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How To Grate Parmesan Cheese (Fast)

Welcome to lesson 2 of the homemade how-to series: how to finely grate parmesan cheese in no time. Every two weeks, I’ll break down the steps for a home cooking skill I searched for often as I first learned to cook. A recipe to showcase your new skill will follow a couple days after the how-to post!

Chances are, you searched for this tutorial in a pinch, so let’s dive right in! Click here to jump down and read more about why you should make your own finely grated parmesan cheese and some ideas for how to use it.

How to grate parmesan cheese (fast)

Ingredients and tools

  • Parmesan cheese. See the FAQs below for details on specific types of parmesan.
  • Food processor: I have this one, which I purchased at Costco, and I love it. For a slightly smaller and less expensive model, I like the looks of this one (it’s under $35).
  • Chef’s knife

How to grate parmesan cheese in 5 minutes, without a box grater or a mess

Step 1: Remove the rind

Use a large, sharp knife to carefully remove the rind from the cheese. It’s okay to leave a thin layer of cheese attached to the rind: it will flavor any dish you use the rind in, and it will save you from slicing off your fingertip.

How to grate parmesan cheese in 5 minutes, without a box grater or a mess
[Read more…]

How to Make Fresh Bread Crumbs

Welcome to lesson 1(!) of the homemade how-to series: how to make fresh bread crumbs. Every two weeks, I’ll break down the steps for a home cooking skill I searched for often as I learned to cook. A recipe to showcase your new skill will follow a couple days after the how-to post!

Chances are, you searched for this post in a pinch, so let’s dive right in! Click here to jump down and read more about fresh bread crumbs and how to use them.

How to make fresh bread crumbs

Ingredients and tools

  • Almost any loaf of bread besides a baguette, whole or sliced
  • Food processor: I have this one, which I purchased at Costco, and I love it. For a slightly smaller and less expensive model, I like the looks of this one (it’s under $35).
  • Serrated knife: makes crust removal super easy.

How to make (and eat) fresh bread crumbs

Step 1: Remove the crust

Use a serrated knife to remove bread crust. For a round loaf, remove the crust by cutting the loaf in half top to bottom (then pause to smell the fresh, yeasty bread). Stand each half on its cut side. Cut off the bottom, flat crust first, then work in smaller sections with the knife, “peeling” the remaining crust off the bread.

To remove crust from sliced bread, stack the slices and cut top to bottom to remove crusts from all the slices in one motion.

How to make (and eat) fresh bread crumbs

How to make (and eat) fresh bread crumbs
How to make (and eat) fresh bread crumbs

[Read more…]

I Need Your Help in 2016

In 2015, I cooked my way through an entire chapter of Gratins from The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Well, almost. I have one more to go, recipe coming soon. The process helped me master a few cooking skills, some familiar (making a roux) and some new (cleaning and prepping fresh artichokes). Now I can turn any vegetable, bean, or pasta into a one-dish dinner with just a few simple pantry and fridge staples.

Cabbage Gratin

In 2016, I want to help you tackle some of your cooking troubles and goals. Perhaps you don’t have the time or interest in cooking through a cookbook, but if you think about it, I bet you read recipes sometimes and they just skim over a relatively technical skill:

  • poach an egg
  • simmer until thickened (how thick?!)
  • make a bouquet garni
  • over moderate heat
  • or even…bring to a boil.

Or maybe you want to know how to better plan your week in meals. Or how to eat meatless on a budget. Or how to cook for a vegan friend. Or how to host Christmas for 30 without losing your mind. All excellent questions.

No matter your home cooking skills, I want to know–what do you want to learn in 2016? Hop down to the comments below, and tell me.

[Read more…]

How to Plan and Cook a Meatless Thanksgiving Menu

In 2015, I made the jump from alternative Thanksgiving meat to (nearly) meatless Thanksgiving menu. My one concession was the crab cakes, but braised turkey legs almost got involved. To start, I planned on a couple big, semi-hippie vegetarian mains, one of which was a big fall kale salad. I thought it would be courteous to offer our small crowd of guests some turkey to add to their salad, so they didn’t blame me for a totally unorthodox Thanksgiving. Then, as I browsed recipes and wandered down the rabbit hole of the internet, I stumbled upon some images of glorious, very much alive, fully grown turkeys. In conversation, I generally provide every reason in the book for eating mostly meatless as a way of life, downplaying the ethical reasons as much as possible. Part of me doesn’t quite know how to explain it to unsympathetic ears, or I’m worried that I’ll get criticized and won’t have a logical, or even convincing, response.

How to plan and execute and meatless Thanksgiving (or any holiday) menu

But, in a moment of conviction, I decided to own my grievances with the majority of meat production. In this case, the raising of turkeys in captivity for tradition’s sake, when most Americans, myself included, couldn’t even tell you why turkey is the official bird of Thanksgiving dinner.
[Read more…]

Bourbon Butterscotch Mini Apple Pies

Bourbon butterscotch mini apple pies with an easy, flaky pie crust

After he gave me an extreme frumpy face for spending Sunday testing a dessert recipe that involves neither chocolate nor peanut butter, either Steve or I proposed the addition of butterscotch chips to my mini apple pies. Suddenly, he was possibly in for taste testing. Then he glanced up at the liquor shelf, and, maybe half jokingly, suggested I throw in some bourbon, too. I took it seriously, and my chocolate and vanilla husband (just married!) was finally on board for a fruity fall dessert.

If you’ve perused my recipes at all, you know I’m not big on publishing dessert recipes. I say that probably every time I do share one. Don’t get me wrong, I love sweets, but I’ve kind of weaned myself off of them. I get a weird taste in my mouth and feel really funky nowadays when I eat a lot of sugar. Like instantly. So I know I’m going to pay. But sometimes, when it’s a special occasion, like fall and the holidays and peak apple season, I dive in regardless.

Apple season means butterscotch bourbon mini apple pies! (recipe)

Bourbon butterscotch mini apple pies with an easy, flaky pie crust

When I am eating delicious mini apple pies with the flakiest crust I’ve ever tasted, let alone prepared myself, having them in tiny format helps to avoid that unpleasant sugar (and waistline) response. [Read more…]

How to Make Enchilada Pie

Building enchilada pie is easy as pie

Enchiladas can be pretty easy to make, with an exponentially greater payoff than the work put into them. Take my creamy enchiladas recipe, for example. Simple ingredients, half an hour, and one bowl. Done. However, some recipes are a bit more labor intensive, with an extra pot or homemade sauce involved. Still fine, because my love for enchiladas is so great I would dirty every dish in my kitchen to make a pan. When I’m sick going on five days, though, and I want to test a new enchilada recipe, the last thing on my priority list is stuffing, rolling, and saucing 12 flawless enchiladas. I got to thinking that really is the most annoying part. You use an extra pan or two to warm or fry the tortillas, dirty an unwieldy baking dish, and are usually left with extra enchilada filling taking up space in the refrigerator. Given the downsides, I know I’m not the only one looking for an occasional enchilada shortcut.

How to make your favorite enchiladas into enchilada PIE!

The answer, as you can tell from the pictures, is enchilada pie! [Read more…]

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