Everyday cooking

Everyday cooking

Perfect for busy days, this slow cooker pot roast is a simple meal that's full of so much flavor! Tender meat, carrots, potatoes, and onions cook together for a dish everyone loves. Even though I work from home, I use our slow cooker for dinner a lot, letting soups and stews simmer away while taking care of all the other tasks on my list.

It feels like an eternity to bake potatoes in the oven. You have to wait and wait and wait to finally get your oven-gloved hands on the steaming hot, golden vegetable and officially kickstart dinner night. Every now and then, we all need a little break away from this antsy slump, and the microwave is just the shortcut for it. Using the microwave will narrow the cook time to just about 10 minutes with no pre-heating necessary. More than just convenient, this brief cook time retains a good deal of the potato's moisture instead of drying it out like the oven.

There is one trick, and it's already in your kitchen: a spoon. Who knew a humble spoon could be so versatile? It's one of the best hacks that will help you open stubborn jars. When faced with a stubborn jar lid, flip the offending container upside down and give the base a whack with a spoon. If that doesn't work, firmly tap across the lid or wedge the spoon underneath the lid and push upwards.

Chicken noodle soup is a classic for a reason. It's warm comfort food that hits all the right notes, especially on a cold day. Whether you have a reliable recipe or are trying something new, there are countless ways you can prepare chicken noodle soup. There are a few staples that need to be there, however. You obviously need chicken, whether that's broth alone or pieces of meat. And you also need pasta of some kind. For my money, the best choice is ditalini pasta.

Usually, people are either in the French toast or pancake camp when it comes to breakfast, but there's no denying that a good waffle just really hits the spot every so often. Sweet, satisfying, and totally customizable, waffles can be a morning-time hero when prepared the right way, and there's one ingredient you can utilize to give them a quick protein boost: chickpeas.

It is a dish that is enjoyed in a wide variety of different formats globally, and because it's impressive and comforting at the same time, it never fails to be the star of the show. This maple butter roast chicken recipe, from the kitchen of recipe developer Jennine Rye, gives you a relatively low-fuss way to prepare and cook a whole chicken with mouthwatering results.

Initially, it's their voluptuous contours that captivate. The long, slender necks and arched stems of Bosc pears, the round, silhouette of Comice. The gentle curves of the bell-shaped Bartlett. In the marketplace most often, they are as hard as boulders. They feel more like baseballs than fruit. Not a whisper of sublime sweetness. Not a whiffet of sensuous aroma. They are picked mature but before ripened, then kept in controlled-atmosphere storage.

Parmesan rinds are the ultimate zero-waste hack like a cheesy stock cube, they enrich stews, sauces and all sorts, and add pure deliciousness in the form of umami depth and creamy texture. Stored in the fridge or freezer, they keep almost indefinitely. This week's recipe uses them in a thrifty, creamy corn orzo that transforms a few simple ingredients into comforting autumn fare.

Once considered a luxury spice, which Henry VI sprinkled through the streets before his coronation in a garish show of wealth, it was typically only used by royalty and upper-class households. Its distribution was controlled by a select group who knew where it was grown. By the 17th century, the Dutch were so vested in controlling its production that they literally started a war to obtain large amounts of nutmeg and store it for their own use.

Rather than keeping the rice on the stovetop for its entire cook time, she lets it simmer on the heat for exactly 16 minutes, and then turns off the stove burner. She then lets it steam in the pot, lid still on, for 10 minutes off the flame. This results in fluffy white rice with the perfect texture and taste. In this episode, she also offers other great tips for cooking white rice perfectly.

According to Sarah Grueneberg, Chef and Owner of Chicago's Monteverde restaurant, the key to nailing the texture of this quintessentially Northern Italian dish is in the first 5 minutes of preparation. In that short amount of time, constant stirring is what rehydrates the cornmeal and suspends it in the liquid - making it much less likely to clump or scold. "If you spend these 5 mins whisking and stirring, it'll simmer and not stick," the expert chef and author of the cookbook, " Listen to Your Vegetables," told Tasting Table. "Otherwise, it will only sink and burn," she added.

The skillet, which is filled with comforting aromatic flavors like rosemary, garlic, and thyme, is the ultimate combination of all three comforting chicken dishes in one. Instead of a brothy base, the chicken and vegetables are surrounded by thick, creamy gravy, made thicker by doughy drop dumplings. The dumplings, which are a simple Southern biscuit recipe designed to be boiled in the broth, become both fluffy and creamy while steaming in the warm chicken gravy.

With its ease and simple ingredient list, the fluffy treat can bring a taste of pumpkin pie to almost any dish. Pumpkin fluff also functions as a dip, making it the star of all your fall-themed charcuterie boards. Pair the dip with apple slices, Concord grapes, brie, prosciutto, pears, and rosemary and sea salt crackers, or stick with the dessert theme by adding peanut butter pretzels, blondies, salted caramel fudge, ginger snaps, and dried cranberries to the charcuterie board.

A cosy twist on the beloved classic, this cake reimagines sticky toffee pudding : dried figs in place of dates, the addition of apples for a fresh pop, and the whole thing crowned with glossy toffee apples. Dense yet tender, plush with fruit and rich with toffee, it's simple enough for a weekend pudding, and special enough to be served at a gathering.

Growing up as a Greek American, certain dishes were always part of my family's weekly dinner rotation. My parents used food to help my sister and me connect to our Greek roots, introducing us to dishes like pastitsio (like lasagna, but better), avgolemono soup (similar to chicken noodle), and baklava (a holiday classic). But no recipe is as quick and easy as my dad's Greek meatballs - or keftedes, as we call them. They're the perfect companion to some fries, pasta, or his Greek roasted potatoes.

However, you'll be happy to know that most Instant Pot models are designed so the lid stays upright in the side handle. After you release pressure and twist the lid off, just tip it slightly so condensation runs back into the liner, then slide the rim of the lid into the slot/groove on the cooker's side handle. It will sit there vertically, stable, out of the way, and dripping back into the pot instead of across your counter.

When learning to cook, everyone generally gets a good handle on the basics of the stovetop and the oven. The stove provides direct heat, and the oven, indirect. But what about the broiler? Not nearly so commonly used as the stove or oven, the broiler can be a bit trickier to use. But when it is the right tool for the job, it does wonders. Tasting Table spoke to Chef Randy Feltis, co-author of "Katherine Wants: The Ultimate Date Night Cookbook," who said that you need to use it with the oven door open to get the most out of your broiler.