The Cook’s Kitchen

I love salt and sweet together, and caramel is one of my favorite things in the world, so I wanted to mix the two worlds, and I made some fleur de sel caramels.

I got a basic recipe from Gourmet and then changed it a bit. The original recipe called for white sugar and unsalted butter; […]

I hate nonstick skillets.  With a passion.
Either I can’t get fond to use for sauces, I can’t use some of my utensils for fear of scratching the pan, or I can’t get a spatula that can actually get under something to flip it.
Enter my new favorite flipper, the Chef’n ZipFlip.  There are different sizes and […]

Last night, we were quite busy at home, and I didn’t really have the energy to start up the grill. However, we needed to eat something. I had biscuits left from Sunday, and I hate throwing stuff like that way, so I figured on using the biscuits as buns.

I made 4 burgers from a pound […]

I hate summer in some ways:

I can’t run around in a swim suit all summer, just waiting for the lake to open each day at noon so I can swim all day long.
I have to get up by a certain time to go ‘work for the man’.
It’s hot, and I have to wear long pants! […]

It can be intimidating to serve a whole chicken or, worse, a turkey!  It’s really not all that bad; with a few simple steps, anyone can do it.  I will say, though, that a sharp knife is a must for doing a good job.

The first step is to pull the leg and thigh down a […]

My wife and I had a grilled pizza dinner party the other night, and we wanted something not too heavy for dessert. What dessert fits pizza better than more pizza???
Fruit pizza can be done several ways, but the way we make it is to start with 2 tubes of Pillsbury sugar cookie dough (yeah, […]

Last week, I was in Manhattan for a few days, and one of the stops I wanted to make sure I made was at Chelsea Market.  Chelsea Market isn’t that well known, it seems, by tourists, but it’s a great place to shop for foodies if you’re a local.  The market is made up of […]

I recently was given the chance to try some Nando’s Peri-Peri Sauce.  There are a variety of sauces available:

Extra Mild Lemon Peri-Peri:  Initial fresh lemon aroma, followed by subtle Peri-Peri flavor that ends with a pleasant lingering mild heat sensation
Medium Peri-Peri:  The original Peri-Peri sauce with perfect balance between lemon, garlic, Peri-Peri flavor & Herbs […]

I need temps taken
You open to check doneness
It’s not overcooked
What am I talking about?  Simply the most versatile thermometer I’ve ever had, the Thermapen, by Thermoworks.  I’ve gone through a drawerful of thermometers, and none have come close to the usefulness of my Thermapen. I use it not only for barbecued and grilled foods, but […]

When the weather is cool, it’s raining too hard to go outside, it’s time for comfort foods. One of my favorites is gold old beef stew!
I like rustic stews; simple, classic, country foods that are made a bit better than just plain old stew. It starts with the ingredients:

3-4 lbs of choice chuck, trimmed and […]