Food Features

A fall frost warning announces the end of the road for most of the garden vegetables we’ve enjoyed over the summer. Happily, there are a few vegetables that reach their pinnacle of deliciousness when the cold weather arrives. Winter sweetening is a phenomenon that enhances the flavor of cole crops such as kale, collards and […]

Local activists Shymeka Kerr-Gregory, Ron Doyle and Sadie Davis are bringing a “Taste for the Homeless” to Springfield on Oct. 22.   The Chicago-based nonprofit was founded by Chicago native, Michael Airhart. A self-described “kid-chef,” Airhart started cooking when he was just 8 years old growing up in Altgeld Gardens Project on the South Side. “A […]

Popcorn may not be what comes to mind when most folks think of healthy food, but I’ve found a renewed love for the crunchy snack in recent years. Some time ago a friend who specialized in integrative medicine suggested that I try giving up gluten in an attempt to reduce inflammation. I was suffering from […]

The R&D and Fermentation Lab at Chef Sean Brock’s Audrey restaurant in Nashville is one of only three of its kind in the whole world, the other two being in Copenhagen. My job in the lab is to find ways to unlock hidden flavors from foods through ancient food preservation practices like lactic acid and […]

Whether you’re looking for that perfect game-day recipe or dish to take to a harvest cookout, hearty dips are a party essential that deliver lots of flavor with relatively little effort or expense. Hot or cold, creamy or spicy – there’s a dip for every taste and diet.  Some of the best preparations don’t even […]

As I write this column, the first day of fall is just a couple days away, yet it’s still feeling like summer. The afternoon temperature has climbed into the 90s and the tomato vines are still bearing fruit, but I know that somewhere around the corner, a killing frost is coming. According to the National […]

Pears are perhaps one of the most underrated fruits of the fall season. While apples and pumpkin spice may steal all the autumnal fanfare, pears are as delicious as they are versatile and nutritious. Popular varieties of pears available in most markets include Anjou, Bartlett, Comice and Starkkrimson, all varieties that will be tender and juicy […]

When folks ask me what I do at my new job, I like to steal a line from Egon Spengler (played by the late Harold Ramis) from the 1984 movie Ghostbusters: “I collect spores, molds and fungus.” I’m working in the glass-encased, high-tech Research and Development Lab of Chef Sean Brock’s Audrey and June Restaurants […]

Whether you’re looking to stock up your own freezer with hearty weeknight meals, help out an overworked friend or are just ready to embrace cozy fall flavors, these freezer-friendly recipes make good use of late-summer produce like peppers, eggplant and turnips. They’re ideal weekend projects and all yield several quarts, making them perfect candidates for […]

The latest stop in my culinary journey has landed me in the Research and Development and Fermentation Laboratory of Audrey, Sean Brock’s new restaurant in Nashville. The lab manager, Elliot Silber, holds a degree in food chemistry from McGill University, in addition to being a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. He is passionate […]

Now considered an American classic, the original Bundt pan was designed by Minnesota-based Nordicware in 1950. The aluminum ring-shaped cake pan with fluted edges was an updated version of a cast-iron pan used to bake Gugelhupf, a traditional yeast-leavened cake common throughout central and eastern Europe. Nordicware’s updated version was lightweight and allowed for even […]

Chicken breasts can often be quite dry and bland. They have a low fat-to-protein ratio, and fat content is a major contributor to flavor and moistness. Chicken breasts just aren’t something you can throw in a pan and come up with something flavorful. Nonetheless, they are extremely popular and convenient because they cook quickly, but […]