What’s Cooking for the Fourth?

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

We’re not having a big cookout for the Fourth of July this year because there’s too much going on in our life right now. It will just be our family – Steve and me, Dave, Lynn and baby Tara, who, at five weeks old, makes up in entertainment what we lack in party size.

Still, I wouldn’t dream of letting the day go by without grilling some ribs and corn, cutting wedges of ice-cold watermelon and making a few sides. I’ve been going through our more than 500 previous Special Fork blog posts, looking for menu ideas, and I pulled these to consider for Thursday – you might like to try them, too.

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Easy Asian Dessert

By David Hu
A new video for Video Friday

When I cook Asian food, I like to serve an Asian dessert. My favorite easy choice is Fried Banana Bites. Once you see how it’s done on this video, you won’t need a recipe to make it yourself.

Aside from oil, which most people have on hand, you only need two ingredients: bananas and wonton wrappers. We use wonton wrappers a lot at Special Fork, but rarely to make wontons. Like phyllo, it’s a readymade, neutral dough that works in both savory and sweet applications. We use wonton wrappers for raviolis, as well as appetizer and dessert cups.

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Saguette’s Carrot Soup

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

Sometimes a book inspires a meal.

One of our boys’ favorites, Monsieur Saguette and his Baguette, tells the story of a young Frenchman who makes a delicious pot of hot carrot soup only to find he has no bread in the house. He sets off to a boulangerie to buy a baguette and on his way home meets with many challenges that his baguette triumphantly pulls him through.

I’ll bet we have read this book aloud as a family at least a hundred times. It’s a rare read because both boys enjoy it and have for years. Saguette uses his baguette for crazy things on his walk home, like propping open the mouth of an alligator, using it as an extension of his arm to save a kitten from a tree and as a ladder for getting out of a giant hole he fell into.

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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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