Cooking

How to Grill Anything


Column Five created this guide to average cook times to take the guesswork out of grilling. The guide provides average times for a wide variety of beef, poultry, pork, and vegetable items you might plan on throwing on the grill this summer—all you’ll need is a watch and a meat thermometer.

How to grill anything summer grilling BBQ infographic

Go to Harvard, learn Cooking Science from Top Chefs


Top chefs and Harvard researchers explore how everyday cooking and haute cuisine can illuminate basic principles in physics and engineering, and vice versa.

If you’re a budding cook, a foodie, or would like to know more about how recipes work, as well as basic physics and engineering principles, this course is for you. Classes are an hour long and held twice a week. Instructors include: Michael Brenner, José Andres, Nathan Myhrvold, Joanne Chang, David Chang, Wylie Dufresne, and many more.

About the course:

During each week of the course, you will watch as chefs reveal the secrets behind some of their most famous culinary creations — often right in their own restaurants. Inspired by such cooking mastery, the Harvard team will then explain, in simple and sophisticated ways, the science behind the recipe.

Topics will include: soft matter materials, such as emulsions, illustrated by aioli; elasticity, exemplified by the done-ness of a steak; and diffusion, revealed by the phenomenon of spherification, the culinary technique pioneered by Ferran Adrià.

To help you make the link between cooking and science, an “equation of the week” will capture the core scientific concept being explored. You will also have the opportunity to be an experimental scientist in your very own laboratory — your kitchen. By following along with the engaging recipe of the week, taking measurements, and making observations, you will learn to think both like a cook and a scientist. The lab is also one of the most unique components of this course — after all, in what other science course do you get to eat your lab?

Register for the free course here, which begins on Tuesday, October 8, 2013.

Squeeze More Juice Out of Lemons


If you want to get the most juice out of a lemon—short of using a dedicated citrus juicer, break down the lemon by putting some pressure on it before cutting.

Before cutting them, put them on your counter and roll them back and forth, applying heavy pressure with the heel of your hand. This will help break down the lemon and make them easier to juice. Use a tool like a citrus reamer to get out more juice than you could squeezing with your bare hands.

Annual Report Directions: Must Bake


The annual report (for Podravka, a Croatian food company) is sent wrapped in foil, and needs to be baked in an oven in order to make the thermal-reactive ink illustrations show up.


Croatian creative agency Bruketa & Zinić have designed an annual report for food company Podravka that has to be baked in an oven before it can be read.Called Well Done, the report features blank pages printed with thermo-reactive ink that, after being wrapped in foil and cooked for 25 minutes, reveal text and images.

A hot and innovative idea!

(Via Dezeen)

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Baked Risotto Primavera


Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 medium onions, chopped
  • 1 cup short- or medium-grain brown rice (see Ingredient note)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 2 (14.5 ounce) cans reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 8 ounces asparagus, ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 cup sugar snap peas or snow peas, trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 cup diced red bell pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
  • Freshly ground pepper to taste
Nutrition Info

Per Serving

  • Calories: 332 kcal
  • Carbohydrates: 36 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 4 g
  • Fat: 12 g
  • Protein: 17 g
  • Sugars: 6 g

About: Nutrition Info

Powered by: ESHA Nutrient Database

Cooking Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. Heat oil in a Dutch oven or ovenproof high sided skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in rice and garlic; cook, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in wine and simmer until it has mostly evaporated. Add broth and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and transfer to the oven.
  3. Bake until the rice is just tender, 50 minutes to 1 hour.
  4. Shortly before the risotto is done, steam asparagus, peas and bell pepper until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes.
  5. Fold the steamed vegetables, Parmesan, parsley, chives, lemon zest and pepper into the risotto. Serve immediately.

Yield: 6 servings

Still Hungry?

This updated spring classic calls for nutty-tasting short-grain brown rice instead of the traditional white arborio. Because the cooking time is longer with whole-grain rice, this risotto is cooked in the oven rather than on the stovetop, eliminating the need for almost constant stirring.

Notes:

Ingredient note

Use short- or medium-grain brown rice, available in natural-foods stores and large supermarkets, to achieve the characteristic creamy risotto texture.

(Via Yahoo! Food)

Chicken, Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo


     Ingredients:
    1 tablespoon vegetable oil
    2 pounds medium shrimp, shelled and deveined, shells reserved
    2 pounds chicken wings
    Salt and freshly ground pepper
    2 tablespoons tomato paste
    4 quarts chicken stock or low-sodium broth
    3 bay leaves
    6 whole chicken legs
    2/3 cup vegetable oil
    1 cup all-purpose flour
    8 large cloves garlic cloves, finely chopped
    6 large scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced separately
    4 medium celery ribs, cut into 1/2-inch dice
    2 large Spanish onions, coarsely chopped
    2 medium green peppers, cut into 1/2-inch dice
    1 pound andouille sausage, half finely chopped, half sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
    2 teaspoons dried thyme
    1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
    1 pound okra, stems trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch rounds
    3 tablespoons file powder (see Note)
    Nutrition Information:
    Calories: 548 kcal
    Carbohydrates: 20 g
    Dietary Fiber: 3 g
    Fat: 35 g
    Protein: 36 g
    Sugars: 4 gAbout: Nutrition Info

    Powered by: ESHA Nutrient Database

    Cooking Directions:

  1. In a large, heavy stockpot, heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil. Add the reserved shrimp shells and chicken wings, season with salt and pepper and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the chicken wings are browned, about 10 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of the tomato paste and cook, stirring, until glossy, about 2 minutes. Slowly pour in the stock, stirring with a wooden spoon to release any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the bay leaves and bring to a boil. Skim the surface of the stock, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, skimming occasionally.
  2. Add the chicken legs to the stock and simmer until they are cooked through, about 40 minutes. Strain the stock into a heatproof bowl and transfer the chicken legs to a large plate. When the legs are cool enough to handle, remove the meat and discard the skin and bones. Tear the meat into 2-inch pieces and set aside. Skim the fat from the surface of the stock and reserve the stock.
  3. In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, stir the remaining 2/3 cup of vegetable oil with the flour until smooth. Cook the oil and flour over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until a deep brown roux forms, about 25 minutes. Add the garlic, scallion whites, celery, onions, green peppers and finely chopped andouille sausage. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften, about 15 minutes. Add the thyme, cayenne, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the reserved stock. Simmer over low heat for 1 hour, skimming occasionally.
  4. Add the okra and simmer until just tender, about 8 minutes. Add the reserved shredded chicken and the andouille rounds and simmer for 10 minutes. Season the gumbo with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp and simmer for 1 minute. Turn off the heat and let the gumbo stand for a few minutes. Stir in the file powder and scallion greens and serve hot.

Yield: 12 servings

(via Yahoo!Food)