Ready for Radishes

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

One of my favorite late-afternoon snacks at this time of the year when the weather starts to heat up is radishes, spread with a little high-quality unsalted butter at room temperature and sprinkled with flaked sea salt. The natural peppery bite of the radish offers a great contrast to the sweet, creamy butter.

I keep radishes at the ready by cleaning them, trimming the stems (keeping a little bit on the end as a handle) and storing them in a container in water in the fridge, covered. This way, they keep crisp and cold. Also, you always have something on hand for an impromptu visit from a friend or neighbor. Simply pat the radishes dry and cut them in half, if desired.

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How to Cook Brown Rice

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

There's one technique that I still see novice cooks and professionals struggle over: it's how to cook brown rice. The proportion of water to rice, how long to cook, whether to steam or cook over direct heat…these questions trip cooks up.

The extra layer of bran, which differentiates brown rice from the bran-less white rice, is what stymies cooks because it requires a little longer cooking time. My technique, which hasn't failed me in years and always produces perfectly fluffy grains, is easy to remember: one part rice to two parts water. Most use a 1:1 3/4 ratio, but that's hard to remember and leaves you no wiggle room when it comes to getting the heating right.

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The Hakka Cookbook: Linda Finds her Roots

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Growing up, I used to think that Chinese cuisine was one monolithic cuisine – the kind that we got at the local Chinese restaurant. If I had just considered the size of China, both geographically and by population, I would have realized what a myopic view that was. Since then, more restaurants have sprung up and more cookbooks have been written to familiarize us with the regional cuisines of China.

But when my friend Linda Lau Anusasananan first informed me that she was Hakka, and she was writing a Hakka cookbook, I had no frame of reference to digest this bit of news. I knew Linda was Chinese American and grew up in Paradise, California. So where did Hakka fit in?

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Fresh Tomato Sauce for Pasta

By Sandy Hu
A new video for Video Friday

Soon sweet and juicy tomatoes will be in bountiful supply. Funny gnarled heirlooms, dainty red and yellow cherry and pear varieties, and tomatoes of every conceivable shape and color will tempt us with their glorious taste of summer.

It’s time for bruschetta, BLTs, salsas and salads.

When selecting tomatoes of a single variety, pick the ones that have the most vibrant color. Store tomatoes at room temperature. I like to store mine in a single layer (so they don’t bruise) in several brown paper bags. Just don’t forget about them and let them spoil.

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The Secret to Getting your Kids to Eat Spinach

By Marilyn Hunter
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

Want to know how to get your kids to eat spinach? Simple: add a little crispy bacon. I don’t know about you, but my boys literally vibrate when they can smell bacon cooking. They would eat just about anything with bacon crumbled on top. This old school salad is perfect for finicky kids and not bad for adults, too.

I stopped frying bacon in a pan years ago … now I bake it in the oven. For those of you who don’t know this trick, place a baking rack on top of a sheet pan, then arrange the bacon slices in rows on the rack and bake in a preheated oven at 350°F. The bacon won’t shrink as much as in a pan, the rack keeps the bacon from soaking in fat and most of all, there’s no splattering grease, making clean up so much easier.

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