, 2007 in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

This Season's Popular Grills

Over at Yahoo Food, visit our recent grilling columns -

• What's Hot in Portable Grilling
• 5 Grills for 5 Personalities
  

By Robert | June 11, 2007 in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

Eiko Egg Cup

For those who love a soft- or hard-boiled egg, this egg cup from Eiko is a fun and useful tool. Designed to cook, cool, and serve in one handy piece, it'll also make your breakfast table a bit more colorful.

Eiko egg cup  l  $25 for a set of 4 at dedeceplus.com

By Michelle Alderson | March 29, 2007 in Cooking, Food, Kitchen Gadgets | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pairing Wine with Food: It's OK to Have Fish with Red

When most people start pairing wine with food, two rules are followed: drink red with meat and white with fish. Nowadays there are so many different kinds of reds and white wines to choose from, you can mix it up. Pinot with a seared tuna? Sure. Just make sure the wine isn't overpowered by the food, and vice versa. "But there are limits", as a Chicago Tribune article points out. Find out more about pairing wine with food in the entire article.

By Michelle Alderson | March 9, 2006 in All Things Wine, Cooking, Food | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Wolfgang Puck Oscar Menu: Choose the Right Wine for Braised Food

If you like his Oscar recipes, you can buy Wolgang Puck cookbooks at ecookbooks.com.

By Michelle Alderson | March 1, 2006 in All Things Wine, Cooking, Parties & Entertaining | Permalink | Comments (0)

Super Bowl Food Ideas from L.A. to New York

With less than a week left before Super Bowl Sunday, everyone is talking about what kind of food to serve. Even the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times jumped on board today. Both had two very different versions of what Super Bowl food should be. Thankfully they both tossed any ideas of tapas or little finger foods.

The Los Angeles Times felt that buffalo wings, BBQ ribs, and beer-battered shrimp were in order.

The New York Times preferred sub sandwiches, meatballs, and beans inspired by Rick Bayless' Mexican cooking.

And of course chips and dips is necessary. I prefer the instant onion dip you buy in a packet and mix with sour cream. Voilá- appetizers!

For more information on buffalo wings, go to www.buffalowings.com.
To find out about The Fifth Annual Buffalo Wings Festival go to www.buffalowing.com.

To buy Rick Bayless' book Mexican Everyday, go to ecookbooks.com.
To read about his recent restaurant opening go to treehugger.com.

Related Links:
Super Bowl Party, Pizza, and Jessica Simpson?
More Super Bowl Party Planning Tips and Recipes

By Michelle Alderson | February 1, 2006 in Cookbooks, Cooking, Parties & Entertaining | Permalink | Comments (0)

Super Bowl Parties, Pizza, and Jessica Simpson?

Well, wouldn’t you like to have pizza with Jessica Simpson at your Super Bowl Party? You can, if you catch the Pizza Hut “sizzling” commercial that will highlight Ms. Simpson’s fine talents (singing, that is) and Pizza Hut’s Cheesy Bites. The announcement, I’m sure for all foodies out there, made you think; now how can I make pizza at home?

Don’t fret; Epicurious.com has a great site right now with many, many recipes for pizzas, finger foods, chili, buffalo wings, and a lot more to make your Super Bowl party “sizzle.”

Check out the Jessica Simpson and Pizza Hut Breaking News.
For Super Bowl party recipes, go to Epicurious.com.
Catch all the Super Bowl information you’ll need for the big day at superbowl.com.

By Michelle Alderson | January 27, 2006 in Cooking, Food, Parties & Entertaining, Parties & Entertaining | Permalink | Comments (0)

Soul Food Gets a Healthy Makeover

When one thinks of soul food, one might conjure up images of fried chicken, collard greens, and mac and cheese. With Lindsey Williams' new cookbook, Neo Soul, you will find sweet potato puree and veggie croquettes instead. Is it still soul food? Considering that Williams grew up on soul food and once weighed 400 pounds because of it, I'd say it's got some soul in it.

Williams is doing what many African-Americans are: moving toward healthy eating while still preserving the heritage that stems from soul food. As he stated in Newsweek, "You can still eat ethnic and eat healthy."

You can read more about Williams' cookbook and healthy soul food at MSN.
To buy his cookbook, Neo Soul, go to ecookbooks.com.
To visit a website dedicated to soul food blogging, go to Soul Food Cafe.

By Michelle Alderson | January 26, 2006 in Cookbooks, Cooking, New Food Trends | Permalink | Comments (0)

Superbowl Party Ideas on Food Network

Looking for something new to whip up for your Superbowl party next month? Food Network is airing shows dedicated to throwing a great party with delicious food. Included is a three-day pre-game preparation menu that allows you to enjoy the game, rather than spending halftime in the kitchen. Sara's Secrets airs January 29 and Paula's Home Cooking airs January 28 and January 30.

And check out the Food Network website for other great Superbowl food ideas.

By Michelle Alderson | January 20, 2006 in Cooking, Food, Parties & Entertaining | Permalink | Comments (1)

Bon Appetit Celebrates 50th Anniversary

By Michelle Alderson | January 17, 2006 in Contests, Cooking, Food | Permalink | Comments (2)

Recchiuti Confections Valentines Box and Chocolate Obsession

 

Give the chocolate devotee in your life a sumptuous Recchiuti box, and the secrets to confection artistry. With three layers of delicious infusions of tea, herbs and flowers, your love will have so many delicious ways to think of you.  Michael Recchiuti's Chocolate Obsession provides step-by-step instructions to the those ambitious enough to take on, say, Force Noire ganache.  It offers page after page of chocolate pornography for the rest of us. 32 Piece Large Valentines Box, $75, Chocolate Obsession, $23.

By Kyeann Sayer | January 15, 2006 in Chef Books, Chocolate, Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Valentine's Day | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Joy of Slow Cooked Scrambled Eggs

The Los Angeles Times Food Section featured an article about the often neglected joy of slowly cooking your scrambled eggs.  Indeed, scrambled eggs has always been seen as a quickie meal, so we really forget that eggs become a completely different meal when cooked slowly.  Like eggs served at your favorite expensive brunch restaurant.

"If you slow things down a bit, you can turn scrambled eggs into something spectacular: Cooked very slowly, and stirred constantly, scrambled eggs can be a dish that's creamy, rich and luxurious enough to serve as a first course at an elegant dinner.

Try it once, and you may never do the quick scramble again. Try it twice, and you'll never fret again about a brunch menu."

Lower the flame, slow down the scramble and transform eggs into pure bliss  |  via LA Times

Technorati Tags:  Food and Drink

By Robert | October 26, 2005 in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

Top 10 Chicken Recipes

Visit Chefs.com to view their recent Top 10 Chicken recipes list.  There are some good standards there like Mediterranean Baked Chicken, Jerk Chicken, and Waldorf Chicken Salad.  Just wish they had photos of each dish.

By Robert | October 2, 2005 in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

Search All Internet Recipes Sites in One Click

Tired of searching for a recipe online by hopping from one recipe site to another?  Check out FoodieView.com, a new recipe search engine that will search all online recipes sites for the recipe you're looking for.

The site also helps narrow your search results by specific ingredients, type of dish and cuisine, and even by chef name.  It's a great tool that will help simplify your recipe searches.  FoodieView even includes a "recipe box" feature that lets you save your favorite recipes.

Visit FoodieView.com.  It's free, too!

By Robert | September 9, 2005 in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

Secrets of the Perfect Burger by Nancy Silverton

What better time to have a burger than on a Labor Day weekend barbeque.  Nancy Silverton of Campanile and La Brea Bakery talks about her love of "one of the great American dishes", and shares her recipe and preparation secrets in "The Perfect Burger".

What surprised me was her desired fat content of 20 - 28% fat for her burger.  I knew I always wanted a fattier burger than lean, but 28%?  Sounds delicious, if not a bit higher fat content than I ever would have thought to try.

Read more at "The Perfect Burger" via Los Angeles Times

By Robert | September 2, 2005 in Chef News, Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

Are You Using Enough Salt in Your Cooking?

Professional chef and writer, Emily Kaiser, raises some good points about when and how much salt to use when cooking on her website.  Her points certainly help us in using salt a bit more boldly in our cooking.  She quotes Thomas Keller of The French Laundry and Per Se, "Salt is the new olive oil."

Read "Chefs who salt early if not often" via The Food Section

By Robert | August 10, 2005 in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

Top 10 Ways to Improve Your Cooking

When you're a food lover and like spending time in the kitchen, you're probably always looking for ways to add to your skills.  And when you see articles like "Top 10 Ways to Improve Your Cooking", you just have to read it, don't you?  What's even better is that you find out there's some things on that list you do already.

See Fine Cooking Magazine's 10 cooking tips.

By Robert | July 27, 2005 in Cooking, Kitchen & Cooking Tips | Permalink | Comments (0)

Christmas Cookie Recipes

From epicurious.com, see these Christmas cookie recipes from Gourmet magazine.  Plus, these holiday cookie recipes from '02 Gourmet magazine.

Visit Cooking Light's website for their cookie recipe countdown - a new cookie recipe a day until Christmas.

RECOMMENDED READING - Baking Illustrated: A Best Recipe Classic & Big Fat Cookies

By Robert | December 1, 2004 in Christmas, Cooking | Permalink | Comments (1)

Around the World with Cooking Schools

Billed as "The Ultimate Guide to Cooking Schools", join Travel and Leisure Magazine as they give you an international tour of cooking schools.  Plus see their list of top wine courses, professional culinary schools, hotel cooking programs, and more.

By Robert | November 29, 2004 in Cooking, Education, Food & Wine Country Travel | Permalink | Comments (1)

Tips for Buying a Turkey

Yesterday, I met a man who has been deep frying turkeys for over 40 years.  We talked alot about turkey and he gave me some great tips.  His first tip was to buy smaller turkey hens.  Hens, it seems, have bigger thighs, legs and breasts.  They are more tender because they are also younger and smaller, and it's best to buy ones that are 10 to 12 pounds.  If you need more meat, then buy two smaller turkey hens.  He said never to buy larger turkeys--like the ones on sale that are over 20 pounds.  Most likely these are older male turkeys that have less meat and skinnier drumsticks and thinner breasts.  Generally, these turkeys will be tougher.  That's why they're on sale.  I think I learned alot yesterday, and I'm on my way to buying a turkey hen today.

By Robert | November 16, 2004 in Cooking, Thanksgiving | Permalink | Comments (0)

Delicious Chocolate Recipes from France

One of foodie readers' favorite blogs might be ChocolateandZucchini.com, and we love their Chocolate is My Friend archives. These aren't your usual chocolate dessert recipes, but ones that remind us of eating great desserts on our trip to France last year. If you're looking for a cultural twist on a chocolate recipe, then pick one here. Our favorite is the Apricot & Ginger Chocolate Cake. Even if you're not in the mood to cook, blog writer, Chotilde, is a joy to read.

By Robert | October 4, 2004 in Chocolate, Cooking | Permalink | Comments (1)

Find Recipes Using Google

I recently heard of using Google to find recipes just by entering the ingredients you have on hand, and I found this great online tool. Just enter the ingredients you might have, and this Google tool will find you all the recipes online using those ingredients. Great way to find a way to use what's left in your refrigerator, and maybe saving you a trip to the store.

By Robert | September 19, 2004 in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (1)

Best Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Everyone has their favorite pumpkin pie recipe, right? Well, count on Cook's Illustrated to test all the different ways to make pumpkin pie to come up with their own best version.

Note--since publishing this post, Cook's Illustrated has changed access to its page, so here's a copy of the recipe below.

Continue reading "Best Pumpkin Pie Recipe"

By Robert | September 15, 2004 in Cooking, Halloween, Thanksgiving | Permalink | Comments (1)

Get Ready for Summer Grilling - BBQ Tips

Gear up for your summer backyard barbeque's. Hear from some grilling experts from Food & Wine's Grilling Tips.

By Robert | May 18, 2004 in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (1)

2004 James Beard Award Nominees Announced

The 2004 James Beard Foundation Awards nominees were presented last week. Winners will be announced during the May 10 14th Annual James Beard Foundation Awards and Gala Reception. Ticket information is available at www.jamesbeard.org.

See the complete list of 2004 Nominees here.

By Robert | March 16, 2004 in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

Recipes for St. Patrick's Day

Here's some sources for recipes for St. Patrick's Day celebrations.

Allrecipes.com | BHG.com

By Robert | February 19, 2004 in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

Christmas Entertaining Ideas from Gourmet Magazine

Looking for ideas for your Christmas holiday entertaining? Gourmet Magazine's website epicurious.com offers a collection of their best recipes, drinks, and how-tos for your Christmas party and more.

Bon Appetit also offers their holiday ideas from holiday dinners to desserts.

By Robert | December 12, 2003 in Christmas, Cooking, Holidays | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Twist on Thanksgiving Stuffing and More

Thanksgiving stuffing can be as traditional or untraditional as you imagine. To experiment and explore, Better Homes and Gardens offers a few unique versions of your traditional Thanksgiving turkey stuffing.

For a variety of other Thanksgiving recipes, Food and Wine Magazine's website offers an extensive listing of Thanksgiving articles and recipes covering turkey, appetizers, desserts, wine pairings, and holiday entertainment tips.

Daily Olive Special - Save on Food and Gourmet Magazines!

By Robert | November 21, 2003 in Cooking, Thanksgiving | Permalink | Comments (0)

TurkeyHelp.com - All About Turkey from Cook's Illustrated

Our favorite cooking magazine, Cook's Illustrated, has published a new minisite all about Thanksgiving turkey. Appropriately called TurkeyHelp.com, the site has everthing you ever needed to know about buying, preparing, cooking, and carving your Thanksgiving turkey. As thorough as their magazine articles, you find the same comprehensive detail and knowledge on this great holiday resource.

By Robert | November 18, 2003 in Christmas, Cooking, Thanksgiving | Permalink | Comments (0)

Holiday Recipe: Cajun Deep Fried Turkey

Each year it seems we hear more about people deep frying their Thanksgiving turkey. So this year, we set out to find out about this Cajun tradition of deep frying turkeys.

We found excellent articles about turkey frying in general--"Deep-fried Turkey" from Texas A&M University, and another from native New Orleanian Chuck Taggarts' website The Gumbo Pages. And another site called Jim's Cajun Deep-Fried Turkey Page, comes with pictures of a fryer set-up in Jim's driveway.

Of course, we have to include a fried turkey recipe from Emeril, the star of Food TV.

Related Link: Turk N' Surf Electric Turkey Fryer

By Robert | November 14, 2003 in Cooking, Holidays, Thanksgiving | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thanksgiving Countdown - A Cook's Guide

FoodTv.com helps us prepare for Thanksgiving dinner and hopefully make it a bit less stressful with their Thanksgiving Countdown list. For virgin Thanksgiving hosts, this list is a godsend. For veterans, it might be old hat but always a good reminder.

By Robert | November 3, 2003 in Cooking, Thanksgiving | Permalink | Comments (0)

Capture the Flavors of Shanghai with Chinablue

In recent years, Shanghai has recaptured its pre-war stature of the most cosmopolitan city in the Far East. On the lifestyle front, Chinablue founder, Richard Wong, brings his vision of Shanghainese elegance and sophistication with new culinary food products, home furnishings, and future destination concepts that include retail locations, restaurants, and boutique hotels.

The Chinablue culinary product line was inspired by Richard's memories of growing up in Shanghai and his treasured family's recipes. The flavors of Shanghainese cuisine have been captured in his line of sauces, dressings, glazes, oils, and teas. Enjoy these uniquely Shanghainese blends of soy sauce, sesame oils, scallions and ginger, sherry, and black beans.

Chinablue Shanghai Glazes available online thru Sur La Table.

By Robert | October 25, 2003 in A Food & Wine Gift Guide, Cooking, Food | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dust Off Your Cookbooks

Photographer Heidi Swanson loves cookbooks and by her count, owns over 100 cookbooks. Since early this year, she decided that it was time to "stop buying, and start cooking". Her weblog, 101 Cookbooks, is her personal diary of trying new recipes from her cookbook library. Her writing about each new recipe experience may inspire you to look into your own cookbook collection and try something new. Every diary entry is categorized by recipe and cookbook, even down to the page number. Enjoy!

By Robert | October 23, 2003 in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)