Cook Perfect Beef Wellington / Albóndigas Soup / 8 Braises

Blog Post & Recipe: How to cook perfect beef wellington

Simon and Lindsey observe in the preface to their beef wellington recipe that "the whole point of cooking meat in pastry is to keep in the juices ... but if the pastry is good and thin, buttery and rich, nothing is nicer than a meat-soaked crust".

Blog Post & Recipe: i just flipped that

Loaded with vegetables and a good amount of spice, I couldn’t wait for it to finish cooking. The meatballs are made with beef and pork, but the book says there are some variations depending on region. You could use chicken instead of beef, and some meatballs are wrapped around a pitted green olive.

Recipe: albóndigas soup

Blog Post & Recipes: Fork-Tender Dinners: 8 Braises to Fill Your Belly

Give it some low heat and an afternoon to baste in its own juices, and food takes on never before seen levels of flavor and tenderness.

Star Anise and Ginger Braised Chicken ... Dijon-Braised Brussels Sprouts ... Braised Lebanese Eggplant with Chickpeas ... Spice-Braised Lamb Shanks with Lentils ... Short Ribs Braised in Coffee Ancho Chile Sauce ... Braised Celery with Crunchy Bread Crumb Topping ... Apple Cider Braised Brisket ... Lamb Tagine with Chickpeas and Apricots .

Related: Food Science: Why Tougher Meats Make Good Braises

Cochinita Pibil Tacos / Slow-Cooked Goose in Brandy, Aromatics & Tomato / Five Spice Pork Belly with Pickled Vegetable Salad

Blog Post & Recipe: Cochinita Pibil (Puerco Pibil) and then Cochinita Pibil Tacos

A tasty slow roasted pork marinated in sour oranges and red annatto seeds.

Recipe: Slow-cooked goose in brandy, aromatics and tomato recipe

This goose has a wonderful, assertive taste from the brandy, which cuts through the fatty meat. It is cooked long enough for the legs to get wonderfully soft.

Article & Recipes: Five Spice Pork Belly with Pickled Vegetable Salad

Belly Pork is fatty and I think best served with something to cut through, I love these spicy pickled salads, they wake you up, if don’t fancy the thai taste, cabbage , carrot and apple works well too dressed with lemon juice and black pepper.

Soy & Star Anise Oxtail / Horchata / Beetroot Salad with Crispy Leeks & Bacon

Blog Post & Recipe: Soy & Star Anise Oxtail

The oxtail needs cooking slow and low to ensure the is meat that can be sucked off the bone perfect with the spicy sticky sauce but definitely have some napkins handy .

Blog Post & Recipe: Bringing Mexico Home: Horchata

Variations include almonds, lime zest, or even pecans and popcorn. Momofuku Milk Bar serves a Horchata Soft Serve Ice Cream with Cinnamon. And adding a dash of Tequila can improve its already soothing qualities.

Blog Post & Recipe: Beet Salad with Crispy Leeks and Bacon

I decided to take a different route when recreating this dish at home. Instead of chicken skin, I used bacon, and instead of frying it stovetop, I used it to help make the leeks extra crispy in the oven. After a few minutes roasting together, the leeks begin to caramelize in the bacon fat, and the result is a rather rich smoky dressing for your beets.

The Easiest Way to Poach an Egg / Eggplant Involtini / Tamales Filled with Carnitas in Pipian Sauce

Blog Post & Recipe: the easiest way to poach an egg + 8 reasons to eat eggs for breakfast

I find adding a generous slug of white vinegar to the poaching water – we’re talking a good 3-4 tablespoons, is all you need to get good looking poached eggs, every time.

Blog Post & Recipe: Eggplant Involtini

The eggplant are cut into 1/2-inch slices and broiled briefly to tenderize them. Then the slices are rolled up and around a simple mixture of breadcrumbs, garlic, balsamic vinegar, mozzarella, basil, oregano, red pepper and diced tomatoes (pine nuts too, but I omitted them). Once assembled, you pop the eggplant rolls into the oven to heat them through and melt the cheese.

Blog Post & Recipe: GCC: Tamales filled with Carnitas in Pipian Sauce [ via ]

But, you can certainly accomplish this dish all by yourself. With a bit of planning and breaking the instructions into manageable parts, it is totally doable. Give yourself 2 days for this one. Gather the ingredients and cook the filling on day 1, and then prepare and cook the tamales on day 2.

The Perfect Guacamole / Heather Beer / Paneer Butter Masala

Blog Post & Recipe: The Perfect Guacamole

All it takes to make The Perfect Guacamole is a few fresh ingredients and some simple guidelines.

Blog Post & Recipe: How to make Viking heather beer

I asked him if he could come up with an easy recipe using wild plants. He describes the recipe he sent me as a "metheglin" (a honey wine flavoured with herbs or spices) though I would suggest it is a honey beer, albeit one quite unrelated to the modern honey beers that contain very little honey indeed.

Blog Post & Recipe: Paneer Butter Masala – Restaurant style

Paneer is a fresh cheese made of milk and lemon juice. Very easy to make and super delicious.You can make it fresh and use it the same day. Paneer is such a versatile ingredient that you can prepare your entire meal out of it. One of the most popular curries of Paneer is Paneer butter masala. It is cooked in a rich buttery onion-tomato gravy and flavored with bitter fenugreek leaves.

Fried Plantain Panini With Yoghurt Dressing / Whole Roasted Onions / Yucca Dough Empanadas

Recipe: Fried Plantain Panini With Yogurt Dressing

When the panini is ready, remove it and open it up. Splash the mix on top of the plantain, and close the sandwich back up. Enjoy while warm.

Blog Post & Recipe: Whole Roasted Onions

Plonk onions on a baking sheet without bothering to peel them. Shove in oven. Come back later for achingly sweet, tender, oniony goodness. Accept accolades. See how easy is was?

Blog Post & Recipe: Yucca Dough Empanadas

I never used yucca so it was pretty interesting. I didn't realize at first that there is actually a core in the center that you can't really eat. You need to peel the yucca, then cut around the core and boil for about a half hour. Then just mash it into a dough.

4 Mexican-Armenian Recipes / Unagi Kabayaki / Roasted Capsicum with Capers & Mozzarella

Article & Recipes: Marrying Mexican and Armenian cuisine

Armenians, just like Mexicans, love the comingling of sweet and sour and spicy and mild; they love strong flavors like lamb and garlic.

Stuffed grape leaves ... Pilaf with topping ... Carne asada ... Jocoque dip

Blog Post & Recipe: Unagi Kabayaki [via]

If you like Japanese food, and have had unagi kobayaki--broiled eel--at Japanese restaurants, you will be surprised at how easy it is to make at home. When I was making this dish, I thought of my nephew Tyler. He really likes unagi. I thought, 'How can Ty make this at his house in Oregon?' Simple. Just like my grandfather did--in a pan on top of the stove.

Blog Post & Recipe: roasted peppers with capers and mozzarella

I will turn on the oven for one thing, and that is to roast my peppers for the better part of an hour. I prefer this over blistering them on the stove, which makes them easy to peel but not supple and sweetly cooked as they get in the oven. After peeling their skin and cutting them into strips, I let them sit overnight in some salt, pepper, garlic and red wine vinegar which punched up their flavor a bit.

Pumpkin Seed Mole / Hot Soba / Lemongrass and Chili Relish

Blog Post & Recipe: Pumpkin Seed Mole | Mole Verde

In Oaxaca, green mole (mole verde) is one of the seven famous moles. What makes this one different is not just the lack of chocolate, but also the fresh herbs, which give it a fabulous green color.

Blog Post & Recipe: Dinner Tonight: Hot Soba

While I have a deep abiding love for noodles of all kinds, soba has never exactly worked for me at home. Part of the issue is that most recipes call for the soba to be cooked and then cooled. Obviously I'm doing something wrong, because they come out slinky and watery, and seem to repel flavor. Considering I suck at cold soba, I figured I should give hot soba a try.

Blog Post & Recipe: Old Fashioned Lemongrass and Chili Relish (naam phrik dtakhrai ; น้ำพริกตะไคร้)

Chili relishes are made by pounding together chilies with salty ingredients, such as fermented shrimp paste, salt or dry shrimp, to which various proteins are added, the mix is than further seasoned to sour, salty and sweet flavors. Burst with tastes, chili relishes are served in a central bowl and are eaten along with rice and a wide variety of condiments, sweet pork, grilled fish, salted meat and vegetables picked up fresh from the garden.

Caldo de Camarón (Dried Prawn Soup) / How to Prepare Black Fungus & Wood Ear Mushrooms / Green Tea Infused Sunroot Soup

Blog Post & Recipe: Where to Find Caldo de Camarón? Make Your Own...

That fresh squeezed lime juice is what makes all of the flavors in the soup, truly shine.

Blog Post: How to prepare black fungus and wood ears mushrooms

See where the red arrow points? If you feel around with your fingers in that part, you’ll know how much different the texture is from the rest of the fungus. That tough hard part should be cut off.

Blog Post & Recipe: Green Tea Infused Sunroot Soup ('Sunroot' is Jerusalem Artichoke)

We used green tea instead of broth in this soup. The flavors from the tea really works good together with the sunroot. Tea infusion is a fun way to experiment with new flavors in your standard soups.

Tomato Soup / Chilaquiles / 3 Recipes with Hard & Soft Herbs

Blog Post & Recipe: Tomato Soup

This is a thick and creamy (yet creamless!) tomato soup. Made with canned tomatoes and the clever twist of white bread for heft, it’s an easy, bright, and flavorful dish.

Blog Post & Recipe: Chilaquiles

I think the best way to describe it is a casserole of stale/fried corn tortillas, a sauce of your choosing (red, verde, molé–whatever), and a whole bunch of whatever else you have handy (chicken, eggs, avocado, radish, cheese, crema, etc). This dish is meant to be relatively simple to prepare, a great way to make the most of leftovers/random odds and ends

Article & Recipes: Herbs are the next big zing

I think of herbs in two categories, hard and soft. “Hard” herbs are generally the tough ones that can grow through the winter. Think of myrtle, bay, rosemary and sage: these hardier leaves keep their flavour throughout prolonged cooking. They are the herbs I reach for at the start of a dish: they’ll give depth of flavour and a profound aroma by the time I’m finished.

“Soft” herbs such as thyme, dill, marjoram and parsley, need more gentle treatment. If you add them near the start of preparation they get lost: their delicate flavours don’t travel well. But stirred in at the end of cooking they can lift a dish, balance it, give it vibrancy and vigour.

Pork chop with hard and soft herbs ... Lentils with lots of soft herbs ... Rabbit roast with hard herbs

Elizabeth David Recipes / Using Nuts and Seeds / Dried Worms in Pho

Blog Post & Recipes: Elizabeth David

At Elizabeth David's Table: Classic Recipes and Timeless Kitchen Wisdom

Chicken with Tarragon ... Tarte à l'oignon ... Lettuce Soup ... Ratatouille ... more

Article & Recipes: Nuts and seeds

Here’s a roundup of eight delicious ways from around the globe to get the most from nuts and seeds.

Cashew Cream ... Pomegranate Khoresh with Chicken ... Boiled Peanuts (Stovetop Method) ... Three Sisters Black Mole ... Romesco ... Horchata ... Dukkah ... Picada

Blog Post: Pho Secret Ingredients: Dried Earthworms (Sa Sung)

If you read Saveur magazine, you may have seen the northern pho (pho Bac) article that I wrote for the March 2011 issue. One of the ingredients that I mentioned in the story was sa sung (Sipunculans), dried peanut earthworms that add a unique savory sweetness to the broth

Fennel with Meat (Etli Rezene) / Horchata / Filmjölk

Blog Post & Recipe: Fennel with Meat (Etli Rezene)

The Aegean cuisine in Turkey is known for its greens. It is truly unbelievable how many different green plants/weeds and in how many different ways the Aegeans can cook.

Blog Post & Recipe: Going Nuts for Horchata

The drink owes its creamy consistency to the combination of almonds, rice, and barley (and sometimes even sesame or melon seeds) that make up the recipe. Horchata is prepared by blanching and soaking almonds, pulverizing rice and barley, combining all of the ingredients in a blender and straining the mixture with cheesecloth.

Blog Post: Let’s Get Cultured! Filmjölk!

I have been making my own yogurt for about two years now and so far filmjölk, a Swedish countertop cultured yogurt is my favorite. There are several reasons why, the first is the absolute breeze it is to make. You don’t need any special equipment. To make your first batch all you need is the bacteria culture, some milk and cream and a clean mason jar.

Sichuan Chilli Oil / Making Stock / Mexican Hot Chocolate

Blog Post & Recipe: Sichuan Chilli Oil

Heat the peanut oil in a small saucepan until shimmering, then CAREFULLY add the peppercorns. They will spit a lot - wear long sleeves.

Blog Post & Recipe: How to make stock the right way, the wrong way, and when it matters [via]

So here, I'll show you the classicist's way of making stock, but then I'll let you in on all the ways you can cheat.

Classic meat stock

Blog Post & Recipe: Mexican Hot Chocolate

I have to admit that I like my hot chocolate a little stronger than that, and less sweet. But there’s something endearing about that crumbly Mexican chocolate that crinkles with sugar when you snap pieces off. So I upped the proportion of Mexican chocolate and added some unsweetened cocoa powder, which brought up the chocolate flavor and richness to where I like it.

Taquitos de Papa / 8 Vegetarian Recipes / How To Brine Chicken

Blog Post & Recipe: Dinner Tonight: Taquitos de Papa

The combination of waxy potatoes and the complex chili sauce comes together quickly and with little effort ... The small amount of lard gives everything a hearty pork kick

Blog Post & Recipes: What I've Been Cooking Recently

Here’s a selection of what I’ve been cooking.

Broccoli pesto ... Kale and mashed potatoes ... Using kimchi ... Stuffed artichokes ... Quinoa with fennel ... Beetroot and haloumi ... Rice gratin ... Quinoa falafels

Blog Post & Recipe: How To Brine Chicken (Quick Brine Recipe)

If you want to brine more quickly, make a stronger brine. I double it to a 10% salt solution, 100 grams salt per 1000 grams/milliliters water (gosh I love metric). But there’s still a time issue: if you want to add aromatics and ensure you dissolve the salt, you’ve got to heat the brine (and water takes forever to cool; can’t wait that long).

Homemade Doughnuts / Spanish Omelette / Tacos de Carnitas with Salsa Verde

Article & Recipe: The Quest to Best Krispy Kremes

What all of these doughnut shops have in common is the light yeasty dough that defines their doughnuts as perfect doughnuts.

Recipe: Homemade Doughnuts

Blog Post & Recipe: The perfect Spanish omelette

On the face of it, this simple frittata-style recipe should present fewer issues than the classic French version: it's an altogether more rustic affair, which scorns the delicate jiggling and rolling practised across the border.

Blog Post & Recipe: The Food Lab: Make Crisp, Juicy Carnitas—Without a Bucket of Lard

So the key to great carnitas (and French confit, for that matter) is to heat the meat to a specific temperature, and try and keep it there long enough for the collagen to break down, while minimizing the amount of moisture lost.

No-Waste Tacos de Carnitas with Salsa Verde

In-N-Out Double-Double, Animal-Style / 8 Brazilian Recipes / Summer Squash Enchiladas

Blog Post & Recipe: The Burger Lab: The Ins-n-Outs of an In-N-Out Double-Double, Animal-Style

Make your own In-N-Out burger!

Recipes: A Taste of Brazil: 8 Recipes for a Brazilian Dinner Party

Moqueca ... Bolinhos de Bacalhau ... Feijoada from Saveur ... Shrimp Bobo ... Pao de Queijo ... Brigadeiros ... Pudim De Laranja ... Classic Caipirinha

Blog Post & Recipe: Summer squash enchiladas

I wanted to keep the sauce light, so I used the not-too-fiery cascabel chile, which is a cute round chile that looks like an apple and makes a rattling sound when you shake it. And for the filling, I simply sautéed the squash with some onions, garlic and jalapeño chiles until they were warm and slightly tender but still with some bite.

Chicken wrapped in Bacon with Silverbeet, Orange & Pinenuts / Rice Porridge with Chicken and Lemon Grass / Black Bean and Summer Squash Enchiladas

Blog Post & Recipe: Chicken wrapped in Bacon with Silverbeet, Orange & Pinenuts

The salty flavours of the bacon and the bitterness of the greens are balance beautifully I feel with the sweet citric orange. It’s a great winter dish that can be served a crusty bread, polenta or mashed potatoes.

Blog Post & Recipe: Corinne Trang's Rice Porridge with Chicken and Lemon Grass (Chao xa ga)

Because I'd had a big pot of chicken stock hanging out in my fridge for a few days, I decided to make the Vietnamese version of congee, chao xa ga, which has a slightly more flavorful base (chicken broth boiled together with lemongrass and chili) than regular congee.

Blog Post & Recipe: Black Bean and Summer Squash Enchiladas

... we were out of corn, which I usually use in black bean enchiladas. Finally, I decided to create an enchilada recipe that would use the expiring produce du jour–the last of a big bag of patty pan squash–as a replacement for corn, and it was a big hit with the whole family.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble / Horchata / Bosnian Pot

Blog Post & Recipe: Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Recipe

In this version I combined rhubarb, strawberry, and a splash of port wine with a buttery black pepper, pine nut and oat crumble.

Blog Post & Recipe: Horchata, a Refreshing Rice and Almost Beverage

It’s what’s known as an aqua fresca, which is a Mexican beverage that is a blend of sweetened water with fruits, seeds, nuts or grains.

Recipe: Bosnian Pot

It is impossible to define Bosnian pot. Basically, it is pot filled with layered meat and vegetables, mostly very hot, but apart from that, due to the flexibility of it's preparations, whatever vegetables are available they'll go inside.

Spelt Bread / Lamb Stew / Chalupas

Article & Recipes: Nigel Slater's spelt bread recipe

Bread dough will often resist our attempts at complete control, and will rise or fall as it wishes, take its time or surprise us with its spontaneity.

SPELT ROLLS ... A STEW OF MUSHROOMS WITH ONION AND FENNEL SEEDS

Blog Post & Recipe: Spring Lamb Stew

This spring lamb stew takes advantage of the young green garlic you can find at farmers markets, peas, and new potatoes. What takes it over the top is the flavoring that comes from adding a couple of heads of roasted garlic to the stock.

Blog Post & Recipe: Chalupas [Taco Bell style] and Puebla-style Chalupas

Let me start by saying that I’ve never actually had a Taco Bell Chalupa ... That means I based my chalupa version off of what I could see in their photos which was some sort of chewy shell, seasoned ground beef, and various toppings.

UK Mexican Food / Three Salsa Recipes

Article & Recipes: Someone named Thomasina Miers in the UK has put together a book of Tex-Mex recipes and both the Guardian and the Times have agreed to promote it: Thomasina Miers' simple Mexican recipes and How to cook like a Mexican.

The first link:

Steak Burritos ... Black beans ... Coconut ceviche ... How to eat a taco ... Torta (the Mexican club sandwich) ... The great Mexican breakfast ... Tlayudas (Oaxacan pizzas)

The second link (you'll need to click around to find the recipes -- look in the box below the article):

The perfect guacamole ... Churros and chocolate ... Ham and cheese empanadas ... Chorizo, potato and thyme quesadillas ... Fresh tomato salsa

Meanwhile, at the New York Times ...

Article & Recipes: Rediscovering Salsa, the Soul of Mexico in a Bowl

Salsa is a cornerstone of the Mexican kitchen, a contrast for a repetitive diet of corn, squash and beans. Just as French cooks understand that béarnaise sauce suits some dishes, hollandaise others, Mexican cooks know salsas have different qualities and functions.

Related
Recipe: Salsa Ranchera
Recipe: Salsa Verde
Recipe: Salsa Roja