The Kitchn Archive: 2011

Every week we round up our favorite posts from our friends at Serious Eats. This week: What beer to drink with fried chicken? Serious Eats guides the way. Plus, sandwich cookies with lingonberry jam, a new way to brew coffee, and more!• Beer Pairings: What to Drink with Fried Chicken – Which beers stand up best to the glorious greasiness of fried chicken? Serious Eats points the way.• Pie of the Week: Butternut Squash – A subtle, creamy pie for fall.

Have you noticed that challahs reinvent themselves each year for the Jewish New Year? All year long, we shape our challahs into beautiful braids. On Rosh Hashanah, our challahs are round to symbolize the cycle of the year. Just like our challahs, the new year is a time when we too can consider how to transform ourselves in a positive way during the coming year.

Game of Thrones may be full of strange landscapes and fictional creatures, but the food in George R.R. Martin’s fantasy book series is quite familiar. Gilt Taste explains why the characters eat strawberry pie instead of roasted dragon, and where to find recipes inspired by the series.

Do you have a secret love for American cheese, perhaps in a melty grilled cheese sandwich or on a diner-style cheeseburger? The folks at America’s Test Kitchen have figured out how to make a block of that mild and familiar cheese from scratch, without any weird additives or preservatives. American cheese is more like a cheese ball than a traditional cheese.

Earlier this week we posted about about Tara Austen Weaver’s new ebookTales from a High MountainLike much of Japanese cooking, the beauty and taste lies in the simplicity of the recipe. Udon is a perfect dish for a light supper on a cool night, as the first of the autumn leaves gently rattle in the trees.

Tired of the usual baked or roasted potatoes? For a pretty and flavorful twist, try slicing and seasoning your potatoes before popping them in the oven. Lemon and thyme, rosemary and garlic: the flavor combinations are endless.The idea for these potatoes came from the always-inspiring blog Ideas in Food. They stuffed their potatoes with lemon and oregano, and roasted them on a bed of sliced Vidalia onions. I used lemon, thyme and garlic cloves, and skipped the onions.

Tater tots are like the homely cousins of french fries, browned and chubby instead of slender and golden, but just as addictive. The most recent issue of Cook’s Country has a recipe for crunchy, fluffy homemade potato tots that is making us wonder why french fries get all the attention.The team at Cook’s Country experimented with the best way to make tater tots that were not too dense or gummy, with a crunchy exterior.

Like many people, I spent my childhood arms-crossed, head-shaking, floor-stomping vehemently hating beets. They were weird, and slimy, and tasted of dirt. They made people’s mouths look bloody (also kind of cool.) Yuck. But then, like many people, I grew up and discovered that beets are absolutely delicious. Today they are one of my top five most favorite vegetables. So how did I get from stomping my feet to eating beets twice a week? This recipe for glazed beets played a big part.

Labor Day weekend always seems like the last gasp of summer before fall begins in earnest. Everyone scrambles to make the most of it — one last vacation, one last trip to the lake or the beach. And, for those of us taking the simpler route and staying home — one last summer cocktail. The beauty of this cocktail lies in its simplicity.

Imagine picking up a box of Earl Grey tea bags at your local store and brewing a cup, as you have for many years. You bring the steamy beverage to your lips and realize something is wrong. Did someone replace your favorite tea with dishwater? That’s (literally!) what some Brits are saying about Twinings’ new Earl Grey recipe, launched in UK in April. Read on for the incredible comments from outraged tea drinkers.