The Boys’ Gougères

By Andrew Hunter
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

One fateful day a few months ago, we walked into a newly opened French bakery around the corner from our house. It was fateful because the boys discovered gougères that had just come hot out of the oven.

If you’re not familiar, gougères are like savory cream puffs. Delicious little pastries with cheese and herbs mixed into the dough before baking. So now gougères are the bread of choice in the Hunter household. The boys like them in the morning with scrambled eggs, at lunch stuffed with turkey and cherry tomatoes, and at dinner as slider buns.

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Oven-Baked Chicken in Red Wine

By Ben Mims
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

As with many meals I make on a weeknight, the genesis of the idea sparks when I have too much of something hanging around my kitchen. This time, it was red wine.

I’m a devout beer drinker and drink nothing else, except for the occasional cocktail at a restaurant or rare glass of white wine; never red. So when I was gifted with a good bottle of red wine that I knew I could never finish before it went bad, I decided to cook with it. And what did I make? Coq au Vin.

I know you may be saying, “how obvious,” and it is; but that’s where the similarities stop. I love taking inspiration from an obvious choice, like the traditional chicken braised in red wine, but changing it to my own tastes. And most importantly, make it easier to cook.

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Meatloaf Appeases all Appetites

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By Ben Mims
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

Whenever I’m thinking of a dish to make for company, I always go to meatloaf first. Not that there aren’t more exciting things to make for dinner, but meatloaf is that perfect dish to make to appease all appetites.

On a recent weeknight, I was having guests over that all had certain dietary restrictions. One was pregnant, the other couldn’t eat spicy foods or dairy-rich foods, and my partner likes nothing but chicken breasts or ground beef.

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Fried Olives

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By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Recently, Steve and I went to a neighborhood restaurant where we had been just once before, and we were surprised that prices had gone up. Where we were expecting entrees of $18 to $20, they were mostly $25 and higher.

We could have left for a less expensive place but we decided to stay and eat economically. For an appetizer, my eyes rested on the cheapest thing on the menu, fried kalamata olives, and certainly something we could share as a starter with our wine.

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How to Roast Beets

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By Sandy Hu
A new video for Video Friday

I love beets, but Steve thinks they taste like dirt.

So, given we’re a household of two, any beets I cook, I eat by myself. But I love them so much, it’s fine with me. Besides, beets are one of the 50 most nutrient-dense produce on the planet, according to the book, Melissa’s 50 Best Plants on the Planet.

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