techniques

techniques

How to Braise

Braising is two-step cooking process in which meat or vegetables are first cooked in a skillet to promote browning and then cooked in a flavorful liquid over a long period of time.  However, unlike stewing or poaching, the food is not totally submerged in the liquid. Cooks braise when they want to soften tougher cuts […]

recipes, techniques

Making Simple Syrup

I learned something important tonight. The ratio for making simple syrup is 2 to 1.  HOWEVER, it’s not 2 parts water to 1 part sugar.  Rather, it’s 2 parts sugar to 1 part water. Bring to a boil and then let cool. It was that kind of night! 🙂

recipes, techniques, vegetarian

Eggplant Parm

So after yesterday, we’re back to what we do best: recipes.  (Yay recipes!)  This post was inspired by my Twitter buddy @fiftiesguy, who once told me, to my absolute horror, he wasn’t a big fan of eggplant.  Once I recovered from my complete shock, I promised I would create, espeically for him, this recipe: Eggplant […]

recipes, techniques, vegan, vegetarian

Orange Rice

The other day, my friend Carissa emailed to ask a question.   It seemed that she was going to serve 30 guests that evening and wanted some thoughts on making this recipe from RecipeZaar for Fresh Orange Rice and wanted my thoughts on how to make it. First off, Carissa is a great cook, so I […]

recipes, techniques

Spam Sushi

I can’t believe I’m doing this… Spam Sushi Okay, so really, there are so many things wrong with spam sushi including: It’s spam It’s spam It’s sushi made from spam But it’s soooo good! I hadn’t thought about it for a while, but @eatlikeagirl was talking about spam on Twitter and I opened my big […]

recipes, techniques

A Grateful Dead Valentine’s Day

Okay, so this isn’t the normal type of post I’d make on the blog, but at the request of the Party Planning Professor, I was asked to put together a small menu for a friend whose husband loves the Grateful Dead. As you probably know, the Dead are an American icon for their great music, […]