From SAVEUR Issue #144
Beurre manié is one of the best ways to thicken a sauce or a soup, period. This fancy-sounding mixture—it means kneaded butter in French—is incredibly simple to make and equally easy to use. Just rub enough flour into softened butter to make a thick paste; then whisk in little bits of the paste to finish a pan sauce for, say, shrimp scampi or a roast turkey, or to enrich a seafood chowder. Keep reading »
From SAVEUR Issue #144
Glazing, a technique taught in culinary schools but underutilized in home kitchens, quickly renders root vegetables (like yellow beets and carrots) sweet, tender, and glossy. Keep reading »
From SAVEUR Issue #144
The most exercised parts of a steer—the shoulder (known as the chuck) and the hind leg (the round)—can be the most flavorful. Keep reading »
From SAVEUR Issue #143
Is there a better way to start a meal than with an abundant antipasti platter, artfully arranged with ruffles of prosciutto, briny olives, roasted red peppers, marinated artichokes and mushrooms and pepperoncini, chunks of Parmesan, fresh mozzarella, and whatever else catches the preparer's fancy? Antipasto, which means "before the meal," stretches back to medieval times in Italy, when diners used to mingle over finger foods, both sweet and savory, before sitting down to eat; early recipes included everything from sugared nuts to clotted cream to spiced ham. Over the centuries, antipasti became the domain of restaurants, which would set out dozens of stuffed, marinated, roasted, and grilled vegetables, meat, and fish. Keep reading »
Every year at around this time, my cooking habits get stuck in a rut. Nearly everything that comes out of my kitchen involves some permutation of kale, winter squash, potatoes, and bacon, which isn't a bad thing — they're some of my favorite flavors. But after the fifth or sixth go 'round, even a garlicky kale sautée or a bowl of rich butternut ravioli can get a little old hat. And that's where the sage comes in. Keep reading »
From SAVEUR Issue #143
"God Bless us, every one!" is the famous benediction that Tiny Tim Cratchit pronounces over what is perhaps the most famous holiday meal of all time, in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. On the Cratchit family's holiday table are potatoes, gravy, applesauce, a pudding "like a speckled cannon-ball" blazing with ignited brandy. But at the center of the meal—and the heart of Tiny Tim's prayer—is a glorious roast goose. Keep reading »
Photo: Todd Coleman
From SAVEUR Issue #142
In The Perfect Bird, author Molly Stevens lays out her foolproof method for roasting a turkey. But in the saveur kitchen, we're rarely willing to just sit back and savor success. Stevens's beautiful bird sparked lively debates, with staffers putting forward their own techniques for getting the juiciest meat or the crispiest skin. In fact, every Thanksgiving recipe we tested for this issue either called forth another tried-and-true tip or gave rise to a new one. Here are a few we all agreed are worth adding to your Thanksgiving repertoire. Keep reading »
From SAVEUR Issue #143
My dad was a plain-clothes cop who worked crazy shifts, but the joke was that he didn't work hard at all because he was always eating at my grandparents' house, which was not far from his precinct on Long Island. He'd put his police radio on their kitchen counter, turn the volume down low enough so that you couldn't hear the high-frequencey squeals, and fix himself a bowl of escarole soup. Keep reading »
There's nothing quite as iconic as a Thanksgiving turkey when it comes to American traditions. With a bronzed, crisp-skinned exterior, and juicy, tender interior, this noble bird is the classic centerpiece of every holiday table. Prepare the perfect bird this Thanksgiving with the following techniques, tips, and recipes vetted by the SAVEUR test kitchen.Keep reading »
From SAVEUR Issue #142
There's a small table in my kitchen that holds a huge basket of onions: the big, juicy red ones I slice for salads; the amber, satiny supermarket ones, still in their red fishnet bag; a handful of flat cippoline from the farmers' market, each one the size and a shape of a doorknob. There are always purple-tinged shallots in the mix, and if you dig around, you'll probably find a few pearl onions left over from the last time I made coq au vin. Just looking at this basket makes me feel like cooking. Keep reading »
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