Broiling – An overlooked but efficient dry heat method
In addition to roasting and baking, broiling is another dry heat method for cooking. But when was the last time you fired up your broiler? I have to admit. I don’t use mine very often. But when you need to, you need to. Today’s featured image is that of pork carnitas, slow cooked to tender […]
The Difference Between Roasting and Baking
Difference between roasting and baking If you do an internet search, you’ll find plenty on the difference between roasting and baking. And for the most part, they all pretty much say the same thing. Personally, I think it’s splitting hairs. I say this because much of what you’ll find are generalizations with plenty of exceptions. […]
Cooking Methods – Learn the culinary terms for applying heat to food
Cooking Methods: Why you should care … Cooking methods refer to how heat is applied to food. Any recipe that’s worth its salt has properly matched the cooking method with the food being cooked. Would you ever boil fish? I wouldn’t. I don’t. Boiling is a violent cooking method that’s suitable for few things. Perhaps […]
The 5 Tastes – balancing the basic tastes to create endless dishes
Balancing the 5 tastes to create flavor and texture Before I leave the topic of the 5 tastes and balancing them to achieve endless dishes, I’ve got one more on the subject in an attempt to put a bow around it. I ran across this video on making risotto. I’m sorry for the length because […]
How to Cut Onions … and avoid the tears
Those pesky onions I know you came here to find how to cut onions, so below is a great video on how to six different ways. But I’m hoping you’ll stick around long enough to learn something about knives and other knife skills. Knife skills are an essential part of every home cook’s repertoire. The […]
Mise En Place – Before we ever fire up a pan …
Mise en place Mise en place is French, and it means to put in place. If you have ever watched a cooking show or a video recipe, you saw mise en place in action. I do my own variation, and I endorse any variation you’re comfortable with. The methodology used in today’s article is what […]
The Taste of Spicy – The taste that’s not a taste
What Is the Taste of Spicy? I briefly talked about the taste of spicy in a previous post, so I won’t get into the technical aspects. But with that said, I want to make sure that I provide you with a good source of spicy ingredients to add a little interest when something is lacking. […]
The Taste of Umami – Is there really an umami flavor?
Well … technically, I think it’s really more of an umami taste than an umami flavor. So what is umami? Well … I have both a simple and complicated answer for you. First the simple. Until I started writing this article, I was unaware that umami has its own taste sensors, just like the other […]
The Taste of Bitter – Eating what’s good for you
As a general rule, I think we humans don’t care for the taste of bitter. My personal exception is black coffee. I can’t stand it all doctored up with sugar and cream. Consequently, many of us avoid bitter foods. The problem with avoidance is that many bitter foods are good for us. Never miss a […]
