A Surprising Use For Cacao Nibs

By Katie Barreira

Jacques Torres is known for his prowess with chocolate confections, but it was an offhand reference to one of his favorite savory chocolate dishes that caught my attention during his recent visit to our test kitchen at Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine.

While waiting for some perfectly tempered chocolate to set in an elaborate dolphin mold (Torres has been infatuated with the aquatic mammals since he and his wife, fellow chocolatier Hasty Torres, had the opportunity to swim with them on a recent trip), Jacques mentioned that he likes to crust salmon with cacao nibs before pan-searing. Seeing our interest piqued, Torres gave a concise little description of how he would coat the flesh-side of a salmon fillet with nibs, cook it, nib-side down, then flip and cook the skin side. Parfait! I couldn’t wait to give it a try.

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Milk Your Coconut Milk

By Katie Barreira

Well, I’ve done it. Here we are, week four of the pantry clean out, and not only have I cleared a swath of space in my cupboard, I’ve actually managed to keep a New Year’s resolution for the first time in memory (lord knows last year’s pledge of twice daily flossing didn’t pan out.) So cheers to this blog, without which, I may have never resolved a resolution.

This week I came upon a Spinach, Grape and Coconut Smoothie recipe that piqued my interest. The sweet, tangy and refreshing blend was a delicious discovery and an excellent use for an aging can of coconut milk.

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Leftover Cream of Tartar? Try these Great Uses

By Katie Barreira

Cream of tartar is another one of those pesky ingredients that gets used by the quarter teaspoon and stays forgotten in the back of the spice rack. A byproduct of winemaking, this acidic powder is commonly used in angel food cake to prevent darkening, in meringue to stabilize beaten egg whites (or I like to lightly beat a pinch into whites for a super fluffy and satisfying egg white omelet) and in sugar syrups to inhibit crystallization.

When I got to thinking about all the different ways to use cream of tartar, I decided it would be a fun challenge to try and employ all (or most) of them in a single recipe. There’s less than a teaspoon, but a little goes a long way!

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Pantry Clean-Up: What to do with Garam Masala

When visiting Cape Cod, one of my favorite pilgrimages is to the Atlantic Spice Company, a wholesale distributor of high-quality herbs and spices. The deceptively stark warehouse is, on the inside, a Mecca for foodies. It is also the prime culprit of my pantry mayhem.

Whether it’s stocking up on discount staples, like salt and pepper, snatching up an item I’ve heard of, but never tried (this year it was bee pollen!), or shopping for a recipe-specific ingredient, I can’t get out of that place without an armload.

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Resolution: Clean Pantry

By Katie Barreira

This year I’ve decided to use my blog as motivation to actually keep a New Year’s resolution. In 2012, well at least in the first month of 2012, I vow to eat up the items causing congestion in my pantry shelves.

You know the ones – the box of cornstarch you congratulated yourself for remembering to pick up, only to find a near full package sitting on the shelf at home, or the jar of exotic spices that you just had to have for this fabulous recipe, which called for only 2 teaspoons of the stuff. These doubles, dregs and mystery ingredients taunt me every time I open the cupboard.

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