Basics
Elementary Ed concerning the building blocks of cuisine. Most of the time you read a recipe then go on an Easter egg hunt through the fridge and pantry looking for the ingredients without thinking about them as finished products on their own. What are the differences in fats, flours, types of breading…. All these things can affect the finished dish and should be paid attention to.
Cooking Oils
Which cooking oils are best? It’s the eternal question facing cooks who shoot for both tasty and healthy cuisine. Then there’s which oil is best for the different cooking methods e.g., salad dressing, sauteing, or frying. Another issue involves the oil’s method of production. That’s a good place to start since you ideally want whatever…
Breading
After years of alternating between stale bread crumbs, Italian bread crumbs, various kinds of crushed crackers (mostly saltines) and God knows what else for the various dishes that require “breading,” the word “Panko” started to impinge on my consciousness. First I saw it in food journalism, then started seeing it in the grocery store in…