In my video series, AZ Cooks, I’m sharing cooking techniques and recipes inspired by my childhood, travels and experiences in the professional kitchen, all in the pursuit of culinary literacy. Thanks for tuning in, your support and feedback have made this venture a success! From classics like key lime pie and meatloaf to wok-tossed crickets and… Read More →
My Most Popular Recipes Ever From addictive sticky chicken wings to the most perfect key lime pie I’ve ever tasted, here are five tried-and-true recipes that I make all of the time. Turns out, you all love them as much as I do. 1. One-Pot Chinese Chicken Wings I first had this dish in… Read More →
I’ve eaten a lot of strange vegetables, insects, fermented foods, sea creatures and animal odd bits in the past decade, but these 10 items from all over the globe made it to the top of the list. Article original published on travelchannel.com. Enset in Ethiopia Enset is one of the two species of vinifera in… Read More →
Sufganiyot By Andrew Zimmern Hebrew for donuts, sufganiyot are without question the most popular Hanukkah food in Israel. These are iconic fried treats that are simply prepared yeasted treats, filled with chocolate, creams, curds or jellies. You will find bakeries and markets throughout the country filling their shelves and windows with these little gems starting… Read More →
AZ Cooks Snack Bracket We’ve narrowed down 16 of my most popular recipes to 2! In this final match up, salty roast pork belly goes head to head with sweet chocolate chip cookies. We need your votes to figure out which one is the best dish. Need a refresher? Watch the videos below and help us… Read More →
AZ Cooks Snack Bracket Round 3 We’ve narrowed down 16 of my most popular recipes to 4, but we still need your votes to figure out which one is the best dish. Be sure to vote for your favorite in every match-up! Need a refresher? Watch the videos below and help us pick the winner. <a… Read More →
AZ Cooks Snack Bracket 16 of my most popular recipes are facing off in a competition to find out which one is the best dish. Be sure to vote for your favorite in every match-up! Need a refresher? Watch the videos below and help us pick the winner. SALTY MATCH-UP #1 SALTY MATCH-UP #2 SPICY… Read More →
The Easiest Way to Dice a Mango Mangos are one of the most popular fruits in the world. When picking out mangos at the grocery store, don’t be fooled by the color—red does not mean ripe. Judge the fruit on its firmness, it should be soft without bruises. Mangos have a flat, almond-shaped seed in… Read More →
Wok-Tossed Crickets in Black Bean Sauce By Andrew Zimmern High in protein and rich in minerals, crickets are the most popular insect eaten around the world. Tossing the crickets in a hot wok with Chinese fermented black beans is the best way to cook and eat the nutty, crunchy bugs. I think this is real… Read More →
Hola Arepa One of the most popular Latin American restaurants in the Twin Cities, Hola Arepa started out as a food truck, slinging their take on the satisfying Venezuelan sandwiches on the streets of Minneapolis. For those unfamiliar with their eponymous arepas, think hefty griddled cornmeal cakes stuffed with all sorts of ingredients, from Argentinian-style… Read More →
Forget Takeout, Make Thai Food at Home The stunning complexity of Thai cuisine, studded at brief intervals with simple, elegant dishes, makes it one of the world’s most popular cuisines. Hot, sour, salty and sweet, the flavors of Thailand are truly addictive. Most of these recipes are easier than you’d think, but if you’re looking… Read More →
Reinventing Offal Dishes Forgotten for Decades Javi Estevez has created something truly unique in Madrid’s upscale Chamberi neighborhood, a modern tasca (or tavern) devoted to serving locally-sourced offal. The 32-year-old chef is reigniting a passion for ingredients and dishes made popular during the post-war era of his grandparents’ generation. An obsession for creating dishes from other… Read More →
The Twin Cities’ Best Vietnamese Restaurants Home to a vibrant Vietnamese community, the Twin Cities are a pho-lover’s paradise. And in a town chock-full of great Vietnamese restaurants, it’s difficult to name the best. From fantastic noodle soups to Banh mi sandwiches, bao to broken rice platters here are our favorite Vietnamese spots. Quang If… Read More →
Buttermilk Banana Bread By Claire Ptak For the first five years of Violet, I resisted adding banana bread to the menu. It always seemed to me like something you only made at home, with old bananas. I am not a huge fan of banana and, indeed, was never a huge fan of cake made from them.… Read More →
Devour Buenos Aires A Latin American city heavy with European influences, Buenos Aires is the best of both worlds. Equally confident and classy, there’s no question why it’s the most visited South American city. A unique cultural life thrives here, from the old-timey cafes, European architecture and bustling streets to the devoted soccer fans and… Read More →
Doing His Part to Eradicate Lionfish John Mirabella is on a mission to bring attention to the devastating lionfish invasion in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. With no natural predators in this part of the world beyond humans, the rapidly growing populations may be one of the biggest environmental disasters these waters… Read More →
Recommendations for the Far Flung Faroe Islands Halfway between Iceland and Norway in the heart of the North Atlantic, the Faroe Islands have famously been described as ‘the windy edge of nowhere.’ The 50,000 Faroese who live among the 18 islands are proud descendants of a Viking culture that landed here 1,200 years ago. Centuries… Read More →
Eat Clean. Live Loud. Melissa Joulwan is a badass. A retired Texas Rollergirl, Mel J has a serious thing for friendly competition, the band Social Disortion and cooking up a storm. In 2008, she launched her blog, Clothes Make the Girl, which kinda started out as a lifestyle/style site and eventually became one of the… Read More →
A Quintessential Early Summer Ingredient Some call rhubarb a fruit, others call it a vegetable (which it technically is). Sunset’s New Western Garden Book calls it an uncommon vegetable used as a fruit in sauces and pies. The Joy of Cooking calls it a reasonable facsimile of fruit. Ouch! Here in the hardy zone of the… Read More →
#JBFA Every year a new crop of Bizarre Foods alums win Journalism and Media awards. This year Tim Byres led the charge for his book Smoke. Buy it. It’s a great one. Amy Thielen is loved by all, she cleaned up this year and her son Hank and husband Aaron were by her side all weekend.… Read More →
Exploring FoodieTV FoodieTV, the latest iOS app from Glam Media (creators of foodie.com and Foodie Recipes), offers a curated collection of short-form videos with engaging food and travel content, from guided walks through Beijing’s best street food and step-by-step recipes to spotlights on chefs and independent cheesemakers. We chat with Marc Escobosa, VP of product management… Read More →
Just Breathe Sour Lung Soup is a German dish, most popular in Bavaria. In German, the dish is called saure Lüngerl, which translates to “sour (or acidic) lungs.” Oddly enough, the dish isn’t technically a soup at all. Finely sliced veal offal—such as lung, heart, and sweetbreads—is placed in a bowl and smothered in a… Read More →
Jump Around They’re high in protein, low in fat, and rich in minerals, not to mention they’re delish! After ants, grasshoppers are the most popular insect eaten around the world. Unlike ants, grasshoppers have superior flavor profiles that vary from region to region depending on their diet, and grasshoppers can be cooked any way imaginable.… Read More →
Hot Wok Crickets By Andrew Zimmern High in protein and rich in minerals, crickets are the most popular insect eaten around the world. In the Philippines they’re sautéed with vinegar, onions and tomatoes; in Mexico they’re served more like a bar snack–dry roasted and seasoned with salt and lime; in Thailand, crickets are simmered in coconut… Read More →
Good Inking Ever been so scared you’ve peed in your pants? Me neither, but I’ve been close. (Did you see the Bizarre Foods episode where I almost jumped off the nuclear reactor in South Africa…but chickened out? Yikes.) Squid, like most other cephalopods, have a similar problem. These animals have a mechanism that releases a blue-black… Read More →
The Cuisine of Xi’an China’s Shaanxi Province is known for its terra cotta army, built in the 11th century B.C. in the city of Xi’an (one of the oldest cities in China), as well as for its lamb- and noodle-heavy cuisine. At Shaanxi Gourmet, just east of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley, you’ll… Read More →
Soft-Shell Crab Gets a Makeover I call this yakitori style because of the sauce — because yaki means chicken and tori means skewered grilling, and this dish is neither! But the simmering nage (broth) that you bathe the duck in reminds me of yakitori bars all over Japan. The cooking technique for the duck can be used to great effect in other recipes… Read More →
It’s a No-Brainer Brains aren’t just for zombies. Brains are a delicacy eaten by people all around the world. The most popular are lamb, pig and cow brains, but you can really eat any animal’s brain, provided it’s fresh. I’ve even dined on squirrel brain. It was delicious! Brains are full of healthy nutrients like… Read More →
It’s a No-Brainer Brains aren’t just for zombies. Brains are a delicacy eaten by people all around the world. The most popular are lamb, pig and cow brains, but you can really eat any animal’s brain, provided it’s fresh. I’ve even dined on squirrel brain. It was delicious! Brains are full of healthy nutrients like… Read More →
She’s Got Your Goat Located in the heart of the West Loop restaurant corridor, Girl & the Goat is one of Chicago’s most popular eateries, and for good reason. Chef/owner Stephanie Izard, the energetic always-smiling winner of Top Chef season 4, is taking an iconic alternative protein and putting at the top of her menu, with… Read More →
