Garlic: Our Frustrating Old Friend

By Craig Deppe

As ubiquitous as onions in savory foods, garlic is much loved for its flavor but perhaps not as much for its ease of preparation. This pungent relative of the lily comes wrapped in messy “parchment” that has to be removed from the head only to reveal another layer tightly clinging to each clove. Once this inner layer is pried from the prize there still remains the task of preparing it so that it lends its wonderful qualities most effectively.

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Mac & Cheese Night

By Andrew Hunter

Mac & Cheese is my generation's original comfort food. It was on home menus so often that it became a packaged food that our moms used for convenience. But many of us kids who grew up with Mac & Cheese from “the box” are now parents seeking the same comfort with a homemade spin.

We started a Mac & Cheese Night at the Hunter house when Benny and Nicky were babies and still carry on the tradition five years later. Our version changes with the kind of cheese, pasta and goodies we have in the house, but the classic recipe below is a good starting point. It can be made a day or two in advance and conveniently reheated for dinner and a few easy lunches.

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Bacon & Eggs on a Frightful Night

By Lori Powell

I have moved to Pennsylvania to be the Food Director of Prevention magazine and I am thrilled…super beyond thrilled. What I am not so thrilled about is getting stuck in the snow on the 1/3-mile-long driveway of the place where I am house sitting, until I find a more permanent situation.

It sounded so blissful at first…a 40-acre farm, remote, quiet, with a kitchen that has a Viking range, Sub-Zero fridge and sunny windows.

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Faux Foie: a Sumptuous Super Bowl Spread on a Pauper’s Budget

By Katie Barreira

Foie gras, literally, “fat liver,” is a famously French product manufactured by over-feeding geese (traditionally) or ducks, forcing the animal’s liver to more than double in size. The culinary result is a sinfully rich and silky spread that is the piece de resistance of fine dining menus and one of my favorite indulgences.

Other aspects of foie’s sinful nature have been brought to light, not only by animal rights activists, but also by chefs, like Charlie Trotter, who made foie gras (and himself) infamous when he succeeded in having the specialty item legally banned in Chicago. (The law was repealed two years later.)

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Good Cooks Need the Right Tools

By Sandy Hu

A carbon steel crepe pan changed Atlanta chef Mary Moore’s life.

“I was in New York cooking at the Greenmarket with Scott Peacock. We were making crepes with fresh apples,” Mary recalled. “We had forgotten our crepe pan so went all over the city looking for one, and surprisingly, we couldn’t find any at all the bigger stores. Scott said, ‘I know the store that will have one.’ He took us to Bridge Kitchenware. They had it – and thousands of other cool culinary tools. And I said, ‘One day, I’m going to have a store like this!’”

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