The Ultimate Seafood Tower By Andrew Zimmern This is Plateau de Fruits de Mer 101. First, learn how to dispatch a lobster and cook it in a court bouillon, and then how to steam crab, mussels and shrimp in a multi-tiered bamboo steamer. I’ll teach you how to shuck oysters and clams with the proper… Read More →
Tips for Cooking with Bamboo Steamers I love cooking with a multi-tiered bamboo steamer, it’s one of the most used and versatile tools in my kitchen. Using a steamer is an easy, and certainly healthy, way to achieve crisp tender vegetables and super moist, perfectly cooked proteins. They fit inside of my pans well, plus… Read More →
How to Shell a Lobster Buying a live lobster, dispatching it, cooking it properly and then extracting all of the meat can be an intimidating process. I totally get it. However, if you love lobster—or are trying to impress someone with a luxurious meal—cooking it at home is easier than you think and far more… Read More →
Shrimp Étouffée By Andrew Zimmern Several years ago in New Orleans, I got a lesson in étouffée-making from the doyenne of Louisiana cooking, Poppy Tooker. It’s a day I will never forget. Étouffée is a riff on the old French verb “to smother,” and while there are as many recipes for étouffée as there are… 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 →
Hunan-Style Peanut Sauce By Andrew Zimmern This classic Hunan-style peanut sauce is one of my favorites for dipping, glazing and enjoying with all sorts of Asian food. It’s great with sticky rice, fried chicken summer rolls, ribs, chicken satay, pork belly or chicken off the grill. Watch Andrew make this recipe:
My Best Super Bowl Recipes Of course I’m disappointed the Vikings won’t be winning the Vince Lombardi Trophy on their home turf, but I am thankful for an amazing season and ready to welcome the world to Minnesota for Super Bowl 52 and the best week of events in NFL history. If you didn’t score tickets… Read More →
Bizarre Foods Season Premiere January 23 9|8c on Travel Channel From the North Woods of the fabled Paul Bunyan to the Mexico City of the Aztecs, this is one of the most exciting seasons of Bizarre Foods we’ve ever made. I’m revealing the food and stories behind notable characters, cultures and mythology, both here in the… Read More →
Sous Vide Spare Ribs with Sticky Rice & Peanut Sauce By Andrew Zimmern Want to take your cooking game to a new level? Get on board with the immersion circulator. Sous vide cookery is safe, convenient and easy. Cooking inside of a sealed container allows you to lock in flavors, juices and fats unlike any other… Read More →
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 →
How to Break Down a Whole Chicken Everyone should know how to break down a whole chicken. For one, it’s economical—whole chickens are much cheaper per pound than chicken breasts. Plus, if you buy a whole chicken, you can cut it into the specific pieces you need for the dish you’re making…. and, you’ll have… Read More →
How to Make Chicken Lollipops Looking for a fun presentation for chicken wings or legs? Learn how to make chicken lollipops, an easy frenching technique where you scrape the meat away from the bone to create a lollipop shape. The chicken will be more succulent and easy to eat with its bone handle. Learn how… Read More →
Japanese Beef Tataki By Andrew Zimmern This easy Japanese tataki is stunning and tastes even better. With a simple dish like this, buy the best beef you can get your hands on. Because it’s served very rare, using a tender, luxury cut like sirloin is important—trust me, it’s worth spending the extra bucks. Skip the… Read More →
Pho 79 As the cold weather settles in, all I’m craving is a steaming bowl of pho with rich, flavorful beef broth. Lucky for me, 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, so I won’t go there. What I can… Read More →
Quick Pickled Jalapenos By Andrew Zimmern Trade in your jarred jalapeno rings for this super easy quick pickle. Trust me, they’re far superior to their store-bought counterpart. I always have a stash of homemade pickled jalapenos in the fridge for use on sandwiches, nachos, scrambled eggs, chili and stew, tacos, burritos, or alongside grilled chicken… Read More →
Rigatoni with Winter Squash, Sausage & Kale By Debi Mazar and Gabriele Corcos In Tuscany, cooks don’t have a lot of uses for hard-shelled winter squash. It is typically roasted as a side dish or turned into soup. At our Brooklyn farmer’s market in autumn and winter, the stands are filled with a huge variety of… Read More →
Ginger Scallion Noodles By Andrew Zimmern If you love to cook, you should learn how to recreate the tent poles of culinary wisdom from cultures around the world, starting with these addictive ginger scallion noodles. This recipe has the hallmarks of classic Shanghai-style scallion noodles mixed with Japanese-style charred scallion noodles with tsukemono pickles. It… Read More →
Ma Po Eggplant By Andrew Zimmern This is one of my favorite Chinese dishes, made easy for the home cook. It’s a spicy, savory pork sauté served over roasted eggplant. I adore eggplant and make this dish all the time as part of a multi-course spread or just by itself alongside a bowl of steamed… Read More →
Pork Belly 101 By Andrew Zimmern Roasted pork belly is one of the most unctuous, delicious dishes that you’ll ever eat. To achieve a meltingly tender piece of pork crowned with crispy skin requires a multi-day process, but don’t let that scare you, it’s a simple technique. Serve it with bao, or on its own,… Read More →
Bar La Grassa This ode to Italy isn’t your grandparent’s eye-talian eatery. With moody date-night lighting beaming from chandeliers, a steel pasta bar that provides the best seats in the house, and a broad range of shareable plates, Bar La Grassa is one of the great Italian restaurants in the Twin Cities with consistently good… Read More →
Ginger Scallion Oil Dipping Sauce By Andrew Zimmern Chopped scallions, grated ginger and salt are combined with heated peanut oil to create this flavorful dipping sauce—the perfect complement to my Hainanese chicken rice. This sauce is so easy to throw together and pairs well with a piece of grilled meat or fish, noodles, dumplings or… Read More →
Hot Sesame Oil Dipping Sauce By Andrew Zimmern This dipping sauce uses hot sesame oil to coax the flavor out of ginger, garlic and Szechuan peppercorns. It goes well with my Hainanese Chicken Rice, on pork, chicken, fish or beef. You’re going to love it. Watch Andrew make this recipe:
Soy & Ginger Dipping Sauce By Andrew Zimmern This scallion, soy, cilantro and ginger dipping sauce is wonderful with dumplings, poached chicken or fresh egg noodles. If I have a lot of it left over, I use it as a marinade for chicken. Watch Andrew make this recipe:
How to Truss a Chicken My digital series, AZ Cooks, is all about culinary literacy. I want to give you the tips, techniques and recipes you need to become a better cook—from demystifying essential dishes from cultures around the globe to teaching basic methods for peeling, chopping and preparing everyday ingredients. Learning to truss a… Read More →
What’s the easiest way to peel fresh ginger? The best tool for prepping ginger is something I guarantee you have in your kitchen cabinet: a spoon. Because the irregular-shaped root has thin, delicate skin, a spoon can easily scrape it away without much waste. It’s also much easier to get into all of the nooks and crannies… Read More →
The Best Snack Mix Ever Invented By Andrew Zimmern It’s hard to improve on something like homemade Chex mix, but everything’s better with bacon candy—you can’t argue with that. I’ve added spiced nuts and lots of candied bacon to Chex and bagel chips, creating a symphonic blend of crunchy, salty, sweet and savory. This recipe… Read More →
The Best Latke Recipe By Andrew Zimmern Topped with leftover slices of brisket, these potato pancakes will blow your mind. For me, making latkes has always been a family activity. I first made these with my grandmother when I was 4 years old. I had my son squeezing potatoes for me when he was 3.… Read More →
Esker Grove The Walker Art Center, a contemporary art mecca with a newly refinished sculpture garden, is one of the Twin Cities’ most beloved cultural assets. Add a beautifully designed restaurant with a menu from one of the country’s best chefs, and you have a winning combination, whether it’s date night, happy hour or brunch… Read More →
Kramarczuk’s Sausage Company Kramarczuk’s is an iconic Twin Cities restaurant and deli, serving Eastern European sausages and comfort classics for more than 50 years. Wasyl and Anna Kramarczuk moved to the United States from Ukraine in 1949. In the 50s, they bought an established butcher shop in Northeast Minneapolis, started making sausages and quickly became… Read More →
My Top 3 Favorite New Foods As you probably already know, I’m an evangelist for the classics. Despite my inherent bias, I still think it was one of the weakest years ever for new State Fair foods. There’s just too much gimmick—think deep fried red liquorice— too many unworthy things on a stick, too much… Read More →
