The flavor of a shallot falls somewhere between red onion and garlic, often without the pungency of either. The shallot's subtle flavor works in soups, stews, sauces, and pretty much anywhere else you'd use an onion or garlic.
To dice a shallot, first cut it in half through the root.
Next, cut the papery end (not the root end) off and discard it. This will make the skin easier to peel away.
Make a series of vertical cuts through the shallot, without cutting all the way through to the end.
Then just rotate the shallot 90 degrees, and slice across the vertical cuts to make a dice.
Measuring freshly ground black pepper
Measuring freshly ground black pepper
When a recipe calls for "freshly ground black pepper," it usually does so without suggesting an amount. In the instructions of the recipe, you’ll be told to "sprinkle [something] with freshly ground black pepper" or "generously season both sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper" or "add freshly ground black pepper to taste."
In general, this makes sense. Cooking with black pepper is one of those things you just get a feel for as you spend more time in the kitchen. And descriptive measurements like "sprinkle" and "generously season" are hard to screw up: a light sprinkle is not going to be drastically different from a heavy sprinkle.
Still, we've been keeping track of pepper amounts for a while now, because we want our descriptive measurements to be more or less the same from recipe to recipe. How much pepper do we mean when we write "generously season?" What is the ideal amount of a Cookthink "sprinkle?"
And of course, there are times when it helps to have an exact amount for freshly ground black pepper. For certain casseroles and papillotes -- dishes that can’t be tasted for seasoning as they cook -- it's nice to have an exact baseline amount of pepper so that you don’t have to tweak it too much at the end for taste.
The problem is that it’s near impossible to grind accurately into any measuring spoon smaller than a tablespoon, and few recipes call for that much pepper. So how do you measure freshly ground black pepper?
One easy way is to go by turns of the grinder. I’ve carved an “X” onto the side of mine, a short and simple model with three settings: coarse, medium, fine.
I set the grind to medium and made 8 full rotations into a small bowl. Using a 1/8 teaspoon, I shoveled the ground pepper into another 1/8 teaspoon. Too much. I started over and stopped at 4 full rotations. It was a little light, so I made another full turn and got an almost level 1/8 teaspoon with 5 total rotations of the grinder.
I did the same for 1/4 teaspoon, 1/2 teaspoon and 1 teaspoon. I got the results you’d expect:
1/8 teaspoon = 5 full rotations
1/4 teaspoon = 10 full rotations
1/2 teaspoon = 20 full rotations
1 teaspoon = 40 full rotations
I repeated this in both the fine and coarse settings, and found them close enough to the medium not to worry too much about it.
So are these measurements helpful? In writing and testing recipes, yes. In practice, probably not, though I have often wondered, while standing over a stew grinding away, just how much pepper I’m adding. Now I know. - Chip
Tongs are the most useful tool in the kitchen.
Having a good pair of tongs is like having a heatproof robotic arm in the kitchen. Consider a partial list of things you can do with a pair of tongs: stir something in a sizzling pan; flip something in a sizzling pan; move something around in a sizzling pan; spear something in a sizzling pan; push something in a sizzling pan to check for doneness; hold something above a sizzling pan to taste it; take something out of a sizzling pan. And that's just around a sizzling pan. Standing around a grill or reaching inside an oven, tongs are critical.
You can spend a small fortune on specialty tongs, but you don't have to. OXO's Good Grips stainless steel tongs are inexpensive and probably as special as you’ll ever need.
So here's our public service announcement - buy tongs now.
How to pan-roast a duck breast
How to pan-roast a duck breast
Pan roasting is one of the great ways to cook meat indoors. Any cut of meat that will fit in a pan (chicken breast, steak, pork chop, etc.) can be seared over high heat, then finished in a moderately hot oven. Searing gives the meat browned flavor and crispness, and finishing in the oven helps the meat cook evenly throughout.
Duck sometimes seems daunting to cook at home. But a duck breast is about as easy to cook as a strip steak, especially when pan roasted. Searing the breast fat-side down helps render and crisp the thick layer covering the meat.
First, I scored the fat side of the breast by making shallow, crosswise cuts. (This helps the fat melt away into the pan.)
Then I seasoned the breast generously on both sides with salt and pepper.
I heated a tablespoon of canola oil in a heavy pan over medium-high heat until it was hot but not smoking. Then I seared the breast fat-side down until much of the fat melted away, and the skin turned brown and crisp, about 4 minutes.
I flipped the breast over with tongs and seared the other side for another couple of minutes.
I poured off most of the fat, slid the pan into a pre-heated 350F oven and cooked until it was 125F in the thickest part. I let the meat rest 10 minutes before slicing at an angle.
It was delicious alongside a butternut squash purée and a simple frisée salad.
Recipe: Pan Roasted Duck Breast With Fig Gastrique (Immaeatchu)
Recipe: Duck Breast With Curry Seasoning (Serious Eats)
what you should know
Golden, fragrant and naturally sweet, honey is the fruit of a long-standing arrangement between men and bees.
Worker bees buzz around snatching nectar from the flowers, returning to the hive to concentrate the nectar and stash it in the viscous form of honey. Then the beekeeper snatches the honey from the bees.
crystal clear Finding crystals in your honey is actually a testament to its high quality. To smooth it out, set the honey jar in a pan of freshly boiled water, until the honey turns liquid again.
the buzz Colony Collapse Disorder has been killing off honey bees in the last several years. Since honey flavors so many food products, some companies are rallying to help the bees.
honey bunch According to Martha Hopkins of The New The New InterCourses: An Aphrodisiac Cookbook, honey has longstanding connections to love and sensuality. In the fifth century B.C., Hippocrates prescribed it for "sexual vigor."
more than bears Honey can be drizzled in its liquid form, whipped to prevent crystallization or creamed and spread like butter.
sweet wishes Rosh Hashanah is celebrated with honey and honey desserts, to help ensure a sweet coming year.
what you need
Searching for some fine literature about bees and honey? Start with Sue Hubbell's A Book of Bees or Holley Bishop's Robbing the Bees.
If your table setting calls for something more elegant than a plastic bear, you might want a honey dispenser.
Instead of a spoon, try using a honey wand to coax the golden liquid from the jar without spilling a drop.
And while you're whipping up some of our honey recipes, Sweet Honey In The Rock makes the ideal background music.
what you do
Jaden's fantastic pecan-crusted tilapia is sweetened with a honey glaze.
hogwash roasts shallots with honey and feta for a Greek-inspired twist on the French classic.
Before winter spoils the mood, freeze a batch of honey ice cream with ginger-spiced pecans.
Easier than baklava, these flaky honey and almond triangles are a delight.
Glaze your carrots with honey for a smooth, golden sweetness.
Featured: Satisfy your sweet tooth with Honey, Pistachio And Chocolate Chip Biscotti -- this week's Root Source Challenge featured recipe. Congratulations to Dishing Up Delights!
Find more honey recipes at Cookthink.com. And if you haven't yet signed up for a free account at Cookthink, do it now!
