Open Kitchen Tour

Who cooks and eats here: Sonia Schrofer-Sin and Frans Schrofer (plus lots of friends & family!)
Where: The Hague, the Netherlands
Rent or Own? Own

Welcome to Sonia’s beautiful kitchen, and please make yourself at home; Sonia would insist on it! Originally from Chicago, Sonia moved to the Netherlands 27 years ago and now lives with her Dutch husband in a house that was formerly an old milk dairy. I’m not sure if it’s the Dutch house and its history, the American hospitality, the incredible artwork, the two dining areas, or the adjacent grapevine-filled courtyard, but this is one incredibly welcoming kitchen!

READ MORE »

Autumn is all about the warming, stick-to-your-ribs dishes that sound so good as the weather cools down, but comfort food doesn’t have to mean heavy and cheesy. For the fall pumpkin-carving party I hosted for our latest Gatherings From The Kitchn, I wanted to serve a meal that was fresh and healthy as well as warm and comforting, so I planned a buffet centered around an Indian-themed baked sweet potato bar.

The main topping was rich and flavorful lamb korma, a creamy curry made with lean lamb leg and a little coconut milk that was surprisingly light — yet tasted totally decadent. Even better? This is a recipe that tastes best after a day or two in the fridge, making it a great make-ahead dinner party option.

READ MORE »

Open Slideshow

Searing meat is 100% about building flavor. And oh, what flavor it is! When that meat hits a scorching hot pan, the surface instantly begins caramelizing. In your stew or braise or roast, this translates into the kind of deep, savory flavor that we crave on an almost a cellular level. This is the flavor that makes us want to lick our plates clean. No sear, no plate-licking good times. Here’s how to do it.

READ MORE »

This is the best time of year to take your slow cooker down from the shelf and put it to work. Our days are as busy as ever, and the slow cooker offers a hot, fragrant meal that’s ready when we walk in the door, meals like tacos with tender barbacoa beef, a bowl of curried vegetable stew, or even beef shanks in red wine for a slow-cooked date night.

READ MORE »

Want to throw all of your ingredients into a pot, walk away, and return to a cheesy, piping hot dinner? Yep, me too. A slow cooker makes easy work of “baked” pasta, minus the bake.

READ MORE »

It was nearing closing time at the farmers’ market last weekend. I was I buying a bottle of olive oil from a young farmer and she offered me two small pomegranates along with my change. They were knobbly things, scarred and dusty. Some had even burst their seams in places, spilling out their gorgeous ruby arils. ‘Do you want these pomegranates? They look funny but they taste wonderful.’ I said yes, with great enthusiasm. Yes, yes, yes! And so she handed me three more.

READ MORE »

Open Hot Posts

Happy fall weekend, everyone! Are you cozying up this weekend? If so, spend some time catching up on all The Kitchn’s hot posts this week, including a tutorial on caramelizing onions, eight trends to avoid if you’re remodeling a kitchen, and 10 chicken soup recipes that’ll have you pulling out your soup pot pronto. Enjoy!

15. Don’t Have Enough Chicken Bones to Make Stock? Try This
14. Cold Weather Recipe: Beer Cheese Soup
13. Recipe: Miso Pumpkin Soup
12. How To Caramelize Onions
11. Kitchen Before & After: A California Bungalow Kitchen Loses the Orange!
10. William Faulkner’s Mississippi Kitchen

READ MORE »

Happy weekend everybody! I’m so eager to get out there and enjoy the glorious fall weekend we’re about to have. I’m picturing hot pretzels, apple cider, kale slaw, and just maybe a pork chop. What’s on your cooking agenda for the weekend? We hope you’ve enjoyed all our soup coverage this week — next week we’ll be turning to everyone’s favorite appliance, the slow cooker. Until then tell us: what’s cooking in your kitchen this weekend?

READ MORE »

Soup’s on! We shared not one, not two, but an entire week’s worth of hearty soups and soup-friendly side dishes with you. A pot of any of these — Italian pasta e fagioli, miso pumpkin soup, chile verde — will make your kitchen feel warm and nourished this weekend and set you up for meals all week long.

Round out a meal with a batch of homemade soft pretzels and a big bowl of apple cabbage salad. Pour yourself a vanilla-pear sparkler while the soup simmers and have your favorite bowl ready. If you’re ready for fall, so are we!

READ MORE »

Did you read our post on kitchen remodeling trends to avoid? I wonder where copper countertops fit in with all that. I’ve always been drawn to the look (and to brass countertops, because who could forget this kitchen), so I did a little research into the pros and cons of copper countertops:

READ MORE »