Life is too short for bad food and weak cocktails. Find out how to grill a pizza, prepare the perfect burger, or mix fancy drinks. Make your own sushi, or roast, carve, debone and truss a chicken. When it comes to food and drinks, we've got the latest dish.
There are simple tasks and then there are incredibly simple tasks. Boiling water is even simpler than that. But hey, nobody's calling you a moron - there's a first time for everything.
No, it’s not some old-timey dance step. Or something draped over the lights in a brothel. Chiffonade is a technique used to cut leafy vegetables and herbs into slender ribbons.
Why do wine loves pour wine from one container (the bottle) into another container (the decanter) into yet another container (your glass)? Basically, it helps remove sediment and allows the wine to breathe. And it makes for a great show.
Honing a knife doesn’t sharpen a blade, it straightens it — realigning the edge and maintaining it in between longer and more involved sharpening sessions.
The slender cousin of the baton and matchstick cuts, the julienne cut takes its name from the extremely skinny chef who pioneered this technique. Ok, we made that up. Sorry.
This technique has nothing to do with the large fuzzy dice found in souped-up muscle cars; it has everything to do with the large diced veggies found in souped-up soups.
Invented in 1948 at Harry’s Bar in Venice, the Bellini’s name honors the sheer pink shades in the work of Italian painter Giovanni Bellini. It's also a great drink to celebrate slightly lesser art forms—like, say, brunch.
You know a movie hero is downtrodden when you watch him slam back a shot, then immediately chug down a beer. That’s a boilermaker -- the toughest one-two punch in cocktail culture.
Campari – that quintessentially Italian bitters – was created in 1860 as a medicinal pre-dinner treat to aid digestion, which helped keep it on U.S. shelves even during Prohibition. So drink up, to your health!
Thanks to the whims of drinkers and the innovations of bartenders everywhere, drinks are constantly evolving. A perfect example is the Champito—a direct descendant of the classic Mojito.
Created during the 1898 Spanish-American War to liberate Cuba, the Cuba Libre was originally mixed at a bar by an off-duty U.S. soldier. It has since become the liberating libation of choice for freedom-loving drinkers around the world.
There's nothing inappropriate about the dirty martini, despite its suggestive name—it's just the extra olive flavor that spices up this twist on an old standard.
What is it about naming cocktails that brings out the punster in their creators? At least the name of this one, unlike a Sex on the Beach, has some relationship to one of its actual ingredients.
Depending on whom you ask, the Harvey Wallbanger was invented either in sunny Southern California in the '50s or in windy Chicago in the '60s. But it was unquestionably popular in the wild '70s, so it's no wonder the details are a little fuzzy.
The Kamikaze is the ultimate collegiate drink -- at least it used to be, back when college students were considered old enough to drink. Nowadays, it's more like the ultimate college reunion drink.
A variant of a Kir, named for the French mayor who sweetened his white wine with a black currant liqueur, the Royale replaces wine with Champagne for a simple but elegant pleasure.
Your dinner party has been a smashing success and you'd like to end it with a bang instead of a "decaf, please" whimper. Mix up a trayful of this ol' Cold War favorite.
It may look like plain old iced tea, but this drink—invented near Long Island’s Jones Beach in the 1970s—is one potent potation and the East Coast's answer to the Zombie.
California bar-owner Trader Vic handed this concoction to a Tahitian friend in 1944 who took one sip and proclaimed, "Mai tai, roa ae," or, in English, "Out of this world, the best!"
The Mint Julep became synonymous with the Kentucky Derby in 1938, but the drink's roots go all the way back to Arabia – it was adapted from a drink called the "julab" made with rose petals instead of mint leaves.
A subtle twist on the vodka martini, this drink simply substitutes Japanese rice wine, or sake, for vermouth. Try it and you just might develop a yen for this delight.
Legend has it that the very first Screwdriver was stirred with… You guessed it. A screwdriver. Sort of makes you wonder about a Rusty Nail, doesn't it?
Ah, the V&T! A warhorse of cocktail culture: simple, sturdy, effective. You've probably known how to make this from the moment you left college, but just in case, here's a refresher course for a refreshing drink.
Sours are a whole genre of cocktails unto themselves--built on a liquor, a lemon or lime component, and a sweetener. Which makes the whiskey sour “kissing cousins” with the margarita, daiquiri, and kamikaze.
After dinner, after hours, or even after a long St. Patrick's Day, Irish coffee is the one delicious pick-me-up you won't find at your local coffeehouse.
Brown rice differs from white rice in one major way—the outside bran is intact, making it more fibrous, nutritious, and flavorful than white rice. It also takes longer to cook.
When it comes to powerful punches, sangria—which takes its name from the Spanish word for "blood"—packs a truly wicked wallop. But don't take our word for it; mix up a batch and let the fiesta begin.
This maneuver neatly reduces bumpy, bulbous, and otherwise wildly irregular vegetables into tidy strips of uniform size and shape that resemble—what else? Matchsticks.
Cubing isn’t just for math geeks anymore. Just ask your local sous-chef, who probably cubes more items in a single night than all the 10th graders in America.
When you suprême a citrus fruit, you cut away all the skin, pith, and membranes, leaving the sections of the fruit intact. It’s not supremely difficult, but it takes some care.
Like skiing and speaking a foreign language, chopstick use is a skill ideally acquired in childhood. But with a little perseverance, adults tired of feeling boorish in Asian restaurants can become adept.
A brilliant painter needs just the right brush, a great mechanic needs just the right tool, and a true chef needs just the right knife. Choose wisely and half your work is done.
It's not just for repelling vampires anymore! Garlic's antibacterial properties are also said to drive away colds - but if you eat enough of it, you might be able to do both.
It's the chop of choice for almost any vegetable - from basic oblongs and spheroids, like garlic, onions, and potatoes, to the more irregular oddities, like mushrooms, rhubarb, and sun-dried tomatoes.
According to one strain of cocktail lore, the Bloody Mary was named after Queen Mary I, who required this spicy combination of vodka and tomato juice to soothe her nerves after a hard day of signing death sentences. Enjoy!
Yes, they slurped cosmos by the gallon on Sex & the City, launching this pretty-in-pink drink into the super-trend stratosphere. But those ladies had the right idea: this delicious cocktail lives up to the hype.
A Dallas socialite named Margarita claimed to have invented this tequila-based favorite back in 1948, The Margarita has blossomed into a global phenomenon.
Yes, it's a trendy drink. But on a hot summer evening while drinking with good friends, this cross between the Mint Julep and the Daquiri doesn't feel like a trend. It feels like destiny.
If ever a cocktail was destined for the spring break circuit, Sex on the Beach is it. Whether you're looking for a little Sex or a lot, here's how to indulge.
Hand roll sushi, also known as 'cone sushi', is the easiest type of sushi to make, and you can fill it however you want -let your taste buds be your guide.
Think of this as a science project that illustrates how a liquid can transform into a fatty solid. A delicious science project that requires a lot of elbow grease.
Learning to properly pour a bottle of wine can help you impress your dinner guests, or, more likely, land a restaurant job waiting tables. Either way, it never hurts to have exquisite manners.
While sushi masters train for years to perfect their fish-cutting techniques, you don’t have to be quite so exacting. But the more carefully you slice it, the tastier your results.
Figuring out which fork to use for which course can be confusing enough, but having to actually set those forks—and everything else on the table? A recipe for disaster… or a chance to strut your etiquette stuff.
Thanks to those pre-mixed drinks pumped out of machines at Mexican restaurant chains, the frozen margarita has gained a reputation as the Slurpee of cocktails. But the real thing will have you singing along with the mariachi band in no time.
Layered drinks – now commonly known as "shooters" — are both potent and pretty to look at. The B-52, when properly poured, is a medley of rich browns and mahoganies as inviting as a mocha cappuccino.
Have you ever thrown out a perfectly good hard-boiled egg because you got so frustrated trying to peel it? Here’s how to cook the perfectly-peelable egg.
A tray of these just-baked buns are de rigueur on Good Friday, but delicious anytime. This quick-bread recipe means you don’t have to wait for the dough to rise.
