The Cooking Dish

Video: How to Make No-Knead Bread

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It’s snowing like crazy right now, which for some reason instantly put me in the mood to bake some great fresh bread. I love the aroma of fresh bread and biting through a crispy crust when it’s fresh out of the oven. Mmmmm. But alas, I’m still working on access to my old pictures (…click here if you must know…), and I’m at work on lunch break. So instead, I’ve been searching for an excellent bread-making video to post on The Cooking Dish (and to break this non-recipe dry spell). I came across this YouTube video posted by the New York Times featuring the Sullivan Street Bakery’s head baker, Jim Lahey, who apparently can make a mean loaf of bread. I’d love to spend a day in his bakery learning to bake.

Jim uses 5 basic ingredients to whip up a simple loaf of bread with amazing taste. He says, “[It’s] a truly minimalist breadmaking technique that allows people to make excellent bread at home with very little effort. The method is surprisingly simple — I think a 4-year-old could master it — and the results are fantastic.”
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December Giveaway: Cookie Cutters (Closed)

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Now that I’ve completed The Ultimate Kitchen Gifts List, I figured I would give away one item from it. One of my favorite Christmas activities is making sugar cookies, so in honor of my favorite activity, I’m giving away Fred’s ABC (Already Been Chewed) Cookie Cutters. These cookie cutters are supposed to help people stay away from your cookies… but to me, a broken or ABC cookie is an invitation to snitch. To each their own, I suppose. However, if you looove cookies and your kids absolutely demand you leave some for Santa, making Santa’s cookies with these will almost guarantee there’ll be some left for you on Christmas morning.

This contest will run through Friday sometime (December 11th), and then I’ll ship them a.s.a.p to the random lucky winner.
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The Ultimate Kitchen Gift Ideas List

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gifts

*Phew!* This gift ideas list is exhaustive (and was exhausting to make), but it will be an excellent holiday (and non-holiday) shopping guide for you; it’s also great for birthdays, Groundhog Days (because who doesn’t like a random present for a random holiday), national Be Nice to a Cook days (is there such a thing?), etc. etc. etc. Most of the kitchen items on this list I have used personally, and the ones that I haven’t, are ones that I feel confident are still good quality.

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November Giveaway: Win Bhut Jolokia Peppers (Closed)

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By now I imagine you’ve heard of a bhut jolokia chili pepper, also known as a ghost pepper or naga jolokia–the world’s hottest chili pepper.  These peppers are hotter than Beelzebub’s spit.  From what I understand, the bhut jolokia is native to Eastern India, which doesn’t surprise me.  Those Indians can eat some crazy hot curry foods without batting an eye.  I, on the other hand, cannot. Just the thought of eating a jalapeño makes my eyes water.  In short, I’m a wuss.  Okay, I said it.

I admit that it’s a little strange to be giving away a bag of dried bhut jolokia peppers, and in the future, my giveaways will be a little more useful, but I couldn’t help myself. Just the thought of having a bag full of the world’s hottest peppers and playing with the idea of actually trying it out gives me a foodie high–sort of like going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. I’m not sure I’d survive either scenario. For some of you pepper heads out there, this ought to be the ultimate challenge.
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Man vs. Wild – Eating Rhino Beetle Larva

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I’ve debated including videos and posts like this on The Cooking Dish for some time now, but I finally decided I’d create a special “NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH” categories for them; after all, I can’t deny my inner boyish interest in the grotesque. I love stuff like this, though I’m sure most of the world’s cooks find it less than appealing. But if you think about, as is mentioned in the video, somewhere out there, for someone, this is normal food…
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Trauma in the Kitchen: It Found Me

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I’m not sure if even the best of chefs are immune to traumatic kitchen moments, but as an amateur, I know I have my fair share of them. With time I’ve learned to let them roll off my back and learn all I can from them. It’s probably a good thing too, or I’d be too afraid to set foot in the kitchen… burned fingers, crappy bread, etc. etc. Yep, I’ve been there and I’m sure I’ve got my fair share still coming to me.

A few years back I wrote a short, frivolous story for a writing seminar/class all about a terrible cooking day I’d experienced in the kitchen of my wife and I’s first apartment. We lived in an 8-plex’s basement in a one bedroom apartment. It was small, but not unbearable: it had a decent kitchen. Now, if there’s one thing I’ve learned about cooking, it’s that it has a way of humbling you when you least expect it… here’s my story. Reading time is approximately 8 minutes.
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Cooking Conversions @ The Cooking Dish

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I’m one of those guys who finds conversion charts really handy–mainly because I haven’t taken the time to memorize them for easy reference. I’ve had the Cooking Conversions page posted for about a week now and I’ve gotten numerous requests to make a printable PDF version of it, so for your convenience, I’ve done that too. You can find it at the bottom of this post or on the Cooking Conversions page just under the Cooking References link in the top navigation.
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Your New Cooking Mantra: Bork Bork

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To my readers and fellow cooks who are scared to cook and spice, behold your new cooking mantra: bork bork. There’s a famous Swedish chef who’s not afraid to try anything, and who I love to watch cook. He’s had cameos in numerous films and is well known for his “throw caution into the wind” cooking style. If you don’t know who I’m talking about, take a quick gander at the guy staring back at you in the photo on the left, and meet… actually, he just goes by Swedish Chef.
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The Difference between Yellow, White, and Red Onions

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Welcome to The Cooking Dish blog! This is quickly becoming one of the highest read articles online about onions, and I hope you find the answer you’re looking for. If not, please leave a comment below and I’m more than happy to answer your question.

If you’ve ever been in the grocery store buying onions and couldn’t figure out which color of onion to buy, you’re not alone. Or perhaps you’re cooking and realize your recipe calls for a white onion and all you have are yellow onions… dont’ worry. There are many onions out there, each with their different purposes, but typically they fit into two categories, green and dry onions. This post discusses the dry onions (red onions, yellow onions, and white onions). Although there are many types of each of these dry onions, the general rules for them are as follows.
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All about Watercress

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My first memories of watercress are at my grandma’s house. I was spending the evening with her after elementary school and she gave me a sandwich with a stringy, small-leaf herb packed between the sandwich meat and bread. I didn’t know my herbs back then and thought she had packed it full of sprouts. It was quite a shock when I took a hefty bite full of fresh watercress and its vibrant flavor filled my mouth.
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