With soaring grocery prices, I’ve been passing up the expensive, well-marbled T-bone steaks for more affordable proteins. Top-notch ingredients will taste great as long as you don’t screw them up, but humbler ingredients often need a little help to taste delicious. Marinades can boost flavor and tenderness, helping you create delicious meals even with budget-friendly […]
Food & Drink
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How to make homemade caramel
Making scratch-made caramel can be daunting. Between the intimidating prospect of boiling sugar and the risk of it seizing up into a crystallized lump, many choose to avoid the process entirely. This is a shame, because once a few key techniques are mastered, making caramel is only slightly more complicated than boiling a pot of […]
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Sweet starch science
In 2022, I worked in the research and development lab at Audrey Restaurant in Nashville. Our owner-chef, Sean Brock, and his culinary team were deeply committed to supporting local farmers. When one of our farmers asked if we could find a use for 900 pounds of sweet potatoes he couldn’t sell, he cut us a […]
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Glorious gratins
A gratin, according to the late chef Julia Child, is simply a preparation in which the top of a sauced dish is browned, usually under a hot broiler. In the first volume of her iconic cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, she describes a gratin as having “a sprinkling of breadcrumbs and grated cheese, […]
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Beat the frost
Pepper production is reaching its peak at Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery in Champaign. Our walk-in cooler is filling up with a brilliant display of red, yellow, green and orange capsicums. Even though we are currently experiencing a September heatwave that feels more like July, we know cold weather is around the corner, and one […]
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Slow cooker apple butter
Subtle hints of fall have begun to appear in spite of this month’s sweltering start. There’s a tinge of gold layered into the trees and although the afternoons have been unbearably hot, there’s a crisp, freshness to the morning air. Our local apple harvest is just beginning, with early season gala and Sweet Maia apples […]
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No waste, all taste
As the COVID pandemic began to wind down and restaurants reopened for indoor dining, I was anxious to end my exile in a Florida RV park to get back into a kitchen. While scrolling on Instagram, I saw that a restaurant I’d been following, Spoon and Stable in Minneapolis, was hiring cooks. With the hope […]
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Budget dinners
August is undoubtedly our household’s most expensive month of the year, and the busiest. In addition to both of my kiddos having August birthdays, there’s back to school supplies, clothes and registration, the Illinois State Fair and if we’re lucky, maybe a little road trip. Add in the impulse to squeeze as much sunshine and […]
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No lettuce, no problem
If you are finding yourself casting a wary eye toward bagged lettuce after the latest cyclospora health alert, consider looking to Greece for a lettuce-free salad alternative. The horiatiki salata, commonly known in America as a Greek salad, is a summer salad that requires no leafy greens whatsoever. It is a fresh, rustic salad made […]
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Cantaloupe creations
My household has been under a compulsory cantaloupe consumption mandate for the past week. I’d ordered four of them from Humphrey’s Market to use in fruit salad for a large catering order, thinking I’d get standard volleyball-sized melons. The fruit that arrived was positively enormous, as large as watermelons, and they immediately filled the kitchen […]
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Slurping through a heat wave
Buckwheat has been on my mind quite a bit this summer. For a recent cheese-themed dinner at Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery, my task was to prepare buckwheat crepes for the main course, serving two per plate for 80 guests. Working with buckwheat flour proved challenging, and it took a few failed attempts with a […]
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An unsung hero of the kitchen
You might be underestimating the humble little brick of cream cheese that’s hanging out in your fridge. An often-unsung hero of the kitchen, cream cheese not only lends creamy richness to a dish, but also tang and stability to a host of dishes both savory and sweet. Cream cheese is considered to be fresh cheese, […]
