Category Archives: Cool Cooking Techniques

Raise A Toast to Tuscan Braised Drunken Chicken

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Chicken halves get marinated, then gently simmered in a pan for glorious results.
Chicken halves get marinated, then gently simmered in a pan for glorious results.

With folks tightening their wallets these days and tourism once again peaking so high in Europe that locals are out protesting, a trip to Italy might not be in the cards this year.

However, you can opt for a taste of Tuscany in the comfort of your own home instead, thanks to the new cookbook, “20 Amici 40 Ricette” (The Collective Book Studio), of which I received a review copy.

Translated from Italian to English as “20 friends, 40 recipes,” the book was written by John Bersani, a teacher, writer, and second-generation Italian-American who has lived for more than 20 years in a small hilltop town in central Tuscany when he isn’t splitting his time in Colorado.

It is as much travelogue as cookbook as Bersani introduces you to some of his favorite people and most cherished restaurants in the region. In fact, the recipes are organized not by the usual category of dish but by friend, be they forager, fish monger, chef, or restaurateur.

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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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