What’s for Dinner? Pulled Chicken in 30 Minutes

Andrew and Marilyn Hunter are on hiatus as Andrew begins shooting the premier season of a new reality TV show. During their absence, The Family Table will be penned by our Special Fork Food Editors.

By Joanne Lamb Hayes
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

When my family discovered pulled pork sandwiches at a local barbecue restaurant, they asked me if I would make them at home and I said, “Well, maybe.” But every time I thought about marinating, wet mopping and slow roasting a big chunk of meat for hours, I decided to just take them back to the restaurant.

Then on one visit we noticed something new on the menu, pulled chicken. It was delicious and I said, “This I can make!”

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Having a “Temper” Tantrum?

By Katie Barreira
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

Tempering chocolate can be one of the more intimidating, exacting and maddening culinary tasks. But it doesn’t have to be.

Why temper?
If you’re going to melt chocolate for coating, candy making, or dipping you’ll have much snappier results if you take the time to temper.

When heated above 90 degrees the fat in chocolate (cocoa butter) separates and forms streaky grey crystals when cool if not first recombined.

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SPAMMED – the Food Kind!

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

If you grew up in Hawaii and you claim Spam has never touched your lips, you are: 1) a hermit 2) a protected child of food snobs or 3) telling a lie.

As everyone knows, Hawaii boasts the highest per capita consumption of Spam in the U.S. Spam meals and snacks are sold at local drive-ins, McDonald’s and even the 7-Eleven.

So tonight, when I attend the annual ancestral potluck of the San Francisco Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International, an august gathering of food influencers, guess what I’m taking to represent my heritage? Spam musubi!

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Movie Day – into Night

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

I’ve gotten into the craze of Downton Abbey to the point that I had to revisit Seasons 1 and 2 before seeing the first episode of Season 3 (aired on PBS this past Sunday night).

Sitting through one series is quite enough, but two is a bit crazy. Well, not that crazy, since it wasn’t like I had to keep my eyes glued to the television since I had already seen it.

So I made it my background noise while I was doing a bit of reorganization at home. It just makes it all the sweeter if you can put reorganization and fun in the same sentence. All the while, I was accomplishing at least one task on my New Year’s resolutions, which was to move more and to de-clutter. Wait, that’s two down….love it when multitasking works out!

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Nutty for Nut Milk

By Katie Barreira
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

Happy 2013! As I think back over the past year of eating, there are a few culinary encounters that stand out because they revolutionized the way I eat.

As a foodie and a food professional, I’m always getting hyped-up about some hip trend (home brewing, from beer to kombucha) or novel restaurant item (toast oil), but few of these marvels actually stick, become part of my routine eating habits and working themselves into my everyday way of being.

Here’s one that did.

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