Category Archives: Cool Cooking Techniques

Watching Over Milk-Braised Pork Loin

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Lean pork loin gets cooked gently in milk -- a lot of it.
Lean pork loin gets cooked gently in milk — a lot of it.

Pork loin is a very lean cut. Good news if you’re watching your calories. But bad news if you’re not careful with the cooking and turn it as dry as shoe leather.

“Milk-Braised Pork Loin” gives you a leg up on that by adding milk — a lot of it — to the equation.

I’ve come across many recipes like this, in which the pork loin is submerged in milk to cover it, then simmered until tender. Those recipes always end with the milk reducing and curdling, a natural byproduct that leaves tasty yet lumpy curds that don’t make for the prettiest presentation.

This recipe differs in that the pork is simmered so gently that the milk never breaks, and remains completely liquid.

It’s from “La Cocina Vasca” (Ryland Peters & Small), of which I received a review copy.

The cookbook, which focuses on recipes from the Basque Country, was written by Madrid-born Maria Jose Sevilla, a former lecturer at the Culinary Institute of America, and writer for the award-winning BBC series “Spain on a Plate.”

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Prime Time for Asparagus with Cannellini Beans, Creamy Tarragon Vinaigrette & Pickled Mustard Seeds

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Jazz up your asparagus game with a perfect cooking technique, plus flavorful garnishes.
Jazz up your asparagus game with a perfect cooking technique, plus flavorful garnishes.

When it comes to asparagus, I typically prefer grilling or roasting whole spears because the high heat caramelizes them, bringing their natural sweetness to the forefront.

But Katie Reicher, executive chef of pioneering Greens Restaurant in San Francisco, has taught me another method, one with impeccable timing that renders the spears yielding yet not droopy, and tender but with still a little bite.

Her way is pan-steaming, complete with a genius move — blitzing the tough asparagus ends that are usually discarded with a little water in a blender instead to create the cooking liquid. It gets poured into a ripping hot pan with the asparagus, where it steams and simmers before evaporating and leaving them perfectly done.

Not only are you not wasting any part of the pricey asparagus this way, but you’re imparting more flavor, too.

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The Perfect Number of Cupcakes

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When four cupcakes is all you need.
When four cupcakes is all you need.

We love cupcakes.

We also like to bake them.

But often, we are faced with a cupcake conundrum: recipes that produce 12, 18 or 24, when all we really want are a few of them.

Thank goodness for America’s Test Kitchen.

While other small-batch cookbooks come at you with recipes for modest amounts of cookies, doughnuts or tartlets, its new “Baking for Two” actually has a recipe for “Vanilla Cupcakes” that makes four of them. Yes, perfect for a family of four, a couple who wants to indulge in seconds, or a close-group of besties to share together.

The cookbook has more than 200 recipes for bakers who want to indulge their passion but don’t want to bake themselves into a frenzy.

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Whipped Cream Cake That’s As Good As It Sounds

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Whipped cream cake that tastes as rich and buttery as you imagine.
Whipped cream cake that tastes as rich and buttery as you imagine.

Would you believe that this cake contains no butter and no oil?

Just heavy cream — a lavish amount of it.

“Whipped Cream Cake” is from the newly revised and updated, 35th anniversary edition of “The Cake Bible” (William Morrow, 2024), of which I received a review copy.

It’s a beautiful golden-hued Bundt cake with a tender, moist crumb and a taste so rich that it needs no embellishments.

First published in 1988, it’s by baking expert, Rose Levy Beranbaum, who has been nicknamed the “diva of desserts.”

The revised book is a whopping 684 pages, with 150 pages and 30 percent more recipes than the original.

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Feasting at Baekjeong Korean BBQ

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Come hungry to Baekjeong Korean BBQ because it's a huge spread of food.
Come hungry to Baekjeong Korean BBQ because it’s a huge spread of food.

When Baekjeong Korean BBQ opened its first Bay Area location at Westfield Valley Fair shopping center in in August 2023, waits reportedly were up to 4 hours to snag a table.

No way was I going to deal with that.

So, I bided my time, and happily waited until this month to try the restaurant that’s created a sensation everywhere it’s opened.

The restaurant seats more than 200.
The restaurant seats more than 200.

Baekjeong Korean BBQ started in 2003 in Korea by Kang Ho Dong, a former professional wrestler and South Korean TV personality. In 2012, he joined forces with Michael Chon, CEO of Kijung Hospitality Group, to expand the restaurants to the United States, the first of which opened in Los Angeles, where the late-great, Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold hailed it as one of that city’s top restaurants.

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