• News bites

    • 11.17.08

      The best of the second-best bacon

      The San Francisco Chronicle tasks its Taster’s Choice panel with ranking the turkey bacon brands. Short version? If your fork can’t touch pork, Oscar Meyer’s Louis Rich brand wins by, like, a lot. And if you shop at Kroger, definitely skip the house label. (via) (photo)


    • 11.10.08

      Carol Cooks Keller

      “It takes a special kind of nutjob to attempt every recipe in The French Laundry Cookbook,” Carol Blymire writes on French Laundry at Home, where she did exactly that. Start with her recap and retrospective, then work your way back through all the brilliant success and maddening kitchen sadism. (via) (pic)


    • 11.07.08

      Cakes we can believe in

      Zilly Rosen, a cake artist from OBK’s home base of Buffalo, NY, leaves us nearly without words with her 1,250-cupcake Obama portrait. Read how she did it at Cupcakes Take the Cake.


Iron City Chili Throwdown: Then Ben saith: ‘Let my chili go’

Finally getting a chance to compete in the Pittsburgh chili contest of his dreams, Ben Siegel decides to go vegetarian for a change, with a three-bean recipe.

CRASH COURSES: When life gives you lemons, and by “gives you lemons” we mean “fires you,” Lehman Crumbles will ease the ache

Lehman Crumbles pack a lemony filling in a cookie crust with a dusting of toasted almonds and powdered sugar. Bad business - good cookie.

CRASH COURSES: Who deserves a Dick Punch?

Dick Punch is named in honor of the guy who reportedly punched Lehman Brothers rockstar CEO Dick Fuld in the face while Fuld was de-stressing in the Lehman gym after a hard day of destroying the American financial system.

Recipe: Halloumi watermelon salad with caramelized pineapple and lime-cilantro sauce

Halloumi, a cheese from Cyprus, browns and crisps in the pan, so we pile it up with sweet watermelon and pineapple in a tangy Asian lime sauce.

Farmers’ market recipes: Tomato tart, corn pudding and plum buckle

Russ Parsons’ book “How to Pick a Peach” proved the best match on two of the recipes, a tomato tart built on supermarket puff pastry, and a plum cornmeal buckle.

Recipe: Refrigerator pickle brine, dill and garlic can conquer even the dreaded zucchini

Now I know how to deal with those scaly green monsters: Cut out their hearts. Dunk chunked squash into a garlicky brine, spiced as you desire. Wait three days.

Recipe: Strawberry shortcake - Celebrate the season

Strawberry shortcake is best with local berries that can ooze tasty berry juice into the welcoming embrace of homemade shortbread like the one presented here.

Video: Grilled asparagus with roasted garlic aioli

Grill asparagus for a springtime treat and dress it with garlic aioli, or mayonnaise, in this Elements cooking video from The Buffalo News.

Recipe: Brussels sprouts in Dijon cream - The rehabilitation of Brussels sprouts

Here’s how to bring the Brussels sprout back from childhood ban lists: Don’t boil them. Pan-braise the little cabbages in a touch of Dijon cream, and shazam!

Recipe: Pickled jalapenos and vegetables Rosa’s style - Warmth on my tongue

Jalapenos and vegetables warm to the embrace of spices and vinegar in this versatile pickling method. They’re good in a few days and perfect in a week or two.