From the culinary adventures of Bob & Sue By Bob & Sue We enjoyed three spectacular dinners and several memorable lunches from the best of Chicago: Grace Both the Fauna and Flora tasting menus included a number of dazzling presentations from a highly-trained kitchen staff. Among the highlights were Alaskan king crab in cucumber juice with… Read More →
My Favorite Cookbooks of the Year Every year hundreds of cookbooks are published, dozens of which deserve a spot on your shelf. But we’ve tried to narrow it down to a handful that really impress–whether it’s the private cooking lessons from the world’s best chefs in Dana Cowin’s Mastering My Mistakes in the Kitchen, cooking… Read More →
The Best Farmhouse Cooking on the Planet What’s happening in and around Cork food wise is nothing short of magical. I haven’t seen an artisanal food community with as much diversity and as high a level of quality anywhere in the world. From hyssop and elderberry infused juices to handmade sausages, from smoked fish to… Read More →
Barbecue Royalty Of course no one agrees on who serves the best barbecue in Kansas City and with over 100 restaurants touting the city’s claim to fame, we’re not going to try to discern who makes the best pulled pork or burnt ends. But one thing is for certain, a trip to Kansas City is… Read More →
Green Chilaquiles with Chicken By Margarita Carrillo Arronte Recipe adapted from MEXICO: THE COOKBOOK by Margarita Carrillo Arronte.
Where to Eat in Mexico City When I first started traveling, Mexico City’s fine dining scene was peppered with Mexican chefs cooking other countries’ food, like Italian or French cuisine. That’s no longer the case. These days the best Mexican food is once again being cooked for Mexicans, by Mexicans. Here are five restaurants you… Read More →
Mastering My Mistakes in the Kitchen By Dana Cowin Until recently, whenever I made stir-fried chicken with vegetables, I was disappointed. It was really bland, as if all I was doing was sautéing except on a higher heat, with a splash of soy sauce at the end. Then everything changed when Bizarre Foods host Andrew… Read More →
Vietnamese-Style Grilled Beef Rolls By Andrew Zimmern For these Vietnamese-style grilled-beef rolls (bo la lot), I wrap flavorful ground sirloin in briny grape leaves and serve them with a sweet, spicy, tangy dipping sauce. Traditionally, they are made with the betel leaf, which is also delicious and can be found at some Asian markets.
12 Winter Squash Varieties These days, hard squash are all I am thinking about. Harvested in the fall, these gourds will last throughout the cold winter months, hence the name winter squash. Beyond the popular sugar pumpkins, acorn and butternut squashes you’re probably familiar with, varieties come in a staggering diversity of sizes, shapes and… Read More →
Music City Food + Wine 2014 was the most intimate and fun food fest I have been to in years… Great out-of-town chefs, amazing local restaurateurs and food talent, superb food entrepreneurs and the most carefully-curated Grand Tasting Tent I have ever walked through. You gotta get there next year. Here are a few observations:… Read More →
Japanese Meatballs By Andrew Zimmern Tsukune are Japanese chicken meatballs that are cooked on a griddle, teppanyaki-style. The moment I tried making them with duck, I was hooked. Since my favorite thing about duck is often the crispy skin, I found a way to use the duck cracklings as a garnish to provide roasted flavor and needed… Read More →
I’m serving veal tongue sliders with tonnato sauce and arugula at this year’s Music City Food + Wine Festival Harvest Night. If you’re feeling ambitious and want to make them at home, here’s the recipe!
Fast, Simple Sichuan Noodles By Andrew Zimmern This nicely balanced Sichuan sauce with just the right amount of heat is flavored with star anise and fennel seeds and makes a phenomenal, quick dressing for egg noodles of any kind. I use the aromatic soy sauce as an ingredient in anything requiring sweet soy or as… Read More →
New State Fair Foods for 2014 Every year there’s a host of new foods at the Great Minnesota Get-Together, and while the imaginative deep-fried-on-a-stick creations can be hit or miss, sometimes the shear novelty is worth shelling out a few bucks to try. Without further ado, here’s the line up for 2014: Photographs courtesy… Read More →
Where to Eat & Drink on the North Shore By Molly Mogren Perched next to the great Gitche Gumee (that would be Lake Superior), Duluth, Minnesota and the North Shore offer up some of the most beautiful vistas in the northern United States. It’s also home to some pretty amazing food. That combo made this… Read More →
Cleveland Rocks. After being named Best New Chef by Food & Wine magazine in 1998, Michael Symon shot into the national spotlight. Since then he’s become a James Beard Award winner, an Iron Chef, a cookbook author, and a host of ABC’s The Chew. Symon’s work in his hometown of Cleveland put it on the… 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 →
Pickled Fried Fish By Andrew Zimmern I love escabeche and so does the rest of the world. But Americans don’t adore it the same way. It’s like our relationship with soccer: We get it, and when we try it we love it, but it’s a new passion. Around the world, the oilier and fishier, the… Read More →
How to Cook & Entertain for a Crowd By Andrew Zimmern Ben Ford is a true gem of the culinary world. His new book, Taming the Feast, is a departure from your run-of-the-mill cookbook. I am not looking for another way to make a Caesar salad. I want to know how to make wood-fired paella and roast… Read More →
Peruvian Grandma Food Gaston Acurio is Peru’s most renowned chef, an incredible ambassador of Peruvian cuisine who’s carving out a global restaurant empire of Andean flavors. He’s devoted the last two decades to elevating his country’s unique culinary heritage. In doing so, he’s launched a cooking style that’s won the hearts of locals and the world… Read More →
The Best Flan You’ve Ever Tasted By Andrew Zimmern This flan is flawless—seriously, even chef José Andrés would be impressed. My Spanish food mentor from decades ago, cookbook author Penelope Casas, inspired me with a flan recipe she used to cook. The orange is a classic Iberian Peninsula flavoring addition (no surprise here), but resting… Read More →
Classic Spring Lamb By Andrew Zimmern One of my favorite rites of spring is the first lamb dinner of the season. Lamb shoulder is best in a slow braise, melting the fat and connective tissue. To ensure the lamb stays moist while braising, have the butcher roll and tie the roast for you, running a… Read More →
Madtown Recommendations By Molly Mogren Wisconsin’s capital city is also its biggest college town. While Badgers are known to party hard, this hippy-dippy town also offers up amazing ethnic restaurants, classic German bars and locally-driven fine dining. Without further ado… The Classics Tornado Steak House An old-school steak house serving up classic cuts (T-bones, ribeyes… Read More →
Peanut Butter & Banana King Cake with Candied Bacon By Executive Pastry Chef Rhonda Ruckman, Link Restaurant Group Much of this King Cake recipe can be prepared a day ahead. The recipe is broken down into three parts, dough, filling and icing.
Eating Queens Queens-based food writer Joe DiStefano has been covering the borough’s ethnic food beat for more than a decade. When it comes to ethnic diversity, some estimates name Queens as number one in the world – it’s so rich that DiStefano has made exploring the borough his life’s work. He’s our go-to guide for… Read More →
Try These at Your Next Tailgate Everyone has a go-to meal that fits right into the hearty, crowd-pleasing football food category. Some rely on hot wings and fall comfort-classics like chili and stew, others may boldly roast a whole steer head to make killer barbacoa tacos or light a kerosene-soaked fire for a fish boil. From… Read More →
Indian Cooking in a Midwestern Kitchen Raghavan Iyer’s new cookbook, Indian Cuisine Unfolded, opens up the world of Indian cuisine for the American home cook by recreating some of his favorite dishes with ingredients found in the typical American grocery store. The Bombay native also narrated a Twin Cities Public Television documentary called Asian Flavors based on… Read More →
Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook Hank Shaw’s James Beard award-winning blog, Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, documents his adventures hunting, gathering and cooking with editorials and recipes that expound his admirable, back-to-nature philosophy – we need to take ownership of the food we eat by buying, hunting, foraging and consuming honest ingredients. The former line cook and… Read More →
Contemporary Comfort Food Chef Kevin Willmann’s adventurous take on comfort food, combined with his locavore philosophy, make Farmhaus one of the St. Louis’ top dining destinations. The Illinois-born chef spent his formative cooking years in the Florida panhandle, and his ever-changing menu marries his Midwestern roots and Southern cooking influences. Think roast turkey with chive spaetzle,… Read More →
A.K.A. Guinea Pig My son was four years old and just wrapping up another year of preschool when Daddy came to visit the class. I walked in and a little girl began screaming, “Don’t eat Simon! He’s going to eat Simon!!!…AAARRGGGHHH!” Well, I didn’t that time. We keep this teeny little rodent as a pet,… Read More →
