The Cook’s Kitchen

About a year ago I watched Bobby Flay on Food Network doing a piece about a cooking apparatus called “La Caja China“, also known affectionately as a “Cajun Microwave” or “Redneck Microwave”. It’s predominantly used to roast pigs.
This “microwave” is a wooden box lined with metal flashing. The pig (or other meat) is placed inside […]

This time of year tends to bring frenzied weekends and lots of shopping. Just this upcoming weekend, I have a Christmas party to attend Friday night, a company party to attend Saturday night and a friend’s dinner to attend Sunday evening. On top of that, I have a Christmas lunch to prepare this weekend in […]

There are many types of cheese graters available. I guess two of the most common styles are the upright box-graters, which offer multiple grating surfaces, and the flat graters that have several grating patterns on one surface.  I have one of each, both are stainless steel.  They both do an average job, clean easily and […]

Poultry is one of the most popular and versatile foods you could ever ask for. Recently there has a great deal of attention given to chicken and I wanted to give you the heads-up on a couple of things being talked about on food forums and in the media.
First, the Food Safety and Inspection Service […]

I whipped up a mojo earlier this week and it worked some real magic on chicken. Now I’m not talking about the little bag full of herbs, powders, a lock of hair or some fingernail clippings…that kind of a mojo is pronounced mo-joe. I made a mojo, pronounced mo-ho, which is a […]

The 2006 Food Blog Awards have kicked off on our main site. Head on over there and nominate your favorite food blogs.

One of the many things I really enjoy is a good homemade pickle.   My mother, both grandmothers and one great-grandmother were all pickle makers.  There were jars and crocks in their root cellars, basements or pantries next to the other home-canned foods. All the standard flavors like dill, bread & butter and sweet pickles were […]

It’s the holidays, which means that baking season is upon us. Transporting your tasty treats from your kitchen to someone else’s table is one of the biggest challenges that we face (aside from paying the credit card bill) at this time.
So, imagine my joy when Madeline of Everything Rachel Ray sent me a link to […]

If the griller/bbq hero in your household has been itching for a new grill or smoker that won’t break the bank this xmas, the Weber Smokey Mountain just may be the answer for you. They are extremely fuel efficient, affordable and need minimal messing about with the fire– they’re ’set it and forget it” cookers. Plus, they are small enough […]

When I sit down at the computer there is so much information available at my fingertips I sometimes take it for granted. From time to time I plan on reviewing some other foodie sites that I think merit recognition. The intent of this ongoing series of articles is not to redirect the reader from […]