For the best steak experience, splurge for
dry-aged. Porterhouse steak from Morton’s
The Steakhouse.

Aging the beef allows a steer’s natural enzymes to break down its tough connective tissues. The result is deeper flavor and better texture.

Supermarket beef is wet aged, a less expensive process that takes 5 to 7 days. The beef is sealed in its own juices in plastic bags, producing a milder, less meaty-flavored beef. The process is known as Cryovac, a system developed in France in 1937 (originally using latex bags).

Dry aging, a more time- and labor-intensive process, takes place for 11- to 30-plus days. The longer the aging, the “meatier” and more buttery the beef. The side of beef is hung in a special room, where the temperature is controlled. It loses 15% to 30% of its weight due to water evaporation, concentrating the flavor.

Macaroni and cheese is one of America’s favorite comfort foods. Adults and kids both love to reach for a box of mac and cheese mix.

But there’s no need to purchase a boxed mix or prepared mac and cheese when it’s so enjoyable to prepare it from scratch. One of our favorite culinarians, Chef Terrance Brennan of Picholine and Artisanal restaurants in New York City, shows you how easy it is in this week’s cooking video.

More ways to enjoy mac and cheese:

You’ll find many more how-tos in our Cooking Video Section.

America’s best-selling cookbook: it doesn’t
look mouth-watering, but that hasn’t
hindered sales.

And it’s still in print—in the original Latin! The English translation is out of print and pricey, but the Kindle edition is just 99¢.

But what has guided America’s home cooks? Here are the three best-selling American cookbooks of all time:

• Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook: first published in 1930, 40 million copies
• Betty Crocker’s Cookbook: first published in 1955, 27 million copies
• The Joy Of Cooking: first published 1936, 18 million copies

Our mother relied on Fanny Farmer and Julia Child. How about yours?

The juiciness comes from cooking meat quickly at a high temperature, as opposed to grilling or sautéing, which cooks the meat for a longer time at a lower temperature.

Searing creates a crisp and flavorful crust by caramelizing the natural sugars an amino acids in the beef (known as a Maillard Reaction). The ideal temperature for caramelizing is 350°F to 500°F.

Be careful not to exceed 500°F when cooking. Very high temperatures can char the beef, producing a burned flavor as well as carcinogens.

• Find more tips in Chef Eguaras’ book, 101 Things I Learned In Culinary School.

Keep it juicy! Ribeye steak from
RedMarbleSteaks.com.

• What‘s the difference between a ribeye and a porterhouse? A hanger steak and a cowboy steak? Learn your cuts of beef in our Beef Glossary.

Chips for the cure, available through
October. Photo by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

The company launched its Food Should Do Good initiative to give back.

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the company created pink-trimmed packaging for its Multigrain, Olive, and Sweet Potato tortilla chips. With each purchase, Food Should Taste Good will donate five cents to the cure.

Hopefully, enough chips will be enjoyed so that each of the three participating charities—Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Ellie Fund and Susan B. Komen For The Cure—will receive $25,000 apiece.

But that depends on you! Chip in, and buy the special chips by the end of the month.

They’re available at major grocers nationwide including Kroger, Safeway, Stop & Shop and Whole Foods, in 5.5-ounce and 6-ounce bags. The bags are priced at $2.99 to $3.29.

• Read our review of Food Should Taste Good, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.