(Image credit: Christine Han)
I don’t just like asparagus — I love it! It’s a bit of an obsession for me. I’ll eat it broiled, roasted, steamed, baked, and even raw. To that roster of preparations is the recent addition of oven-baked asparagus fries in all their golden, crispy-brown glory.
With the help of a breadcrumb trick that you can make use of beyond this recipe, I present the crispiest, crunchiest, tastiest asparagus I’ve made to date — and folks, it’s all done in the oven.
(Image credit: maria midoes)
Eggplant is a nightshade often used as a substitute for meat in a number of dishes — from bolognese to burgers — so it only seems natural that we try our hand at transforming it into bacon. We’re taking eggplant back to the skillet, seasoning it for bacon success, and frying it up — just like the real stuff.
(Image credit: Emma Christensen)
Have you ever had a scotcheroo? Where I grew up in Minnesota, no backyard cookout, birthday party, or post-Little League pizza dinner was complete without a plate piled high with these squares. Imagine if Rice Krispies treats had a run-in with a jar of peanut butter and then got doused in a melted medley of chocolate and butterscotch chips. An improbable combination? Perhaps. Insanely good? You betcha.
If you didn’t grow up with these, you must — I repeat, must — try them this summer. Making a batch big enough to feed the whole neighborhood takes just a few pantry ingredients and about 15 minutes, so no excuses. Here’s what to do.
(Image credit: Emma Christensen)
There are few things better than summer sweet corn. Of course I could say that about many things this time of year, but there really is something special about corn on the cob, served steaming hot and slathered in butter, don’t you think?
Here are three ways to cook corn perfectly every time.
Fresh berries are one of summer’s great pleasures, but they don’t come cheap — which makes it even more disappointing when a basket of strawberries or raspberries turns to moldy mush within days of purchase. Washing them before storage usually accelerates the deterioration, but Cook’s Illustrated has a washing method that actually keeps the berries fresh longer in storage. Here’s what they recommend.
Whether you’re stuck in an extended stay hotel for work, making do with a small dorm fridge in your new apartment, or trying to cram the food needs of a large family into the modest upper compartment of a standard-sized fridge, keeping your frozen goods frozen with minimal space can be a frustrating challenge. Not everyone can accommodate the beauty of a good chest freezer, however, so it’s best to practice maximum efficiency with the square footage you’ve been given.
Here are some of the most effective ways to put prime freezer real estate to good use.
You made it! The long weekend is finally here and it’s time to treat yourself. For me, that means starting with an extra-special breakfast. Most days I run out the door with a banana or granola bar. If I’m lucky, I’ll have time to scramble an egg or throw some avocado on toast. But when a holiday weekend rolls around, I’m sure to make it count.
It doesn’t mean every recipe needs to take hours to make, or even that they’re complicated — they’re simply delicious recipes that you can make when you have a little more time. So put on a pot of coffee, turn on the music, and head into the kitchen with these recipes for your lazy holiday weekend.
It isn’t summer until you’ve had your first watermelon of the season. Chances are, though, that it’s been about a year since you’ve bought your last watermelon. Do you remember how to pick out a good one? Did you ever really know? Here’s what you need to look for in order to spot the perfect picnic-worthy specimen.
Have you found yourself staring blankly into the fridge searching for the perfect beverage? Is it time for a drink, but not time for wine? Does beer sound like a terrible idea?
Enter: the wine cooler. A classic combination of wine and bubbles, the wine cooler exists for moments of summer when pure, unbridled refreshment and the glory of wine collide — so basically, most moments.
Before we snuck a grill onto our balcony one glorious day last May, I would regularly show up at friends-with-grills homes with prepared pizza dough and a few toppings in the summer; I love grilled pizza so much that I’d feed a crowd just to get my fix. It was one of the first things I made when we bought our own. The benefits of cooking pizza outside are manifold. With heat circulating all around the pizza and the dough resting on open grates instead of a flat tray, I find that you can get more texture — crisp on the outside but staying stretchy within — and flavor — charred spots that will immediately remind you of your favorite brick-oven pizzeria, without heating up your apartment, pretty much the last thing any of us want to do in the summer. Plus, it’s really quick. Once your dough is purchased or prepared, you could be eating your pizza in 10 minutes; not bad for a homemade dinner after a long day.
I’ve already discussed at length my favorite homemade margherita — my preference is for mozzarella that is packed dry, not the fancy stuff in water (despite what you see in the early pictures; promise you’ll save the fancy, ultra-tender stuff for serving cold and fresh with appetizers and salads, please) and for “raw” sauces, blended from canned or fresh tomatoes with some liquid poured off and then doctored up and seasoned well, for the best flavor — and I follow the same rules here. In the oven but especially on the grill, you must keep your toppings thin, light, and pre-sautéed or they simply will not cook before the crust is done; it also leads to puddled and wet pizza tops, something I’m sure we’ve all experienced.
