Bread Machine Makes Quick Work of Hot Cross Buns

By Sandy Hu

Do you have a bread machine gathering dust in your garage? I do. It was given to me when I first joined the Fleischmann’s Yeast brand in the heyday of the electric bread maker.

Shortly after, I wrote and co-produced a bread machine cookbook, working with the company’s skilled home economists, who created a wide variety of recipes that they tested in all makes and models of bread machines in the company’s test kitchens.

I’ve baked bread from scratch for many years so I didn’t really need a bread machine. But I’ve kept that old machine, and every Easter, I dust it off and return it to the kitchen to make hot cross buns.

Why the bread machine? These days, I really don’t have time to mix up dough, knead it, let it rise, shape it, let it rise again and bake. With the bread machine, I dump the ingredients in at once, set it to the dough cycle, then take out the dough, already kneaded and risen. I just shape, let rise for 10 minutes, and bake! How easy is that?

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A Delicious Chinese Chicken Salad

By Sandy Hu

Congratulations to Blake S. from Fort Myers FL who won our Special Fork Kerrygold sweepstakes! Thanks to all who participated.

Iceberg lettuce gets no respect. In my first public relations job, I represented America’s mainstay salad green, and even then it was losing ground to sexier choices like arugula and darker, more nutritious lettuce options like butter and romaine.

With so many leafy greens today, iceberg may seem like an anomaly. But nothing beats a crisp wedge of iceberg drizzled with blue cheese dressing. And it’s still a great partner for a BLT or a burger.

Iceberg lettuce is so mild as to be almost flavorless, but the crisp and crunchy texture of a well-chilled head is incomparable. I learned the trick of preparing iceberg lettuce on the job. The secret is to core, rinse and drain, then refrigerate.

Crisp up a head of iceberg lettuce to make this Chinese Chicken Salad. You could use romaine or napa cabbage, but I still like iceberg for this one.

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Making Lavash – A Weekend Diversion

By Sandy Hu

While cleaning my office on Sunday, I decided to tackle a carton full of my bylined articles, accumulated over more years than I care to admit. There were stories I had written at Co-Ed magazine when I was a 26-year-old food editor living in New York City; stories from the Honolulu Advertiser where I wrote, edited and designed a weekly food section; and the various food articles I had written freelance for the Associated Press.

Planning to sort, scan and toss, I hadn’t gone very far when I came upon an article by Maili Yardley, the venerable writer who captured the life and times of Hawaii each week for the Advertiser in her food column, The Island Way.

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How to Eat Healthy: Secrets from a Former Biggest Loser Nutritionist

By Sandy Hu

As the nutritionist on the NBC-TV’s Biggest Loser reality TV show, Cheryl Forberg helped contestants shed thousands of pounds a year over the past 12 years. She left the show after this season to concentrate on her private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area and on building a studio kitchen for her TV cooking demos. I’ve known Cheryl for many years as a fellow member of Les Dames d’Escoffier International.

While we are still feeling virtuous about our New Year diet resolutions, I asked my dietitian friend for advice on staying on track to ensure a lifetime of healthy – and tasty – eating.

Cheryl is the perfect advisor, with impressive culinary and nutrition credentials. She graduated from the California Culinary Academy and apprenticed at top restaurants in France. Having earned a degree in Nutrition and Clinical Dietetics and an RD (registered dietitian) credential from the University of California at Berkeley, she became a research dietitian at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Cheryl’s career also includes being on the opening team of Wolfgang Puck’s Postrio in San Francisco and serving as the private chef for Lucasfilm, Ltd., in Northern California.

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Tooling Around

By Sandy Hu

Just in time for holiday cooking, Special Fork is featuring Tool Week. For the entire week Special Fork Bloggers will be blogging about their favorite kitchen tools.

And we’d like to know which are your go-to tools.  Those of you who are our fans on Facebook will be eligible for a drawing of some cool kitchen tools especially selected by Special Fork (value: $75). And don't forget to let us know what your favorite tools are.

I love kitchen tools and my utensil drawers are chock-full of them But here are my go-to choices.

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