Bag of Beans » cooking

10 Stubborn Food Myths That Just Won’t Die, Debunked by Science [Nutrition]

author-unknown — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Every other week, new research claims one food is better than another, or that some ingredient yields incredible new health benefits. Couple that with a few old wives' tales passed down from your parents, and each time you fire up your stove or sit down to eat a healthy meal, it can be difficult separating food fact from fiction. We talked to a group of nutritionists and asked them to share the food myths they find most irritating and explain why people cling to them. Here's what they said. More »

Supercook: recipe search by ingredients you have at home

Beanbag — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 21:43:32 +0000

(via Delicious/tsangal)

Fresh Sriracha (aka, home made ‘Rooster’) – Recipes – food52

Beanbag — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:09:31 +0000

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Expensive cleavers are a waste of money

author-unknown — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:34:15 +0000

(via Boing Boing)

I love many things about chef J.Kenji Lopez-Alt, not least his fantastic name, but today I'm enamored of his take on the cleaver. A cleaver is both metaphorically and literally a blunt instrument, he writes at Serious Eats:

...avoid expensive Japanese or German cleavers, period. If they sell it at Williams-Sonoma, you don't want it. A cleaver is meant to be only for the toughest of the tough jobs, and will get beat up. It doesn't require the razor sharp edge-maintaining abilities of expensive German or Japanese steel, so there's no sense in paying over-the-odds prices for one when cheaper models are just as serviceable.

There's more, and it's all a breath of fresh air. I particularly like Lopez-Alt's brisk shredding of the $160 Shen Kun Onion Meat Cleaver, which he figures costs about $145 too much: Please. Unless you need a simultaneously pretty and menacing tool to perform ritual sacrifices with, it has no business anywhere near a real kitchen. His final recommendation is the very unsexy General Purpose Cleaver Knife with Wood Handle from Dexter-Russell. At $40 it's more than twice as pricey as Lopez-Alt's all-time favorite cleaver, which he picked up for $15 at a restaurant supply store in Boston. But the Dexter-Russell will do the job, he writes, and more -- it will deliver "a lifetime of joyful chicken-hacking."

The Word of Mouth KFC challenge | Life and style | guardian.co.uk

Beanbag — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:06:12 +0000

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The Word of Mouth KFC challenge | Life and style | guardian.co.uk

Beanbag — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:06:12 +0000

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Common Cooking Myths You Can Easily Dispel [Science]

author-unknown — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:00:00 +0000

(via Lifehacker)

Kitchen "tips" and habits made up a big percentage of things we discovered we were doing wrong. Searing meat to seal in juices? Baking soda absorbing fridge odors? Alcohol that "cooks off" instantly? This great debunking page dispels such common kitchen myths. More »

Book: Ratio

Beanbag — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:02:31 +0000

Ratio

Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking
by Michael Ruhlman.
Scribner, 2009.

Ruhlman gives readers the ratios behind many basic recipes, and tells you when you should follow them and when you may need to make adjustments or what variations you might want to try. Most of the ratios are related to baking, but also included are some meat-based ratios, stocks and sauces. Knowing and understanding these ratios will ultimately give you great flexibility in the kitchen.

Rating: 8/10

Links:

Book: Heat

Beanbag — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 07:05:22 +0000

Heat: An Amateur’s Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany
by Bill Buford.
Anchor Canada, 2007

In Heat, Bill Buford, a writer for The New Yorker, leaves his job to become a cook at Babbo, a top Italian restaurant in Manhanttan. Buford has written a clear and interesting account of his struggles to learn his way in a fast-paced and demanding kitchen as a professional cook, and really brings to life the environment and the personalities of the people that he works with. Eventually, as he becomes more confident in his abilities and his passion for cooking grows, he is drawn to Italy by the desire to learn authentic Italian cooking techniques, including the butchering of meat. As he studies under some of Italy’s masters, we are also treated to a sentimental overview of the history and traditions of Italian cuisine. Bill Buford’s memoir is a well-written, fascinating book and I really enjoyed it.

Rating: 8/10

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