Caramelized is a word that has been tossed around so often it has almost lost its meaning. Technically, the only thing that can be caramelized is sugar, all other foods get their rich brown crust from something known as the Maillard reaction. Caramelized onions are really Maillard-ized onions but that doesn’t sound so good on a menu. To put it very,...
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Sounds like one of the summer party scenes from The Great Gatsby, but it’s not. These oven-toasted mixed nuts are probably the easiest thing you can make for your own party, poolside or not. They come together in a minute and toast at a pretty low temp, so if you overshoot by a little bit they won’t burn. There really is no recipe involved here, more like...
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For many years I worked with Barbara Kafka, food maven, trend originator and predictor and one hell of a cook. Several years ago I had the pleasure to work with BK on Vegetable Love, the magnum opus of the vegetable world. Barbara had such an impact on my professional (and personal) life that when Food Arts magazine was looking for someone to write an...
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Leaving shrimp in the shell is not a lazy person’s out. You still have to clean (i.e. devein) them before you cook them. I’m sure some people would be happy not cleaning them and just pulling or wiping out the vein as you eat them, as is done in most peel-your-own places. But that skievs me out a little. And I don’t get skieved out...
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Pasta with smoked salmon was once a New York City restaurant staple. Usually angel hair pasta or thin house-made noodles were sauced with an abundance of heavy cream, thin strips of smoked salmon, cracked black pepper and grated lemon zest. Good and really, really bad versions abounded. Fewer years ago than that, I wrote a book on stovetop smoking and...
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Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Grilled Cheese (but were too busy to ask) Everyone (?) knows how to make grilled cheese—college kids make them on their desks using a clothes iron—but not everyone knows how to make a perfect one. Longer slow cooking makes for delectably crunchy bread and thoroughly melted cheese. There is no reason why the...
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