The Kitchn Archive: Mar 2012

I eat Greek yogurt and granola for breakfast most days of the week. I started perfecting granola at home when I got tired of buying dry, tasteless, over-priced granola at the store. Now I make it weekly, and have some tips and tricks so you, too, can avoid disappointing granola.

Baking a cake on a random weeknight , especially when living in a small household, is a rare occasion. However, craving a slice of cake on a Wednesday night is not that uncommon. What to do? Freeze slices of cake, of course. Then you’re only a few minutes away from a slice any night of the week.A few cautionary items before throwing that birthday cake in the freezer: frosting can get weird when thawed out.

Q: I’m just getting into baking, and while I know I need to invest in a scale, I’m not there yet. When a recipe calls for 1 cup of sifted flour, do you sift and then measure out 1 cup or do you take a cup of flour and then sift it? Thanks!Sent by Virginia-MarieEditor: If the recipe says “1 cup sifted flour,” then that usually means that you should sift the flour first and then measure it (or sift the flour directly into the measuring cup as you sift).

We like a nut in our brownie—something toasty and crunchy to break up the texture and add a little extra oomph. But pretzels are even better! Salty, crispy, and a perfect complement to gooey chocolate. A couple of these recipes throw in some peanut butter for good measure.Number two even uses a boxed mix, if you have a favorite and just want to amp it up.

It happens all the time. You pick out the perfect cheesecake recipe, stock up on pricey ingredients, spend a few hours in the kitchen, and come out with a disappointing cheesecake. There are a few major reasons why cheesecakes often flop, so we thought we’d take a moment to cover them during dessert week here on The Kitchn. The thing about cheesecakes is they’re so much better when made at home, but folks are often scared of them.

What do we mean when we talk about the texture of a wine? What words might we use to describe a wine’s texture ? When we talk about the texture of a wine, we are essentially describing the mouthfeel or tactile sensation on the palate. Read on for some thoughts on describing and characterizing a wine’s texture!I am sure all our readers are familiar with texture when it comes to tasting food. Well, it is the same with wine – that physical sensation in our mouth.

One of my favorite things about making a batch of risotto is anticipating the crispy risotto cakes I’ll make with the leftovers. They are, if possible, even better than the risotto itself. Especially if one happens to sneak a slice of cheese in the middle.As it cools, risotto gradually loses its creamy sauce-like consistency and firms up. We can take scoops of this leftover risotto and actually shape it into patties that hold their shape when pan-fried.

The whole rotisserie chicken found in many supermarkets and delis is ubiquitous and commonplace, but I’m still a fan. I think it’s a delicious and economical way to bring protein to my table. And when I know I’ll be cooking for myself over a period of several days, I can make that bird last down to the last wing bone! Read on for my five day rotisserie chicken menu plan. A rotisserie chicken is simply a whole chicken that’s cooked on a turning spit. (See photo above.

In the battle against limited freezer space, some foods just don’t cut it. But how do you know which ones to toss before they hit the freezer? Three rules help break down the mystery and keep your freezer free for success. Rule One: The cardinal rule of freezing: if it didn’t taste good to begin with, it won’t taste any better after freezing. In fact, it will most definitely taste worse.

Minerality—a word you hear bandied about by wine tasters and professionals. What exactly is minerality in a wine? What does it taste like? Where does it come from? And, do all wines have it?Defining MineralityUnfortunately there is really no real agreement among wine experts or even wine scientists as to how to define minerality in a wine.

Q: I was shopping for cutting boards recently and saw a wood board that was heat safe to 350°F. Could such boards be used as trivets? Thank you!Sent by LeeEditor: Yes, it sounds like heat-safe cutting boards would be fine to use as a trivet. Let dishes cooked higher than 350°F cool a little first, but everything else should be fine to place on the cutting board without fear of leaving charred marks.Readers, do any of you have experience with cutting boards like this?Next question?

I used to walk the freezer aisle in envy of all of those perfectly engineered frozen burritos. How did they managed to get everything in there in so it doesn’t overcook when reheated? And sealed in with just a thin plastic wrapper? Well, I dare say I’ve conquered it. A number of tips will help you create your own fresh freezer fare, too!• Reheating Gently: Let your wraps thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at least for a few hours before reheating.

Eating your lunch by yourself can get a little boring. There’s no conversation to distract you from the fact that each bite of your sandwich or each sip of your soup tastes pretty much the same, bite after bite, slurp after slurp. Unless, of course, you do what I do when I eat solo: create lots and lots of variety.

I picked up a liter of vat pasteurized milk at a specialty market the other day. It was expensive (about $3.50 plus the $1.50 bottle credit which I can get back if I return the bottle) but I was curious enough to splurge. I had never heard of vat pasteurized milk before but the milk was also local, sustainable, organic, non-homogenized, and came from Jersey cows so there was a lot to be curious about.

Canned soups are a quick, budget-friendly lunch when there is no time to cook, but they can often be salty, bland, or just boring. Adding just an ingredient or two from your own pantry or fridge can turn a ho-hum canned soup into a satisfying meal. Here are our 10 favorite additions: • 1 Greens: A handful of leafy greens like frozen spinach, thinly sliced chopped kale or bagged arugula add color, nutrition and a fresh flavor.

Last week in posting about wine ‘aromas’What do we mean when we talk about flavor in wine?Flavor refers to the taste of a wine in your mouth. As well as reflecting the aromas absorbed retro-nasally, the overall flavor of a wine is also influenced by the wine’s acidity, sweetness, alcohol level, tannins, astringency, body and in sparkling wines by its fizziness, as these components can accentuate or neutralize the flavors.

Finding a ripe avocado at the supermarket is hit or miss, so what can you do if you need an avocado right away? Tasting Table shared a food science tip for quickly ripening avocados with help from an unexpected source: a banana!Ripe bananas release a lot of ethylene, the hormone that triggers ripening in mature fruit, so placing one in a closed paper bag with your under-ripe avocados will speed up the process.

I’m not sure when I discovered shredded wheat, but I can be sure it was by accident. Growing up, cereal meant the sugary kind that left the milk delightfully sweet. Hounded by my parents to cut back on sugar, I must have tried their shredded wheat one day and decided it was not completely disgusting. But now? I stockpile the stuff.Shredded wheat is the blank palette of breakfast foods: it is essential to load up the bowl with anything else to make it edible.

Imagine sitting down to breakfast and being confronted with a perfectly intact soft-boiled egg sitting in an egg cup. Would you know what to do next? If you’re from the Continent, or indeed much of the world, this would not a problem but most Americans would be a little puzzled about their next move. Turns out that there are several ways to approach a soft boiled egg and, not surprisingly, each has their staunch supporters. Read on for an overview of choices. Fat end or pointy end?

I first encountered the idea of frozen scones on vacation in Michigan. The Lake Street Market in Boyne City, MI sells rolls of their delicious apple walnut scones (and about a million other varieties) already frozen. What better for a summer lake house than a few scones in the freezer, just waiting to bake up and lure you to the breakfast table?

While ricotta is perhaps most famous as a lasagna filling, it really shines at breakfast where its creamy texture and not too tangy flavor are a perfect match with many breakfast classics. My favorite way to eat it is to slather it on toast made with a rustic bread and drizzled with a few threads of bitter Sicilian honey. Add some fresh or dried fruit and a few almonds and you have a perfect way to start the day. Read on for a few more ways to use ricotta as an essential breakfast ingredient.

Most of us probably consider chopsticks to be more of a utensil than a tool, but Chef David Barry from the Culinary Institute of America has some compelling reasons for using them in the kitchen. Namely, the best scrambled eggs ever.In an article he wrote for Fine Cooking, Chef Barry recommends using chopsticks instead of spatulas or wooden spoons to stir a skillet of scrambled eggs.

Perhaps the trickiest thing about risotto is knowing when it’s done. Like pasta, you want to cook the rice to al dente — it should be cooked through but still have just the slightest bite to it. How do you know when risotto is cooked to that stage?

Over the past few months of citrus preserving, food swaps• Swirl it into oatmeal and yogurt: Using jam to brighten up our morning yogurt or oatmeal is nothing new, but for some reason we only recently tried marmalade – it’s fantastic, especially paired with toasted nuts.• Bake it into scones: Add a 1/2 cup of marmalade to your favorite scone recipe, or try Marmalade Barley Scones from Good to the Grain author Kim Boyce.