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Meat: How can you check the flavor of homemade sausages without tasting raw meat?
Tom e-mailed the Kitchen Shrink that he likes to make homemade sausage but each time he does so they turn out differently. He wondered how he could prevent that from happening. I love to add a variety of seasonings to my burgers as well as to meat mixtures for my…
Ramps: What are ramps and how do you cook them?
This week I got an e-mail from Cindy saying she had seen ramps in her local farmers’ market and she wondered what they were and how they are used. Ramps (Allium tricoccum), aka “wild leeks,” belong to the onion family. Their flavor is somewhere between that of onions and very…
Bananas: Are bananas good to eat after they have been refrigerated?
Marla e-mailed the Kitchen Shrink that she had accidentally put her bananas in the refrigerator in a bag of groceries and now the skins are black. She wondered if they are still good to use. Bananas are still just fine to use if they have been refrigerated and the skins…
Sauces: How do you use cornstarch and arrowroot to make clear thickened sauces?
Michael e-mailed the Kitchen Shrink with this question. He said that he wanted to make clear dessert sauces and had heard that cornstarch or arrowroot was the answer but he had never used either. Cornstarch and arrowroot are similar ingredients to work with. Both have almost twice the thickening power…
Coconuts: How do I open a fresh coconut?
A few weeks ago Blondell asked the Kitchen Shrink how to open a fresh coconut and, with the spring holidays just around the corner, this seems like the perfect time to share my favorite method for this tricky procedure. I have tried lots of different ways of cracking a coconut…
Garlic: Is there an easy way to peel garlic?
Frank e-mailed the Kitchen Shrink that he likes to use lots of garlic but hates to pick the white papery skin off. He wondered if there is an easy way to do this. I usually arrange the cloves, with a flat side down, on my work surface and whack them…
Breakfast Strata
Although this recipe from Sara Moulton Cooks at Home is called Breakfast Strata and the dish was originally designed for a weekend brunch, it will solve your busy-night dinner problems as well. You set it up the night before and then just put it in the oven 60 minutes before…
Chocolate Caramel Peanut Truffles
Here is everything you want in one candy–chocolate, caramel, and nuts–and these truffles couldn’t be simpler to prepare. Make a big batch, box them attractively, and you have the perfect holiday gift. Makes about 40 truffles Ingredients 1 cup sugar 2/3 cup heavy cream 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped…
Poussin en Cocotte
The baby chickens called poussins by the French are often tastier than large supermarket chickens because they are not mass-produced. If you cannot find poussins for this recipe, use Cornish game hens, which are about the same size as poussins but more widely available. (Look for Cornish game hens in…
Design your own Converse Sneakers
You already know that my very favorite shoes for the kitchen are Converse hi-tops (they’ve been in the Sara’s Pick’s archive ever since this site launched.) So you can imagine how excited I was when Bill Nichols, a viewer who is also a Converse fan, e-mailed me that the company…