Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 4:00AM When you work in a test kitchen, it’s not only prudent, but also necessary to pace yourself when it comes to tasting. A sensible breakfast is key to staving off the hunger that can turn a modest bite or two into a plate-licking portion. Good sense went out the window on the morning when Carly, one of our budding interns, threw together this bread instead of throwing out a bunch of over-ripe bananas.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010 at 4:00AM 
This week in the test kitchen, we were working on recipes that required a wok. Even in professional kitchens, less frequented equipment have a way of hiding best when you need it most. A fly on the wall that day would have heard,
“Do we have a wok?”
“Yeah, I know I’ve used it before, but I haven’t seen it recently.”
“Do you remember packing it? Maybe it got lost in the move.”
“How do you lose a wok?!”
Once unearthed and inspected for quality assurance we concluded that our carbon steel wok had received no love. But that was about to change. A bit of research in our cookbook library uncovered an excellent wok priming primer by Chinese cookbook author and wok connoisseur, Grace Young. Armed with good counsel and some steel wool, we undertook a transformation on par with Michael Caine’s makeover of Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality. Our wok has never looked, or cooked, better.
