Our Best Cooking Tips and Tricks

Special Fork is on summer hiatus from August 5 through Labor Day. Each Monday, while we’re on vacation, I’ll present another facet of Special Fork and highlight some features you might have missed.

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

A sensible way to learn to cook is to just do it, one simple recipe at a time. By following instructions in a recipe, you’re rewarded with something good to eat, and you’ll begin to learn cooking techniques along the way.

After more than three years of blogging, Monday through Friday, Special Fork bloggers have produced a rich collection of recipes, all taking no more than 30 minutes of prep time. And, embedded in many of the blog posts, are useful cooking tips and tricks that I am highlighting for you today.

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What to Cook Tomorrow?

Special Fork is on summer hiatus from August 5 through Labor Day. Each Monday, while we’re on vacation, I’ll present another facet of Special Fork and highlight some features you might have missed.

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Special Fork is on summer hiatus from August 5 through Labor Day. Each Monday, while we’re on vacation, I’ll present another facet of Special Fork and highlight some features you might have missed.

If you know our story, you know that our site, whether you visit via smartphone or computer, is meant to be used at the end of day, when you’re faced with deciding what to cook for dinner, and don’t have a clue. All our recipes take 30 minutes of prep or less; cooking time may be extra. The place to search for recipes is in our database.

For this week’s post, I’d like to introduce you to Special Fork’s Pinterest page. We have all kinds of fun and useful food-related boards including Food Humor, one of my favorites.

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How to Make Crème Fraîche

By David Hu
A new video for Video Friday

Today’s Special Fork Video Friday features our easiest video yet. You just mix two ingredients and leave it alone for 10 hours. Period!

Crème fraîche, like sour cream, is used to dollop on soups, as a dessert topping, and for many sweet and savory recipes when a thick, tangy creaminess is desired. It’s fairly expensive to buy but the ingredients used to make it, heavy cream and buttermilk, are more budget-friendly. When you mix the two ingredients together and let it stand at room temperature, the mixture thickens and turns tangy. Once it thickens, store the mixture in the fridge up to 10 days, where it will continue to get thicker and tangier.

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Summer Patty Melts

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

Food and baseball are two of our favorite things. Last night, Marilyn and Nick were at a birthday party, which left Ben and me to our own devices. The first-place Dodgers were playing the Reds at 6 p.m. So Ben and I joined forces to prepare dinner in 30 minutes. After all, we needed to be watching in time to see the lineup!

We decided on patty melts and grapes. Ben spread mustard on the bread, grated the cheese, washed the grapes, and stirred the onions while they were caramelizing in the cast iron skillet. I sliced the onions, made the artichoke mayo, and formed and seasoned the patties. There was no need to set the table because we would be eating on the patio in time to hear the words, “It’s time for Dodger Baseball.”

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Fix and Carry

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

BBQs are the hit of the summer season. What to bring when someone invites you?

Well, your dish needs to be seasonal, tasty and something that can sit outside for a bit without perishing in the heat (so not dairy). Bonus points if you can make it ahead and double bonus points if it’s inexpensive to fix.

Bean salad is the order of the day! The classic is a three bean salad, but why not more than three?

I grew up on jarred three bean salad and absolutely loved it since it’s a cross between a pickle and a salad (and I have never met a pickle I didn’t like). Add beans to pickles and you up the health factor.

Combining the crisp texture of lightly cooked green beans with the creaminess of a white or red kidney bean, and the crunch of sweet corn, along with a hit of mustard (salty), honey and vinegar, is a winning combination. This salad also pairs well with all of the usual offerings at a summer BBQ as it gives welcome freshness and textural relief to the grilled meaty burgers, hot dogs and chicken.

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