No Cooking Tonight

By Lori Powell
For One or Two Bites, a blog for singles and couples

Hot, hot, hot is all I have to say! We have so much amazing produce and fruit in the market, there is simply no reason to get hot in the kitchen. The stuff that is coming out of the ground right now is super-sweet and needs no heat intervention.

Okay, call me crazy but go ahead and blanch your beans, if necessary. But there is simply no quicker way to heat up a room than to set a saucepot of water to boil. Take my word for it. I live in the kitchen and just one of the reasons I love my refrigerator…instant air conditioning.

Click to read more ...

Vanilla Beans

By Ben Mims
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

In many of the recipes I develop, I often call for vanilla beans. Their best quality, aside from flavor, is their ability to impart any plain panna cotta, cake, or ice cream with a pleasing, speckled appearance, thanks to the seeds within the vanilla bean itself. And unlike vanilla extract, which is made from soaking vanilla beans in alcohol for several weeks, the seeds from the bean carry a noticeably different, more refined vanilla flavor and aroma.

To get at those precious seeds couldn’t be simpler: Hold one end of the bean on a cutting board with your finger, and using a paring knife, insert the tip of the knife on the bean just below where your finger is holding it. Keeping pressure steady, slide the knife down the length of the bean until the end, splitting it in half. Then, turn the knife over and place the blunt side of the blade against your finger and, pressing down, rake the knife down the length of the bean to remove the seeds; repeat with the other half of the bean.

Click to read more ...

Deep Freeze

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

If the temperature shoots up to 90 degrees in San Francisco, we melt – so rarely are we hit with sweltering weather here. But everywhere else, it’s turning into a red-hot summer and food must accommodate.

I understand why they say eating spicy, hot foods will make you sweat and cool you down. But I don’t care. When it’s hot, I want something cold.

So I was thinking about those frozen bananas we used to make as kids in Hawaii. You’ve probably made them, yourself. You put a stick through a peeled banana , pop it in the freezer, and you have a healthy banana “popsicle.” If you want it fancier, you dip it in melted chocolate and refreeze. That’s the recipe.

Click to read more ...

Cheese-Stuffed Mushrooms

By Sandy Hu
A new video for Video Friday

One of the first appetizers I learned to make as a newlywed was Cheese-Stuffed Mushrooms. I copied the recipe from a friend in New York City, who had made it for a party, and I was impressed. While I was new to cooking, this recipe is the kind that almost guarantees success – quick and easy, delicious, and with make-ahead potential so I wouldn’t be flustered just before guests arrived.

When buying mushrooms for this recipe, look for ones that are about the same size so they finish cooking at the same time and look attractive together on the serving platter. If I have to buy them prepackaged, I buy an extra package so I can sort the mushrooms, setting aside the odd sizes for another use. I love mushrooms and I can easily add them sliced raw in salads, sautéed in omelets, simmered in soups…you can never have too many mushrooms in your fridge.

Click to read more ...

Crumb Cake: It’s the Real Deal

By Ben Mims
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

One of the things I’ve missed the most about living on the East Coast is crumb cake. As weird as it may sound, I associate life in New York and the East Coast with crumb cake. Maybe it’s because of the German immigrants that influenced that region and brought their baked goods with them, that you can find crumb cake in every bakery and corner store there.

Elsewhere in America, crumb cake gets called coffee cake and is merely vanilla cake covered with a little crumble topping. And while those cakes are fine, the real crumb cake should be packed with buttery crumbs of topping, virtually the same thickness as the cake it covers. This cake is one of my favorite breakfast foods; a simple delight when eaten fresh with hot tea or coffee.

Click to read more ...