I am one of those people who has an herb garden with the best of intentions. I really do mean to use all those green onions and all that mint. Just kidding — mint is a garden terrorist and will take over everything if you do not keep it in check. I really do intend…
There are lots of phrases thrown around in recipes, especially in the food blogging world: “season to taste,” “salt your pasta water like the ocean,” and my personal favorite, “use kosher salt.” I don’t even own kosher salt. Do you know how that has affected my food? Not even a little bit. All of those…
I have been working in restaurants since I was a kid, and along the way, I picked up a lot of habits that still follow me home. Some of them are useful. Some of them are probably best left in the kitchen at work. These are the ones I think actually make home cooking easier,…
If you grew up around Wisconsin-style cookouts, you already know people have some strong opinions about bratwurst. As a resident of the frozen tundra, I have spent plenty of time grilling brats in my own backyard, and this is the method I trust most. Some people grill them from start to finish. Some people grill…
If you are new to cooking, learning how to season food properly can make a bigger difference than almost anything else you do in the kitchen. Good seasoning helps bring out the flavor of the food, while bad seasoning can leave a dish bland, flat, or way too strong. The good news is that seasoning…
People love to say, “Just follow the recipe,” like that clears everything up. But if you’re new to cooking, recipes can be full of assumptions, vague wording, and steps that only make sense if you already know what you’re doing. Learning how to read a recipe before you start can save you time, stress, and…
If you want to know how to roast vegetables so they actually taste good, the answer is pretty simple: use enough heat, season them properly, and give them room on the pan. Roasted vegetables can be an incredibly good side dish, or even a main dish if you are a vegetable lover, but only if…
I love ribs. Not smoked ribs, so please do not come for me, but a good slow-baked rack of ribs with seasoning and sauce is absolutely my thing. If smoked ribs are your favorite, that is fine. I am not pretending to be a barbecue purist here. I am talking about oven ribs, and more…
If there’s one thing a professional kitchen runs on besides coffee and mild panic, it’s mise en place. Isn’t that a fancy-sounding word? Don’t let the French terms intimidate you — mise en place literally translates to “putting in place,” or prep work and storage in a restaurant. I’ve worked in restaurants for nearly 30…