Leftover Cream of Tartar? Try these Great Uses

By Katie Barreira

Cream of tartar is another one of those pesky ingredients that gets used by the quarter teaspoon and stays forgotten in the back of the spice rack. A byproduct of winemaking, this acidic powder is commonly used in angel food cake to prevent darkening, in meringue to stabilize beaten egg whites (or I like to lightly beat a pinch into whites for a super fluffy and satisfying egg white omelet) and in sugar syrups to inhibit crystallization.

When I got to thinking about all the different ways to use cream of tartar, I decided it would be a fun challenge to try and employ all (or most) of them in a single recipe. There’s less than a teaspoon, but a little goes a long way!

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Happy Chinese New Year

By Sandy Hu

When I was about 25, I threw my first Chinese New Year dinner party, inviting friends to our New York apartment. I’m not of Chinese heritage, and Steve, who is, didn’t have a tradition of celebrating Chinese New Year, having lost some of the customs along the way as a fourth-generation Chinese-American.

Gathering recipes from cookbooks, I put together an ambitious, multi-course meal that thrilled my friends. But I was exhausted by the effort of trying to get all the dishes – most of which I had never cooked before – to the table in a timely manner.

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Potatoes on the side, please

By David Hu

Often when I’m cooking, I get so caught up in the main dish that I run out of time or forget to make a side. There’s no excuse for skipping a side dish with these Parmesan Potato Wedges. The dish is extremely simple so you can work on it in between tasks for the main course. The other great thing is that this dish is cooked in the oven so I don’t have to watch it constantly and it frees up precious space on the stovetop.

Red bell peppers add color and a bit of sweetness and the Parmesan adds a nice cheesy tang.

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My L.A.

By Andrew Hunter

Five years ago we packed our bags and moved from San Francisco to L.A. completely unaware of the vast difference between Northern and Southern California. We replaced fog with smog, foghorns with police helicopters, and sourdough bread with taco stands. At first these differences were intolerable, but I must confess I’ve grown quite fond of this sprawling city. It’s now my L.A.

The restaurants in San Francisco tend to be more formal affairs where kids are less welcome. Since we eat out often, but rarely without the boys, the “everyone’s welcome” attitude of the southland better fits our lifestyle. Even at Spago, arguably L.A.’s finest, Wolfgang is glad to see kids of all ages dining at his tables. The boys love the Weiner Schnitzel, but more often crave old school hard-shell tacos.

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Asian Style Crab Cakes

By Lori Powell

For the New Year I am striving to eat less meat and increase my portion of vegetables and other lean proteins, such as fish.

So when I was developing a recipe with crab meat for Prevention magazine (I am the Food Director), and I had 8 ounces left over, I thought crab cakes would be a delicious way to use the remainder.

I used what I had on hand in my pantry to create the following Asian Style Crab Cakes with watercress and pickled beets…such as panko, eggs, scallions, fresh lime, watercress, mayo, pickled ginger and beets, and a touch of seasoned rice wine vinegar.

I never order crab cakes out since they are usually made with a lot of filler, such as breadcrumbs, and never enough crabmeat. I want to see the chunks of crabmeat in my cake and so they are one of those dishes that I love to make at home. Plus they are super easy and cook quickly.

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