TIP OF THE DAY: Make Your Own Vanilla Extract

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When it gives you a bottle of vodka and some vanilla beans, make vanilla extract. Commercial vanilla extracts are 35% alcohol, by law. The alcohol is a neutral spirit, like vodka. So imagine how good your extract will be if you use a good-to-excellent vodka: Good enough to…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Try A New Ingredient Every Month

Today’s tip is from Chef Johnny Gnall. If you have questions or suggestions for tips, email Chef Johnny. Home cooks can get intimidated by the thought of trying new ingredients. There’s a time-and-money issue of experimenting with something that might not turn out well. But cooking is exploration. Sometimes explorers find that the trip yields…
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Make Your Own Curry Powder & Chile Oil & The History Of Curry

[1] Homemade curry powder (photo © Savory Spice Shop | Facebook). [2] Coconut chicken curry with basmati saffron rice (photo © Cafe Spice). [3] Fish curry (photo © Sun Basket). [4] Keema curry, an Indian curry made of ground meat and minced vegetables (photo © Hannah Kaminsky | Bittersweet Blog). [5] Goat curry (photo ©…
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TIP OF THE DAY: 8 Ways To Reduce Sodium Intake

Not your friend! Photo by Ramon Gonzalez | SXC.   While recent government initiatives have eliminated trans fats and have us eating more whole grains, two villains hidden in prepared foods have been relatively quiet on the media radar. More often than not, too much salt and sugar are hidden in recipes and prepared foods.…
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TIP OF THE DAY: 10 Ways To Use Nutmeg

There’s nothing like fresh-ground nutmeg. The pre-ground product is pallid in comparison. You may use nutmeg in baking—custards and pumpkin pie, spice cakes and cookies—and it’s de rigueur in egg nog. But what about savory uses? Following the demise of our decades-old nutmeg mill, we’ve been enjoying our new chrome nutmeg mill from William Bounds.…
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