Chicken Recipes

Recipe: Coq au vin (chicken braised in wine)

Go ahead. Impress people. Tell them you're making coq au vin. It's just chicken... braised in wine, thus making it fabulous. In its original French inception, the coq referred to a rooster, typically … [Read More...]

More Holiday Posts

Recipe: Mom’s Cranberry Nut Bread

Gently warmed and slathered with butter, this bread tastes like Christmas morning to me. My mother has made this bread every Christmas for the past several years. She doesn't remember where the recipe … [Read More...]

Cooking fundamentals

How to Outfit a Kitchen on a Budget or 14 Things Every Kitchen Needs

People have been quite successful making a lot of food in the past centuries with little more than a pot, spoon, bowl, knife and cutting surface. I’ve put together a very general guide that I’ve used for events aimed at college students, and you’ll find the list below. A Good Chef’s Knife Don’t waste money […]

Cooking in Parchment (video lesson)

Cooking en papillote (French for “parchment”) is a wildly overlooked method of cooking in America. It’s an easy method for a quick weeknight dinner that’s also elegant enough for guests. The smell that escapes when the package is reason enough to try it. This works well for salmon and mild-flavored white fish such as snapper, cod and so […]

Knife Skills – The Basics [video lesson]

I’ve interviewed dozens of home cooks and hands down (pun intended), the most valuable thing a home cook can do is to get a decent chef’s knife and learn how to use it. Below, you’ll find a quick video lesson. After that, you’ll find basics on buying and caring for a chef’s knife. A good […]

Recipe: Rosemary-Thyme-Lemon Oil

Adapted from a story by editor Jennifer Armentrout from Fine Cooking, this infused oil can be added to roasted vegetables before cooking or to steamed vegetables afterward. It provides a lovely complement to roasted beets, butternut squash, carrots, cauliflower, fennel, mushrooms, parsnips, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Yields enough for about one to two pounds of roasted vegetables.  […]

How to do a Comparative Tasting and Why You Should

Salt to taste. If you’ve ever read a recipe, you’ve probably seen that line. Though common, it’s also a common source of confusion for home cooks. “Whose taste?” some ask. The answer, your taste, often leads to more questioning: “What is my taste?” or “What if my taster’s no good?” Salt to taste just means salt […]