Cooking tips
Rice Never Turns Out Right? It's Probably Your Method
Two ways to cook rice, two completely different results. Absorption gives separate, fragrant grains. Boiling in lots of water often gives glue. Here's why.
The notebook
The kitchen notebook
Where we write down what we learn from ruining dinners: why onions take forty-five minutes to caramelize, how much salt goes in the pasta water, what seasonal produce is really worth. Techniques and opinions, not generated lists.
Freezing Food: What You Can Freeze, What You Can't, and How
Most people underuse their freezer for fear of doing it wrong. The list of what you can't freeze is short. The list of what you...
Homemade Pie Crust (Pâte Brisée): The Recipe You'll Keep Making
Store-bought dough is soft, greasy and sticks to everything. A homemade pâte brisée takes 10 minutes, holds up better in the...
T45, T55, T65: What the Number on Your Flour Bag Really Means
Flour type changes the texture of your cakes, bread and dough. Understanding the number lets you pick the right flour, not...
Why Your Dish Tastes Flat (and How to Fix It in Two Minutes)
A dull dish is rarely an ingredient or recipe problem. It's usually an imbalance of acid, salt, fat and sugar, and you can learn...
Dried Beans: How to Soak, Cook and Digest Them Without Trouble
Chickpeas that cause bloating, beans that stay hard after two hours of cooking: these are method mistakes, not fate. Here is what...
Stainless, Nonstick or Cast Iron Skillet? What Nobody Tells You Before You Buy
Three materials, three completely different behaviors. The wrong choice won't ruin your food, it just makes every cook a bit...
Is an Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven Really Worth the Price?
A Le Creuset or a Staub costs $220-440, while alternatives run around $55. What justifies the gap (or doesn't), and what to do...
Is a Stand Mixer Useful or Just a Gadget? The Honest Question
A KitchenAid takes up space, costs $440-770, and is pointless if you don't bake regularly. Who it's worth it for, and what to...