Wednesday Links: Heavy Pans, Great Techniques, and the new Escoffier

17th Feb 2010

castiron21

[Photo from Cooking Issues ]

Welcome to Wednesday Links. This is our weekly collection of four of the most interesting food links we've discovered in the past week. Enjoy!

Heavy Metal: The Science of Cast Iron
Finally, someone sees through the false information that cast iron is a great conductor of heat. It's just the opposite, which is why we love it: it responds slowly to temper...

The Paupered Chef Gift Guide

16th Dec 2009

paupered chef gift guide

Well, guess we better throw our hats in the ring: it's the time of year for gift guides and we're not afraid to participate. We've avoided it for 4 years, but our streak is about to come to an end: we hereby present the first annual Paupered Chef gift guide.

We've got kitchen gear to recommend, and some awesome food products, too. From what we have learned, cooks really just need a few basi...

The Smash Technique and Skinny Burger Perfection

How to make the best burger at home.

11th Dec 2008

smashburger1

You know the burger obsession is going off the deep end when semi-serious discussion takes place over the burger making skills of a cartoon .  Please stick with me.  This cartoon happened feature J. Wellington Wimpy, the burger-loving sidekick of Popeye.  Hamburger America author George Motz found this clip and was there to comment on Wimpy's burger making skills: "Notice how even in...

Edna Lewis''s Fried Chicken

9th Apr 2008

ednalewisfriedchicken01

In the midst of deep frying chicken last week I dreamt of Loretta Lynn .  This happens only occasionally, and usually is musical in nature, but this time I had an image of her pan frying chicken in a large iron skillet.  Sure enough, I found some rather hilarious commercials of her pawning Crisco on YouTube .  How wonderful, I thought, that the amazing country singer never had...

Fastest Roast Chicken

3rd Sep 2007

fasted roast chicken 3

I’m not sure why I never thought of this technique before.  The biggest problem I have with most of the chickens I roast is that the white and dark meat are done at different times.  It’s the great paradox of whole roasted chickens: they should probably be roasted separately.  To get the dark meat done I usually have to dry out the white, or dig into a wing when I know it probably shoul...

Cast Iron Corn Bread

1st Apr 2007

cornbread 6

Is there anything my cast iron skillet can't do?  Whether it's steaks , peppers , or even pizza , the big hunk of metal is good for most of my high heat needs.  But for bread?  I'd never really done that before.   Neither, for that matter, had I ever really wanted to make cornbread before.

I have no real love of this southern staple.  I don't really have any fond memories o...

Sizzlin'' Steaks the Down-home Ole'' Fashioned Way

22nd Sep 2006

shell steak 07

Just like your grandmother, I now own a cast-iron skillet.  It seemed like the logical choice after I realized the finite possibilities of non-stick, yet was not ready to burn my whole month's salary on an All-Clad frying pan.  This cost $19.  It's heavy as a brick--actually, more like a couple bricks.  You can toss this war-horse around with glee and it will take it all.  Clang it around...