Curing Bacon at Home - Video

When it comes to culinary comfort food, few items surpass the guttural reaction bacon brings.  Jim Gaffigan jokes aside, there is a huge focus nationally on pork products and artisanal uses for it as a main course or a condiment (I was served a bloody Mary with a stick of bacon rather than celery recently.  Delicious).

An Easy Method to Keep Your Weston Fry Cutter Clean -VIDEO

I love my fry cutter, and have multiple cutter heads for different thicknesses of fries.  But if you like a genuine twice-fried product with a taste and texture that rivals the best fries you've eaten, you really should invest in one of these.

Making Artisanal Salt At Home

A five gallon, food-safe, official water-harvester

Salt.

Pretty simple: Take some seawater, boil it, and collect the solids.

It's really almost that easy, however reducing water to collect what is, by weight, essentially four percent of the contents requires patience, a few specialized pieces of equipment (although not necessary, as a big pot will do) and ENERGY.

You are essentially boiling away five gallons of water.  If you have ever made stock, boiling away water is tough.  We use a 22 quart hotel pan that spans two burners to accelerate the process.  Cost me $25 I think.

Beignets - Video

First and foremost, these things are impossibly easy to make and your work will be rewarded by the children in the home or equally important the adults that like a nice, hot, doughy treat with their coffee.  A little planning ahead the night before, and a bit of oil for deep frying in the morning are all the effort this will take beyond the ingredients in the common larder.  This recipe is adapted from one described by Cooks Country in Cooks Illustrated here.

Twice-Fried French Fries (Redux) - Video

I know I have already done a blog post on this, but these fries are so good that I had to video the process and give a few more details.

The mighty russet potato.  The correct consistency for a fry, and more importantly, the traditional spud for the process.

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

 When thinking about one's favorite dessert, ice cream comes to mind for most folks, from kids to adults.  There is some mystery about the construction of excellent ice cream, magic even, that prevents most from giving it a shot.  However with some inexpensive equipment and readily-available ingredients, the home chef can whip up an enviable batch with both ease and only a modest investment in time.

Shucking An Oyster - VIDEO

Oysters are an acquired taste and are thought of as a regional treat, but they are both healthy for the environment as cleaners of the the bays in which they reside, and for consumption due to their high zinc and protein contributions.