What We Learned This Week: June 1-5, 2015

Why we love grilling, taking on fresh pita, and how we discovered powdered blue cheese

Jake Cohen
By Jake Cohen
June 6, 2015

Each week is a new culinary adventure in the SAVEUR Test Kitchen. From cooking tips and kitchen hacks to product discoveries and creative ingredient uses, here's where we share our biggest takeaways.

Grilled Cantaloupe and Char Siu Chicken
Grilled Cantaloupe and Char Siu Chicken- Week in Review
Pictured here: the Char Siu Chicken and the Grilled Cantaloupe with Peach Agrodolce from the Chris Shepherd story in our June/July Grilling Issue. We found that the combination of grilling both Asian-marinated chicken and sweet melon at the same time produced an aroma so enticing that the whole office stopped by the Test Kitchen to investigate. It's our new favorite pair for grilling season.Jake Cohen
Spring Pad Thai
Spring Pad Thai
Coming soon to SAVEUR.com is a Spring Pad Thai that we tested and photographed this week. The potency of the fish sauce when cooking the tamarind mixture had some of us worrying about the end product (What smells like rubber cement?), and some staffers were skeptical about the addition of asparagus to the classic Thai dish. But that fish sauce provided a depth of flavor and the asparagus added a bit of crunch and brightness, and soon we were all hovering over a wok with our forks.Jake Cohen
Summer Squash
Summer Squash
For a photo shoot this week, we needed colorful summer squash of all shapes and sizes. While we were able to find cute baby patty pan squash at a supermarket, we discovered that—no surprise here—the Union Square Greenmarket had the best selection. So naturally, we bought one of every color.Jake Cohen
Making Pita
Making Pita
One recipe in an upcoming story involved making a type of bread quite similar to pita. In making it, we learned that finding the right thickness was crucial in allowing each to puff up and bake correctly. After a failed initial attempt, we've finally figured out the keys to successful pita making.Jake Cohen
Tomato Relish- Week in Review
Tomato Relish
Sometimes you look at a recipe and think that there is no possible way it will work out. This week we tested a tomato relish recipe that took 4 pounds of ripe tomatoes and cooked them down to 2 cups. It was quite a delicious surprise—be sure to stay tuned for the recipe.Jake Cohen
Mise En Place
Mise En Place- Week in Review
This week our new Kitchen Intern, Katie, started straight from culinary school. She learned the intricate process of testing here at SAVEUR, where every ingredient is measured for quantity, weight, and volume. After her mise en place was set, she got to cooking, measuring for time and yield.Jake Cohen
Summer Berry Muffins
Berry Muffins- Week in Review
One of our favorite morning treats is when we make the Strawberry Bread recipe from Test Kitchen Director Farideh Sadeghin's mother. While we had previously found that any seasonal fruit works well for this recipe, we now know that the batter is perfect for making muffins. These summer berry muffins were a hit with the editors.Jake Cohen
Powdered Blue Cheese
Powdered Blue Cheese- Week in Review
At the SAVEUR Blog Awards this week, we were lucky enough to have a tasting of Rogue Creamery cheeses, including a powdered blue cheese that was generously dusted over dried blueberries. It looks like we've found SAVEUR's new favorite summer snack.Jake Cohen

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