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Posts tagged “how to”

Good Question: How Can I Make Beans More Digestible?

We predicted that beans will get a shot of popularity this year, and we definitely love to eat them too. In fact, they are one of our favorite ways to eat light and go vegetarian. Reader Marcy is inte...

Gallery: How To Peel Things

Have you ever found yourself in the middle of peeling some difficult vegetable, scraping away, nicking your fingers, and muttering, "There must be an easier way?" Well, here are ten tips for easier pe...

Quick Tip: How to Make and Use a Slurry to Thicken Soup

Most of the time, we think of thickening soups and sauces with a roux, which is a mix of flour and fat added at toward the start of cooking. But a slurry added toward the end of cooking is another eas...

Eddie Ross On How To Set the Table

Can you identify the name of the table setting style above? No, we couldn't either -- until we read this great post from former Martha Stewart Living editor Eddie Ross. We hadn't ever really wondered ...

Tip: Keep Brussels Sprouts Green With a Bath

We didn't eat a lot of Brussels sprouts when we were young. They weren't very appealing to us then. Now, however, we are quite taken with Brussels sprouts, and, curiously, we like them now for all the...

How To Peel Squash: An Easier Way

Butternut squash is one of our favorite winter vegetables. It stays in robust condition through the long winter months, and its sweet, creamy flesh is a welcome addition to curries, pasta, soups, sala...

Quick Tip: Cook with a Clean Slate

When you're building the base for a soup or braise, things can get chaotic pretty quick in that pan. To make sure each new ingredient added gets its own quality time with the hot surface of the pan, c...

10 Techniques Every Cook Should Know

Do you know how to fold, temper, braise, and brown? How about make a pan sauce, a roux, or a vinaigrette? If you don't, the San Francisco Chronicle wants to teach you. ...

How To Make Whipped Chocolate Ganache

One of our favorite easy ways to fill or frost a layered cake is a bittersweet whipped chocolate ganache. It's so easy and elegant, and very good. Here's how to make a whipped chocolate filling out of...

Good Food with Evan Kleiman: All About Convection Oven Cooking

When convection ovens were first introduced to the home market, they were heralded as the ultimate time saver: "Perfect roast chicken in a third of the time!" But Evan Kleiman's guest Russ Parsons cau...

Quick Tip: The Best Way to Store Mushrooms

Mushrooms aren't exactly the hardiest of ingredients! Once home, they can become slimy and develop brown spots within just a few days. If we can't use them all right away, we try to do whatever we can...

Quince Ratafia: How To Make Fruit Liqueur

Have you ever made a fruit liqueur or cordial? I never have, but I recently came into possession of two very nice quince fruits, and I wanted to hold on to their flavor as long as possible. We have ha...

How to Make Pie Leaves, Pickled Greens and Spice Bags
Delicious links for 12.02.08

A roundup of holiday How-Tos today, including an easy method for pickled greens, and good step-by-step photos for those cute pie crust leaves. Also, a great way to reuse wine corks. ...

Baker's Techniques: How to do the Windowpane Test when Kneading Bread

The windowpane test is one of the best ways to tell if you've sufficiently kneaded your bread dough, though it can sound like a pretty bizarre instruction when you come across it in a recipe! Here's w...

Good Tip: What to Do if You Don't Have a Roasting Rack

This actually happened to a friend of ours last year: she had cleaned out the turkey, had rubbed it with marinade, and was ready to put it in the oven when she realized that she had a roasting pan but...

How To Make a Pie Crust from Scratch

We've talked a lot about pies these last three weeks. We saw 29 smashing pies in our Best Pie Bakeoff, and we're excited to try some of these new recipes this week. Thank you and congratulations to ev...

Good Question: How To Cut Up a Turkey Before Roasting?

Here's a good question from Anne (in Reno) on that Thanksgiving turkey. Hi, I'm doing a pre-Thanksgiving turkey this weekend since there are never enough leftovers. I have been recipe surfing and fo...

Playing with Your Food: How To Make Carrot Flowers!

Carrot coins? Yawn. Matchsticks? Too much work! Next time you're making a stew or miso soup or gingered carrots, take a few minutes and make carrot flowers. It's simple, not too much extra work...

Pies with Less Stress: How To Make a Cookie Crumb Crust

If you are someone for whom the combination of flour, butter, water (maybe vodka) and a rolling pin is enough to make you hyperventilate, we have an easier crust option for you......

How Do You Slice an Apple?

We're not going to claim there's a right way and a wrong way. But we're all slicing a lot of apples these days (and will be for months), so we're wondering how our method compares to yours. See step-b...

How To Make Easy Fruit Filling for Pie

We focus a lot on the dough and crust when we talk about pies, since this is often the most intimidating part for new pie-bakers. And yet if your filling isn't delicious as well, then what's the point...

Cooking Basics: Knowing When To Deglaze a Pan

Before we really got into cooking, deglazing was definitely not a part of our vocabulary. We also assumed that the brown gunk adhered to the bottom of the pan indicated another burned dinner - not the...

Technique: Making A Sauce Reduction

You've seen them on restaurant menus at fancy places. Braised Beef Medallions with Cognac Reduction. Roast Muscovy Duck With Cherry-Port Reduction. Venison with Rosemary-Basalmic Reduction. They m...

How To: Make DIY Breadcrumbs

It's hard to finish a big loaf of bread before it gets stale. And too often, we forget about it until it's hard enough to be a doorstop. But if you have five minutes and a food processor, you can give...

Weekend Cooking: How to Make a Good Sandwich

One of our favorite memories from childhood is watching our dad make himself a sandwich on Saturday afternoons. He was a true master and this was serious business. Here's what he taught us:...