Cooking Niche Website
[Photographs: Vicky Wasik. Video: Serious Eats Video.] Brownies get no respect. Europe’s chocolate tortes are held in high regard, a proud culinary tradition centered around fine chocolate and fine dining. Meanwhile, the humble brownie is seen as little more than an after-school snack, something cobbled together from melted chocolate chips, if it’s made from scratch […]
[Photograph: Lara Talevski] We don’t tend to hear much about Oscar-nominated short films. Often they’re hard to see, because shorts rarely get much of a theatrical release. But this year, there’s one such film that deserves every serious eater’s attention. Knife Skills tells the story of a restaurateur in Cleveland who decides to open an […]
[Photographs: Vicky Wasik, Autumn Giles, Nila Jones] I’m a supporter of eating seasonally, but sometimes I do miss summer produce—especially the fruit. Thanks to the marvels of the modern supermarket you can find fresh fruit pretty much whenever you want, but the quality falls significantly this time of year. You’re not entirely out of luck […]
[Photographs: Vicky Wasik] Whether it’s a birthday blowout or a cozy Valentine’s Day dinner party, nothing caps off a celebration quite like a layer cake. There’s something undeniably exciting about unveiling a mountain of cake, especially when it’s a mountain made from chocolate. That excitement, and the expectations that go along with it, is what […]
[Photograph: Eliesa Johnson. Rice photograph: Vicky Wasik] In part 2 of my interview with JJ Johnson, the charismatic chef and co-author of Between Harlem and Heaven: Afro-Asian-American Cooking for Big Nights, Weeknights, and Every Day, I had to ask him to explain the book’s lengthy subtitle word by word, and to explain what he and […]
[Photographs: Vicky Wasik. Video: Natalie Holt.] When you usually think of dessert for one, it’s something microwaved in a mug or a precious, portioned miniature. But I don’t want a sensible cupcake or tiny pie, I want something I can eat entirely, all on my own. This flan fits the bill. With deep, dark caramel […]
[Photographs: Vicky Wasik] I don’t usually put a lot of time into dessert, but Valentine’s Day is an exception—the holiday just isn’t complete without something sweet. And when it comes to Valentine’s desserts, nothing beats chocolate. There’s no better time to make the chocolate desserts you’ve been dreaming about all year, but have avoided for […]
[Photographs: Vicky Wasik] We’ve all been there: The craving for ice cream hits, so you grab a spoon and start digging into a pint, hoping to transfer a mound of mint chocolate chip into your bowl. But the spoon bends, hurting your hand in the process, and the hard ice cream remains unmoved. Let’s not […]
[Photograph: Vicky Wasik, Shao Z.] Let’s make one thing clear right out of the gate: Cooking as a couple isn’t for everyone. (Two years ago, we published a whole essay about this, albeit with a happy ending.) Maybe neither of you has Daniel’s sky-high standards in the kitchen, but successfully assembling a dinner together is […]
[Photographs: Vicky Wasik] Having company for breakfast can be nerve-wracking. It usually takes some finagling to get the timing right, and there’s no room for do-overs at the crack of dawn. And when you’re a baker by trade, especially one who’s recipe testing for her first cookbook, you feel a certain pressure to live up […]