Category — HOW TO

Note: this was the most-searched recipe on my previous blog, so I’m re-posting it here. It’s one of my earliest blog entries–from about 3 years ago–so the pictures are a little less polished than usual! They actually look like they were taken with Hipstamatic, which wasn’t invented yet, which is kind of weird. The cake is still a hit, though. -KM

When my older sister was about 9, my mom made her this legendary multi-tiered cake that was all white on the outside but with each layer of the cake being a different color of the rainbow, arranged, natch, in rainbow order. I re-created a similar cake about 4 years ago when my niece Leila turned 5, with a chocolate outside and a strong structural resemblance to the leaning tower of Pisa. Yesterday my other niece Mitra turned 5, and got her very own rainbow cake, thanks to the combined efforts of my sister and I. [Read more →]

Christmas is almost here! Yay. That means it’s gingerbread time. Every year we have a theme party, which last year resulted in the Gingerbread Casbah. This year the theme is “Christmas in Summer” so we took Santa to the Southern Hemisphere with a Gingerbread Christmas cabana!

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Of all the things I learned in culinary school, this is one of the most useful. File it under “why didn’t I ever think of doing that before?” Here is is: how to quickly and easily core, de-seed, and de-stem an apple–using your melon baller. (Full disclosure: I have never balled a melon–I just own the melon baller for apples.)

First, peel the apple. You can leave the little bit of awkward peel around the stem and the bottom thingy.

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Want to get rid of all that skanky produce in your CSA box or bottom fridge drawer? Want to get all your vitamins and minerals in one meal? Want to shrink your muffintop? Boy, have I got good news for you. Here’s how it works:

Heat your oven to 350. Put a piece of foil or parchment on a rimmed baking sheet. Add peeled and roughly chopped root vegetables like carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, potatoes, rutabagas, etc. They can be kind of gnarly and skanky and overripe–it’s OK! Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour.

Now, add softer vegetables, like onions, tomatoes, leeks, and garlic cloves. (I used way overripe, mushy, squirty, bruised tomatoes, that I would otherwise have had to throw away.) Drizzle with oil again and salt and pepper again. Roast for another 30 minutes to an hour, until vegetables are soft and starting to brown.

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You know what makes a fig better? Dipping it in hot caramel and letting it harden and seeing how pretty it is and then eating it, all crunchy and soft and delicious.

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I recently made some brittle real quick like and brought it to a party, and everyone was like “What is this CANDY CRACK? And HOW did you make it?!” But it was just some brittle and it took like 15 minutes to make and I didn’t measure anything or use a recipe or even go to the store. That is the secret of brittle. It takes like 15 minutes and you don’t have to measure or use a recipe or even go to the store.

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My friend Laura likes chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting. I told her husband I would surprise her with a very special version of that flavor combination so I made her some homemade Hostess cupcakes. These are fun because they look like a boring chocolate cupcake with shiny glaze, but they have a surprise inside- a big yummy blob of vanilla frosting!

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In my home kitchen, I use a lot of shortcuts and tricks gleaned from my checkered pants past. From time to time I will pull one out of my toque and share it with you! If you have questions or requests, leave them in the comments and I’ll tackle them in a future post.

I used to shudder when a cake recipe said “line the bottom of the cake pan with a circle of parchment” because unless you’re a bakery you don’t just have differently sized circles of parchment in your life, so you have to trace one and cut it out and that’s just a drag. I’m trying to make a cake over here, not do a damn craft project. And then I went to pastry school and learned this trick of how to make a cake circle with no scissors or hassle. Totally worth the 30 grand or so. I mean I learned a few other things too, but this is one I use a lot.

Step 1: Rip off a square piece of parchment that’s a bit bigger than your pan. Fold the paper in half, then in half again. Keep folding it over itself along the same axis until it’s a skinny triangle, about 4 folds.

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I just finished fighting with a pie crust. It looked like the pie was definitely going to beat me this time, but in the end I prevailed… because I have tricks up my sleeve.

A lot of people think that professional training and years cooking in restaurants might protect you from kitchen disasters. I wish! No, today, this pie crust was being such a bastard. It was so smooshy and melty and it was hot out and I was in a hurry and I didn’t have time to chill it enough and even when I tried that it still misbehaved. So if you find yourself in this situation, frustrated to no end and shocked that an inanimate lump of dough could have such a profound effect on your mood and well-being… here is what I recommend.

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Got leftover steaks and baked potatoes from last night’s dinner? Turn them into breakfast GOLD by making an easy, delicious hash.

Here’s the how to: Chop potatoes and steak (or chicken, pork chop, meat loaf, whatev) into roughly equal size cubes (1/2 inch-ish). Chop a couple shallots or onions finely. If you’re like me, then for some odd reason your leftovers also fortuitously include a ziploc containing 5 cooked bacon slices and you should definitely chop those up as well. If you’re lucky enough to own a vegetable, like a bell pepper or broccoli or something, well then your fridge is better stocked than mine. Go ahead and pat yourself on the back, then give that the chop chop as well.

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