Saveur.com: Kitchen

Softshell Crabs

Thu, 31 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

by Niki Achitoff-Gray
Softshell crabs are one of those culinary delights that are virtually impossible to find at any time of year except their designated season. Come late spring down the East Coast and along the Gulf of Mexico, a mass exodus of blue crabs surfaces from hibernation beneath the ocean floor. These crabs soon molt, their hard shells temporarily exchanged for a thin skin that's fully edible, and rich in flavor.

Sweet, briny, and incredibly juicy, softshells need little assistance to showcase their unique flavor. Lightly dusted in flour, salt, and pepper, and pan-fried in lemon and butter, the crabs emerge crisp and golden-brown on the outside, with a succulent interior. Serve them on a bed of fresh summer salad, or dress them up with a sprinkle of parsley to enhance the crustaceans' briny flavor. Battered and deep-fried, the crabs beg to be paired with a tangy cabbage slaw and thrown on a sandwich with a dollop of r�moulade.

See five recipes for softshell crabs �

I Love My Kitchen Because: Karen Shimizu

Wed, 30 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

� My kitchen is located at the back of my apartment, with a door that opens out onto a terrace. The natural light makes me very, very happy - and when the weather's nice, we can eat outside (which is good, because there's not a lot of room to eat in the kitchen itself). We're also growing lots of herbs on that terrace - parsley, dill, and some shiso (perilla). At night, it's a pleasant place to sit, drink beer, and watch lightning bugs in the garden one story down.

� We've got incredibly high ceilings, so we installed shelves waaaay up high to keep single-use items that we can't bear to part with - the lacquered Japanese jubako boxes for osechi ryori, the spherical avocado-green midcentury fondue set that I dragged home from SAVEUR - out of the way. The folding chairs from Ikea can get put away while we're cooking, and brought out again when we're ready to squeeze around the table to eat.

� It's an idiosyncratic arrangement - I think a former owner of the building built the kitchen without a lot of attention to standard measurements - but there are drawers and cabinets galore so we have lots of places to store the big stuff (pots, pans, mixing bowls).

� When the grownups are cooking, Aki comes in and pulls out the pots, mixing bowls, and Tupperware that are strategically stored in the bottom cabinets, where they're easy for her to get to. She stacks and sorts them, bangs them together, and generally makes a mess and has fun while we're doing the same as we cook.

� In this kitchen, and every other kitchen I've had for the past 8 years, is an appliance we use every day: an old cast-iron hand mill that Chris bought for me when we first moved in together, and that's moved with us from Oxford, Ohio to Tbilisi, Georgia to Syracuse, New York to Brooklyn. We use it to grind coffee beans. My mom has one just like it, and I've always associated the sound of it first thing in the morning - the growly grinding noise the mill makes and the crackling of the beans as they get pulverized - with home. The grounds then go into our Aeropress, which just makes a stupidly good, easy cup of coffee.

Previously

I Love My Kitchen Because: Michael Chiarello �
I Love My Kitchen Because: Melissa Clark �
I Love My Kitchen Because: Kerry Diamond �
I Love My Kitchen Because: Brian Ray �
I Love My Kitchen Because: Miho Hatori �

How To Measure Flour

Wed, 30 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

by Kellie Evans
You might have noticed that the bread recipes in our May 2012 issue measure ingredients by weight, a change from the typical recipe style of portioning out only in tablespoons, cups, and other volume measures. As we developed these recipes, we relied heavily on our kitchen scales-digital models that toggle easily between ounces and grams-because accuracy in measuring is never more important than it is when making bread. The only way to be sure you're getting the same measure every time is by using a scale. I know, because I conducted a little experiment: First, I scooped flour straight from the bag using a cup measure and then weighed the flour; the scale read 5 � ounces. When I scooped a cup's worth from the flour jar we keep on the counter, the scale read 5 ounces. Why the difference? Flour in a bag has been compacted for shipping, and when you pour flour into a storage container, you aerate it slightly. Fact is, neither of those cups I scooped weighed in at what most recipes presume a cup of flour equals: 4 � ounces. If you don't have a scale, here's how to ensure that your cup contains the right amount of flour: Use a spoon to stir the flour in the container. Drop spoonfuls of flour into a measuring cup until it's overflowing, then sweep a knife across the rim to make an even surface. This is the way we do it whenever we measure out flour in the saveur kitchen. When I weighed the flour I'd measured in this way, it was 4 � ounces on the nose.

See our special feature on American Bread �

Links We Love: Mayonnaise Tricks, the White House Garden, and more

Tue, 29 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

� Store-bought mayonnaise can't hold a candle to the homemade kind, but it can be problematic to get a good emulsion when making it yourself. Melissa Clark shares her tricks for making perfect mayonnaise that doesn't break, plus some experiments with different flavors. (Bacon mayonnaise? Yes, please.) [The New York Times]

� The barbecue sandwich is a summer staple across the U.S. Garden and Gun has collected 21 of the best barbecue sandwiches you can buy, from pulled pork on cornbread (Windsor, North Carolina) to chopped mutton with vinegar and Worchestershire (Owensboro, Kentucky). [Garden and Gun]

� They say you can always recognize a good cook by their ability to turn out simple dishes with finesse. In that vein, watch Chef Daniel Boulud bust out a perfect omelet in twelve seconds. [Bon App�tit]

� Everyone's talking lately about how chefs manage to stay healthy in the midst of so much rich food. Among pastry chef David Lebovitz's suggestions: ride a bike, balance heavy food with lighter meals, and only eat things that taste really, really good. [David Lebovitz]

� Michelle Obama has been a prominent voice for the rewards of eating healthy and growing your own food. In this interview with WNYC, she talks about her family's history of gardening as well as some of the projects that go on at the White House (home-brewing and beekeeping, among other things). [WNYC]

� Summer is suddenly upon us here in New York, and The Kitchn's got a few great ideas for boozy popsicles-perfect for barbecues or just eating in front of the fan. [The Kitchn]

The Flavors of Senegal

Tue, 29 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

by Ben Mims
Everyone learning to cook Senegalese food should be so lucky as to have a friend like Pierre Thiam. We first got to know the chef, a native of Dakar, Senegal, through his restaurants Yolele and Le Grand Dakar, which he ran in Brooklyn, New York, until recently; his cookbook Yolele! Recipes From the Heart of Senegal (Lake Isle Press, 2008) is our go-to Senegalese reference. As we tested recipes for our May 2012 issue's feature on Senegalese cuisine, he generously agreed to spend some time in the saveur kitchen. Before we started cooking, though, Thiam took us to a couple of West African markets in New York City, where we picked up some staples of the Senegalese pantry. In Harlem, we ducked into Nawel Keur Mame Asta Walo, a tiny grocery store lined with sacks of rice and plastic jugs of bright-red palm oil. I hail from Mississippi, so as we strolled the aisles, Thiam related some of the ingredients we found to ones used in the American South; Senegalese, he explained, were among the first enslaved Africans brought to the South, and they left a lasting mark on the cooking. "This is fonio," he said, indicating a type of millet with the consistency of couscous. "It's a bit like grits when it's cooked." Tossing a bag of dried black-eyed peas into our basket, he said, "These we pur�e and fry to make fritters called accara-the Senegalese answer to hush puppies." At Gold Coast Trading Company, in the Bronx, Thiam pointed out smoked, dried, and fermented ingredients that are added to stews and sauces in the same way that smoked ham hocks are added to Southern greens and soups. "This is how we build flavor," he told me, "layer upon layer."

See our Senegalese shopping list �
See the article Senegal: A Feast for All �

Nawel Keur Mame Asta Walo
(212/222-7900)
219 West 116th Street
New York, NY 10026

Spring Flowers

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

by Katrina Moore
As springtime flowers bloom, we're bringing the edible ones into our kitchen. From herbaceous blossoms to textured sprigs, flowers add sweetness or spice to a variety of dishes. Here are five of our favorites; look for them in your garden, farmers' market, or order online from The Chef's Garden.

1. Borages

Sweet and herbaceous, these star-shape blossoms of an herb found throughout the Mediterranean release a cucumber-like fragrance and flavor. The powder-blue flowers, a traditional garnish for a Pimm's cup, are a natural match with cucumbers in salads and sauces.

2. Nasturtiums

These spicy flowers come in shades ranging from pale yellow to deep red. Drop a bloom onto a bowl of gazpacho, or fold chopped petals into softened ch�vre or herbed butter to unleash their peppery flavor.

3. French Marigolds

These yellow-trimmed vermilion blooms taste like a blend of tarragon and radicchio. Toss the petals into a salad in place of bitter greens, sprinkle them over grilled fish, or lay them on a stack of saut�ed prawns. Often used in orange dyes, the flowers will also lend their color and flavor to rice dishes the same way that saffron does.

4. Cornflowers

Also called "bachelor's buttons" (supposedly because love-struck lads once wore them on their lapels), these blossoms have a subtle, sweet spiciness. Toss them into salads, add them to tea blends for a clovelike aroma, or nestle them onto frosted cakes as a garnish.

5. Amaranths

Despite their berry-red color, these textured petals taste exactly like sweet corn. Sometimes known by their poetic common name, "love-lies-bleeding," the sprigs add color draped over poached eggs or tucked into a fruity beverage.

One Ingredient, Many Ways: Rhubarb

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

by Leah Koenig
My mother was our household's primary cook while I was growing up, and she is allergic to rhubarb's most faithful companion: strawberries. Her severe aversion (she recoils at a mere mention of the crimson fruits) meant no strawberry-rhubarb jam to spread on our toast, and certainly no strawberry-rhubarb pie with its sweet-tart juice running like a river underneath a layer of butter-browned crust. Without a classic like that - in America, rhubarb is colloquially known as "pie plant," after all - what do you have left?

As it turns out, quite a lot. After leaving my parents' house and establishing my own home where strawberries were welcomed, I also opened my kitchen to rhubarb. In the spring I regularly picked up bunches of the sour, blushing stalks at the farmers' market, and back home I stripped off their crown of toxic leaves, then simmered hunks of the fruit with lime zest, ginger and sugar until it softened into pink compote, perfect for topping rice pudding, yogurt, or ice cream. Other times I'd take a cue from the British (among the first culture to elevate rhubarb from medicinal plant to culinary champion) and baked it into glistening tarts. And of course, I made lots of strawberry rhubarb pies, happily enjoying the previously forbidden pairing.

More recently, I learned of rhubarb's applications beyond dessert. In some countries, rhubarb is treated as a savory vegetable - in Poland, it marries with potatoes and mushrooms in a gratin. Rhubarb's lemon-sour flavor also blends well with fish and meat dishes, and it's a tart addition to soups. The vibrant red-green stalks can typically be found in the markets from early spring through mid-summer, and I plan to indulge accordingly.

SWEET

Rhubarb Muffins with Almond Streusel
Sour cream and lemon zest support tart rhubarb in streusel-topped muffins, while vanilla seeds and brown sugar mellow its edge.

Rhubarb Pie
A specialty in Iowa, this pie is made with fresh rhubarb when in season, although frozen will do when not in season. Finish it off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
This classic springtime baked good gets its complex flavor from tart rhubarb and sweet strawberries.

Yogurt Parfait with Vanilla Rhubarb Compote
Breakfast is a lot more interesting with vanilla-scented rhubarb topping your yogurt.

Stewed Rhubarb
Serve sugar-sweetened rhubarb with creamy ricotta.

Bluebarb Pie
Blueberries replace the more commonly-found strawberries in this pie.

Rhubarb Ginger Crumble
Spicy ginger is the perfect foil for rhubarb in a sweet crumble.

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
Enliven your morning toast with a spoonful of bright red jam.

Rhubarb Custard Pie
This rustic custard pie is commonly found in the American south.

Sweet Brown Rice Pudding with Rhubarb Ginger Compote
Top sweet and creamy rice pudding with tart and spicy rhubarb compote.

Rhubarb Financiers with Vanilla Ice Cream and Poached Rhubarb
Rhubarb's flavors shine beautifully in this sophisticated dessert.

SAVORY

The Daily Spud: Rhubarb Potato Gratin
Top rhubarb, potatoes and mushrooms with savory bread crumbs for a delicious gratin.

Food 52: Bison Flank Steak with Rhubarb
Marinated steak gets cooked with rhubarb, bourbon and spices for a tangy main dish.

Bon Appetit: Roasted Salmon with Rhubarb and Red Cabbage
Top saut�ed rhubarb and cabbage with roasted salmon.

La Cucina Italiana: Sweet and Sour Rhubarb Soup
This unusual rhubarb soup is enriched with bread.

The Guardian: Beetroot and Rhubarb Salad
A delicious spring salad by Israeli-British chef Yotam Ottolenghi.

DRINK

Strawberry Rhubarb Smash
The iconic spring pair is mixed with bourbon and mint in a refreshing spring cocktail.

Whiskey Rock-A-Roller
Rhubarb bitters and strawberry liqueur add depth of flavor to this drink.

Leah Koenig is a freelance writer and author of The Hadassah Everyday Cookbook: Daily Meals for the Contemporary Jewish Kitchen.

Win a trip to Napa Valley with SAVEUR and Google Schemer

Tue, 22 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

We've been having a lot of fun lately playing around on Schemer, Google's new site that lets you find and keep track of things you want to do-from what to cook for breakfast (chilaquiles!) to big once-in-a-lifetime experiences, like spending a romantic week in Paris or tasting soup dumplings in Shanghai.

To celebrate Schemer's launch, we're giving SAVEUR readers a chance to do something on our bucket list: spend a lush the weekend in Napa Valley touring wineries and dining on the area's extraordinary cuisine. One winner will score a two-night stay for two people at the Carneros Inn in Napa, California, with all the trimmings: a two-night stay in a Harvest Cottage at the Carneros Inn; two breakfasts for 2 at Boon Fly Caf� or Hilltop Dining Room; dinner for 2 with wine pairings at FARM; a 60 minute Couples Massage at THE SPA at Carneros Inn; 5 hours of private transportation for winery visits; and $500 towards winery visits and meals at restaurants of your choice.

Sound like something you want to do? Here's how to enter:

Join Schemer by clicking here, and make sure you follow @SAVEURMAG on Twitter.
Scroll through SAVEUR's culinary schemes at schemer.com/saveur and click on an activity you would like to do.
Tweet the link to your favorite SAVEUR scheme and include the hashtag #SchemeSaveur

You'll need both a Google account and a Twitter account to enter this contest; you can join Google by clicking here, and Twitter by clicking here. The sweepstakes begins at noon ET on Tuesday, May 22, and concludes at 11:59 p.m. ET on May 29, 2012.

Read the official sweepstakes rules �

Links We Love: Writers' Fuel, Steak Frites, and More

Mon, 21 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

� Perennial Plate wraps up a year of covering food in America with a lovely finale video. [Perennial Plate]

� Rosie Schaap at The New York Times makes a case for bringing the wine spritzer out of retirement. [The New York Times]

� Homemade bread, coffee, popsicles and cold toast: The Kitchn takes a peek at a few great writers' favorite snacks. [The Kitchn]

� Herbicide-resistant "superweeds" are threatening American crops. [Good Magazine]

� Restaurant Daniel's resident forager, Tama Matsuoka Wong, talks about the food in your backyard in this trailer for the book she worked on with Chef de Cuisine Eddy Leroux. [Eater.com]

� These days, traveling by plane requires a stiff drink. To help you with that, Food Republic's got a list of the best airlines for drinking. [Food Republic]

� Ultimate Paris expert David Lebovitz tells us where to eat the ultimate Paris bistro meal: steak frites. [David Lebovitz]

� Chef Wojciech Amaro is elevating Polish cuisine, experimenting with traditional ingredients like chokeberries, wild herbs and edible flowers. [CNN]

� As world fish populations decline, scientists are wondering about "The End of Fish" and what that means for the way we eat. [Washington Post]

I Love My Kitchen Because: Michael Chiarello

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

� Most people spend too much time worrying about what kind of stove to install in their kitchen, and not enough time worrying about the lighting. I don't care what kind of stove I use as long as it heats up nice and fast, but I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the right lighting in this kitchen. I played with directional lighting, but that can create big shadows on your work surface. Overhead lighting doesn't create so many shadows, but at the same time that's not always so flattering and warm. So I changed some lamps, changed some bulbs, and created warmer cooking lighting with a combination of overhead and directional fixtures. I have two skylights in the kitchen that are great because they never have direct light pouring through them, they just sprinkle sunlight on top of you. It's a nightmare for when we're filming in the kitchen, but I love it.

� My favorite appliance in this kitchen is my wood-burning oven. I just love it because we made it with the hearth high enough to work as a fireplace and a counter. In the wintertime we can cozy right up to the wood-burning oven and cook our food in the fire then eat right there off the hearth.

� I have power wherever I want to plug anything in. I never need an extension cord. There are power strips hidden everywhere - I requested that when we designed the kitchen. The island has a hollow leg so we could bring power up through the leg.

� Our youngest son is six now, and he was born here in this house. About two hours before he was born, I baked potatoes to make gnocchi. As soon as he was born I rolled out the gnocchi, and everyone gathered around the table and ate it together. Gnocchi was always my favorite food growing up - it was what I always asked for on my birthdays. So for his birth day, I gave him my favorite birthday meal.

� I have enough cabinet space that you don't have to see anything. I love that the kitchen's big and open enough that even when I have 20 people over, I can be working at one side of the island and everybody can still be in the kitchen but not be in the way. I can have a glass of wine and cook and still see everybody. Even if I'm at the stove and people are at the dining room table, I can still stay in the conversation.

Previously

I Love My Kitchen Because: Melissa Clark �
I Love My Kitchen Because: Kerry Diamond �
I Love My Kitchen Because: Brian Ray �
I Love My Kitchen Because: Miho Hatori �

Interview conducted and condensed by Anna Stockwell

Memorial Day BBQ Pinterest Contest

Fri, 11 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

We had such a great time with our Pinterest-driven Dinner Party contest a few months ago that we've decided to bring it back for another round! And with Memorial Day just around the corner, we've got barbecue on the brain. Create a Pinterest board for a SAVEUR-inspired weekend cookout, and we'll send each of our three favorites a set of summer-friendly cookbooks - and our very favorite of those three will also get a Curtis Stone "Juicy" carving board, perfect for steaks fresh off the grill.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

� Be sure you follow SAVEUR on Pinterest .
� Create a new Pinterest board entitled SAVEUR Memorial Day BBQ .
� Fill that board with at least 10 pins (feel free to add more!). Of those 10 pins, at least 3 of them must be recipes from Saveur.com.
� All the pins (even those not from Saveur.com) must have a caption explaining the pin's relation to the party. Is it the appetizer? The entree? Atmosphere? A playlist? Tabletop decor? Color inspiration? Your dream grilling tools?
� All the pins (even those not from Saveur.com) must be hashtagged with #saveur.
� Once your party pinboard is complete, enter the contest by posting a link to it in the comments section of our contest announcement pin on Pinterest.

This contest launches on Friday, May 11, 2012, and will run through 5 p.m. Friday, May 18, 2012. The three (3) winners will receive a SAVEUR tote bag filled with at least two recent cookbooks; one of those three will also receive a Curtis Stone "Juicy" carving board. Pinboards will be judged on originality, creativity, adherence to the contest rules, and a general sense of SAVEUR-style appreciation for all things interesting, authentic, and delicious.

Note: You must be a member of Pinterest.com to enter, and you must be following SAVEUR's Pinterest pages. If you do not have a Pinterest account, you can sign up for one here.

See the official contest rules �

One Ingredient, Many Ways: Lettuce

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

by Leah Koenig
Let us sing the praises of good lettuce. Not arugula, or watercress, or any other dainty-leafed green (though I love them all), but the irreplaceable watery crunch of a sturdy head of lettuce. The foundation of salads from Caesar to Cobb, the sweet crunch on a sandwich or a Tex-Mex taco, and an essential ingredient in any number of other dishes - lettuce wraps, or an Asian-style lettuce stir-fry - too often we take lettuce's many gifts for granted. In May and June, with the farmers' markets just beginning to explode with spring greens, it's the perfect time to renew your commitment to the crisper's favorite vegetable.

Whole heads of lettuce, like whole chickens, have fallen out of favor at the grocery stores in recent years, another casualty of our love affair with convenience. It's not that you can't find a head of romaine or green leaf in the produce aisle, but next to boxed baby romaine and bags of triple-washed salad greens, the leaf in its original form has come to seem cumbersome by comparison. But when it comes to the pure joy of crunch and refreshment, a whole head is worth those extra five minutes with the salad spinner. When you buy a head of lettuce, wash and spin it dry immediately, then store the leaves in the fridge in plastic bags lined with paper towels. The lettuce will stay fresh longer and be ready whenever the craving strikes.

SALAD

Iceberg Wedge with Blue Cheese
This simple salad topped with creamy blue cheese dressing is an American classic.

Salad Nicoise
An iconic composed French salad is as much a work of art as a meal.

Caesar Salad
Savory, crisp and tangy, the Caesar salad is an uncompromising classic.

Shredded Beef Salad
Shredded Boston lettuce lightens up this Argentine meat and potatoes salad.

Romaine Salad with Plum Ginger Dressing
Fans of carrot-ginger dressing will love a stone-fruit variation atop a simple green salad.

Green Salad with Toasted Pita Bread
Toasted pita wedges make a delicious crouton for a mixture of romaine and mint.

Mixed Green Salad with Green Goddess Dressing
Top fresh Boston lettuce with this rich, tangy dressing.

Cobb Salad
This composed salad was all the rage in the 1940s at The Brown Derby in Los Angeles, where it was invented.

Canlis Salad
Canlis restaurant in Seattle pioneered this tasty mix of Romaine, tomatoes and crunchy herbed croutons.

NOT SALAD

Vietnamese Lettuce Wraps
A fragrant and satisfying appetizer, bundles of pork, shrimp, and scallion are great dipped in nuoc cham, a sweet and spicy Vietnamese sauce.

Stir Fried Iceberg Lettuce
Stir-fried lettuce maintains its crunch in a sweet and spicy Chinese side dish.

Stuffed Romaine Leaves with Avgolemono Sauce
Lettuce leaves stuffed with ground meat and rice are topped with a bright lemon sauce.

Iceberg Slaw
Shredded iceberg lettuce replaces cabbage in a tart slaw.

Puffy Chicken Tacos
Serve flavorful Tex-Mex-style tacos with shredded iceberg lettuce for crunch and lightness.

Fresh Peas with Lettuce and Green Garlic
Butter lettuce pairs with fresh green peas and green garlic for a dish that tastes just like spring.

Lobster Ceviche with Limestone Lettuce
Bibb lettuce is a perfect base for yuzu-marinated lobster ceviche.

The Gatsby
A spicy bologna and French fry sandwich (yes, really) gets a bit of crunch from shredded lettuce.

Leah Koenig is a freelance writer and author of The Hadassah Everyday Cookbook: Daily Meals for the Contemporary Jewish Kitchen.

The Saveur Library: Bread Books

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

by Marne Setton
Of the dozens of books devoted to bread on our shelves, a few proved indispensible as we developed the recipes in the Issue 147 special feature, American Bread. Any baker would do well to keep the �ber-comprehensive Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes (John Wiley andamp; Sons, Inc., 2004) at hand. The instructions from author Jeffrey Hamelman, a certified master bread maker, are blessedly detailed, with illustrations demonstrating the proper way to knead, braid (30 pages on this alone), and do most anything else required to transform a mass of dough into a beautiful loaf.

For the beginner, The Bread Baker's Apprentice (Ten Speed Press, 2001), by baking expert Peter Reinhart, provides an accessible way in, first laying out the basic principles behind baking any bread. Then it provides more than 50 formulas for specific breads, including brioche, bagels, and the perfect Tuscan loaf.

Good bread always tells a story about where it comes from, and in Local Breads (W.W. Norton andamp; Co., 2007), Daniel Leader, founder of Bread Alone Bakeries in upstate New York, travels across Europe to investigate the regional traditions that were the inspiration for him and his fellow pioneers in the American artisan bread movement. One chapter finds him in the wheat fields of Italy's Murgia plain; another, in Grimminger pretzel bakery in Munich. Along the way, he lays out the recipes collected in his travels with utter clarity.

If it's possible, after reading these paeans to the power of bread made by hand, to wonder why all of this is important, look no further than Bread Matters (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2009). British baker Andrew Whitley gets down to brass tacks about what exactly makes artisan bread healthier and tastier, then offers such alluring cases in point as arkatena from Cyprus made with chickpea flour and fennel seeds, a coriander-laced Russian rye called Borodinsky, and dozens of others, both savory and sweet.

See more stories from our special feature on American bread �

Recipes from James Beard Award Finalists

Mon, 07 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

Each year, America's top chefs, restaurateurs, authors, and editors gather in New York City for the James Beard Awards, where the best of the best are honored for their contributions to the culinary world. Tonight is the gala for the Chef and Restaurant Awards (last Friday, at the Journalism and Book awards, we didn't do too badly - to our great excitement, SAVEUR pulled in three medals), and some of our favorite chefs will be nervously waiting to hear if their names are called. Of tonight's finalists, many have shared their culinary knowledge with SAVEUR over the years; here are our favorites of their recipes.

See recipes from the 2012 James Beard Finalists in the gallery �

2012 Best Food Blog Awards: The Winners!

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

This year, the third of the SAVEUR Best Food Blog Awards, as we sorted through nearly 40,000 nominations for blogs, videos, and websites, we found proof again and again that food blogs are a force to be reckoned with. In their infinite variety and extraordinary depth, they're a vital part of not only the internet, but of food journalism overall. It was a hard task to narrow down the entries into 6 finalists for each category, and we can only imagine how much harder it must be to choose just one winner from each group - thankfully, that job was left to you, with the winner in each category receiving a majority of user votes.

Congratulations to all of our talented, intelligent, hardworking finalists, and our warmest thanks to everyone who nominated blogs, voted for them, or takes the time to visit them. Here are your 2012 Best Food Blog Award winners!

Best Celebrity Food Blog

WINNER: David Lebovitz

FINALISTS
Aida Mollenkamp
Gwyneth Paltrow/GOOP
Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman
Anthony Bourdain
Dorie Greenspan
See the winners of the 2011 Best Food Blog Awards �

I Love My Kitchen Because: Melissa Clark

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

� We remodeled this kitchen three years ago when I was seven-and-a-half months pregnant, and the contractor promised it would be an easy five week job. Then of course I was three-and-a-half weeks early with Dahlia, and the kitchen was two-and-a-half weeks late. I went into labor to the sound of hammering and sawing downstairs, and when I was leaving for the hospital I told the contractor "Finish the kitchen now - I'm having a baby!" Maybe that's the only thing in New York that'll get a renovation finished? Now I'll always associate this kitchen with Dahlia's birth.

� The one most important priority I had for the remodel was a pull-out pantry that I could find everything in. I have a lot of condiments - I need to, professionally - and I couldn't ever find anything in the back of my shelves. But the architect screwed up, and the unit was too wide to fit the standard Ikea pull-out cabinet (all my cabinets are from Ikea), so for three years I suffered until finally I found this amazing builder/carpenter, Andy of Brooklynbilt, who remodeled the remodel.

Photo: Noah Fecks

� I used to have all my spices in a crowded cabinet right by the stove, which was just the stupidest thing. When Andy came he installed special spice drawers for me and now I can find everything! All my spices are in square tins, which is key because they don't roll around. They're all labeled and organized by special Melissa Clark logic that wouldn't make sense to anyone else. The top drawer is for the ones I use most: 28 kinds of chiles and all my sweet spices. Organizing them was this big project: my assistant, my recipe tester, and I all sat down and did it together. We had a kind of a therapy session during the whole thing, because they slowly had to wean me from spices from like 1998. I'd say "But I brought that one back from France!" and they'd tell me it smelled like nothing and needed to be thrown away. So that way it was like Spice Hoarders Anonymous, and we all held hands and threw the rest away.

� One of my husband's additions to the kitchen was this darkroom timer he's had since high school, when he did a lot of photography. I keep it by the stove; I love that it's super loud and I can hear it upstairs. If I relied on the little timer on my stove I would be burning everything.

� I have this weird marble bust which used to live in a niche across from the bathroom in my aunt's house, where she was always a grand presence since as long ago as I can remember. When she had to move to a nursing home, I brought the bust home. She was covered in dark yellow because my aunt was a smoker, so I put her out in the garden for a year; now she looks much better and lives in the kitchen. We keep changing what we want to name her, but I think her name is Florence. She's our kitchen muse.

Previously

I Love My Kitchen Because: Kerry Diamond �
I Love My Kitchen Because: Brian Ray �

Interview conducted and condensed by Anna Stockwell

Behind the Photo: Picnic at Red Rock Canyon

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

by Kellie Evans
It's midnight on a Sunday, and I'm doing dishes with my dad in my parents' kitchen in North Las Vegas. We've been cooking for six hours: grilling chicken, making pasta salad, pressing grilled vegetable sandwiches, and baking angel food cupcakes, all for a picnic we're shooting for SAVEUR the next morning at Red Rock Canyon. I'm dead tired, but my parents are the real champs: they would've been asleep hours ago if it weren't for this shoot, for which they've been helping me cook, clean, and get organized. While my dad and I are at the sink, my mom is in a frenzy trying on outfits to wear in front of the camera tomorrow. Finally she gives up: "It's the desert," she says. "Why am I dressing up?" As I hit play on the last load of dishes in the machine, I crawl upstairs and collapse into bed.

By the time I've showered and dressed the next morning, my parents have already packed the food into our ancient green and white Coleman cooler and loaded it into the Jeep. The rest of the SAVEUR team pull up in a rental car: deputy editor Beth Kracklauer, editor-in-chief James Oseland, and executive food editor Todd Coleman, who's our photographer for the day. We head off in a convoy for the 18-mile drive up to Red Rock, where we're joined by my friend Selena, my sister Kristina, and her husband and son. Everyone's excited and hungry, and we're all looking forward to hitting the food.

Instead of laying camp at the picnic area just inside the park, we head off for the Calico Basin, a famous hiking trail that James had scouted as a perfect shoot location on an earlier visit. As the rest of us unload the cars, he sets off with Todd on the uphill hike to the spot he has in mind; half an hour later they return, sweating and exhausted, and James pulls me aside. He's heading back to his hotel room at the Cosmopolitan to fight off an impending cold, but he has a job for me: "Take care of Todd," he says. "Keep him hydrated and make sure he eats something." We look over at Todd. In keeping with his role as an office fashion plate, he's dressed to the nines despite the 90-degree weather: slacks, a button-up dress shirt, and a tweed jacket with elbow patches. With just a little convincing, the rest of us (who are clad slightly more practically in jeans, sturdy sneakers and lightweight shirts) get him to peel down his sweat-soaked layers until he's just in his undershirt and slacks, and we head up into the hills.

Besides looking out for Todd's hydration, I'm also responsible for making sure everything gets to the site. And because this is a Saveur photo shoot, that's not as simple as it seems: no paper plates here; it's a box of heavy ceramic platters. My dad, a true superhero, joins me on a few trips back and forth to the Jeep to pick up the rest of the food and props, including much of Todd's photo equipment, neatly packed into rolling suitcases, which are of little help on this rocky, steep terrain.

Kristina and Selena are helping me keeping the food and drinks from rolling off the sharply-angled rock we've settled on, but it's of little help, and from the look on Todd's face, we're running out of time.

Once everything has arrived at the site - a sloping red-rock plateau with a gorgeous view - we lay out our ersatz picnic blanket (a burgundy, full sized comforter from my parents house) and the chaos begins in earnest. I start transferring ziplock bags and OXO storage containers full of food to the platters and bowls from which we'll serve them. Beth, who had broken the strap on her shoe on the hike up from the car, is playing photo assistant, helping Todd set up lights. My three-year-old nephew, having used up all of his cute about an hour ago, is already tired of the picnic and has run off to climb rocks, his dad in tow. Mom is ready to eat; she's nearly passing out from the heat and the hike. Kristina and Selena are helping me keeping the food and drinks from rolling off the sharply-angled rock we've settled on, but it's of little help, and from the look on Todd's face, we're running out of time.

"Just go, just start eating," Todd directs us as he chases the noon light, snapping away with his camera, Beth and her one good shoe scrambling around behind him holding down all the equipment that the brisk wind is trying to pick up and carry off. None of us is concerned with looking good; we're too busy scarfing down the food and trying not to get blown over. "Will the friend stop taking pictures?" Todd shouts from the rock above - Selena, in awe of the utter craziness of the situation, has decided to capture her own memories. Todd then asks us to move the entire picnic about 20 yards away to a shadier spot for something different. My nephew and brother-in-law reappear from their rock-climbing excursion just in time for the angel food cupcakes to make their appearance - in true picnic fashion, I packed the frosting separately from the cakes, but forgot a knife or scissors to snip the corner of the Zip-Loc bag. In keeping with the seat-of-the-pants feel of the whole shoot, I pull it off guerilla-style, with a sharp rock.

It's one o'clock and the shoot is over. Exhausted, we only half-jokingly discuss the idea of walking away from the whole set, leaving the entire picnic tableau as a surprise for the next group of hikers. But this isn't the time for installation art, so we pack it all up and schlep everything back to the Jeep. Like war veterans or survivors of a natural disaster, we're all just a little more bonded together thanks to our shared ordeal - but we got our photo, and only one shoe was injured in the making of it.

See Kellie's story "Vegas, Al Fresco" �
See the menu for this picnic: A Southwestern Canyon Picnic �

American Bread Special Issue

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

American Bread by William Alexander �
A writer sets out to bake the perfect loaf of artisan bread at home after tasting a pain de campagne with, "a coarse texture that, while managing to be light and airy with plenty of holes, also had real substance. When you bit into it, it bit back. It was an utter surprise, an almost-mystical revelation, that bread could be this good."

GALLERY: 45 Loaves We Love by Meryl Rosofsky and Alex Rush �
We sampled hundreds of loaves from artisan bakeries around the country to come up with this collection of favorites, each one worth seeking out.

GALLERY: Bread Recipes �
Five recipes for artisan breads to bake at home.

Choosing Flour by Dana Bowen �
The main ingredient in bread not only affects the loaf's flavor: it also helps determine its texture, appearance, moisture content, and nutritional quality.

Bread Science by Ben Mims �
These terms help explain the scientific processes at work when making artisan bread; they can also help home bakers understand what to expect each step of the way.

A History of Bread in America by Marne Setton �
Beginning in 1492 with Christopher Columbus bringing a small crock of sourdough starter to the New World until today, we look at the major landmarks in the the history of bread baking in America.

The SAVEUR Bookshelf: Bread Books by Marne Setton �
Of the dozens of books devoted to bread on our shelves, a few proved indispensable as we developed the recipes in this special feature. Any baker would do well to keep these four books on their shelf.

20 Great Bread Bakeriesby Meryl Rosofsky and Alex Rush �
When researching this special feature, twenty bakeries across the country stood out above the rest as pioneers and role models in the American artisan bread movement.

Behind the Story: Iran

Tue, 01 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

by Todd Coleman
We've covered much of the Middle East at SAVEUR - the food of Lebanon, the food of Afghanistan, the food of Turkey - but until this year we'd never covered Iran. The country's distinctive Persian cuisine contains echoes of its neighboring countries, but it also possesses something ineffably its own. It's a repertoire of complex, sophisticated dishes with a tremendous courtly formality - one of the world's great cuisines. But it also posed a major obstacle.

The thing that we always struggle with at SAVEUR is how to create authenticity in our own test kitchen. If you haven't been to a certain country, if you weren't the one who was on location producing the story, it can be a challenge to figure out the world from where we sit at 32nd and Madison. And thanks to political turmoil, our story on the traditional foods still being cooked in contemporary Iran had been in development for at least four years, cycling through writers and photographers as we ran into problems getting people into the country to report and to shoot. It was, without a doubt, the most inaccessible place we've covered since I've been at the magazine. And when we finally found a writer, the incredible Anissa Helou, and by sheer luck found a photographer living in America who had an Iranian passport, what remained for us in the kitchen was to figure out the food.

Iran was, without a doubt, the most inaccessible place we've covered since I've been at the magazine.

That's where Andy Baraghani became indispensable. He was a kitchen intern - very talented, a great addition to the team, but I didn't realize right away that he was full-blooded Iranian. When the film from the story came in, and we were looking through it, he got really excited, and started telling us all about dishes he grew up with. I gave him the task of going through all the film - and there was a lot - and he IDed virtually every food picture, jumping up occasionally to get on the phone to his mother in California, talking animatedly in Farsi, going over the dishes and confirming with her about the right way to make them. He started typing up his mom's recipes, and then all of a sudden we started getting packages in the office: shipments from Andy's mother of rice, dried limes, Iranian snacks; things we could have found here in New York, but she was making sure we had the right versions, and the right brands.

When it came time to test the recipes, we essentially put Andy in charge. He was in there for four days, cooking with the interns, making adjustments to the recipes. His experience and knowledge were invaluable, thanks not just to his mother and her encyclopedic knowledge of Iranian cooking, but because much of the food we were producing is a lot sweeter than we're accustomed to in America - the Khoresht e Fesenjan is a chicken stew that calls for two cups of pomegranate molasses, something that looks crazy at first, but is absolutely authentic to the Iranian palate.

The food that Andy taught the other interns to produce looked exactly like what we saw on the film, and tasted like what Anissa described in her story: long-stewed dishes and delicate pilafs, deeply spiced, with rich ornamental aspects like rose petals on a cucumber-yogurt dip, or mint bloomed in butter. Having Andy here to guide us through it was better than the best cookbook, better than any restaurant. He helped us understand this food: highly flavorful, intricate, layered. It's powerful food with a powerful story.

See a selection of classic Iranian dishes in the gallery �
Read The Land of Bread and Spice, Anissa Helou's account of culinary Iran �

Lamb Roasts and Braises

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EDT

There's no other meat like it: supple and velvety, delicate yet rich, lamb has a flavor that seems to spring from the mountain pastures, herb-covered grasslands, and other pastoral settings in which sheep are typically raised. It is that pristine taste that allows lamb to pair with such a wide range of flavorful accompaniments typical of cuisines around the world. As the centerpiece of a dinner or weekend lunch, we love a whole lamb shoulder, leg, or rack slowly roasted or braised until meltingly tender.

See 11 recipes for lamb roasts and braises �

One Ingredient, Many Ways: Cane Syrup

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EST

by Leah Koenig
A few of years ago, my husband and I took our first trip to New Orleans - just a couple of Yankees from Brooklyn ready to brave the swampy heat in exchange for some good times, new tastes, and a stroll down the magnolia tree-lined streets. While there, we donned powdered sugar mustaches after snacking on beignets at Caf� du Monde, sampled as many hot sauces as we could find, and got tipsy on Sazeracs and Abita beer. But one thing we completely missed was Steen's - a family-made brand of cane syrup produced in Abbeville, Louisiana (150 miles west of New Orleans) since 1910.

It's a shame, too. The caramel-flavored, burnt gold-colored syrup, which is made from juice extracted from raw sugar cane stalks and boiled down until thick, is a Louisiana classic - the Creole and Cajun answer to maple syrup. And Steen's is one of the last functioning cane syrup mills in the country, paying tribute to Louisiana's long history as a sugar cane producer.

While undeniably sweet, cane syrup has a toasty, slightly bitter twang. Unlike corn syrup, which can be one aggressively saccharine note of flavor, and molasses, which can overwhelm certain dishes, cane syrup's buttery flavor is complex without being overpowering. Drizzle it in place of maple syrup on pancakes or waffles, substitute it for molasses and corn syrup in baked beans, in meat glazes, or in homemade wet nuts to top your sundae. Stir it into a Caribbean-inspired rum punch, or bake it into a traditional g�teau au sirop, a Cajun syrup cake. Finding Steen's up here in maple syrup country can be tricky, but it is always available online, or you can make it yourself with our recipe.

SWEET

G�teau au Sirop
Try this classic Acadian dessert, which features cane syrup.

Calas (Fried Rice Fritters)
Dip these delicious rice fritters in cane syrup - particularly Steen's brand - for a traditional New Orleans' treat.

English Gingerbread Cake
This spicy gingerbread cake gets a hit of caramel sweetness from cane syrup.

Wet Nuts
Top your next sundae with homemade wet nuts - and try swapping out the corn syrup for cane syrup.

Maple Squares with Walnuts
Substitute buttery cane syrup in these deliciously dense walnut squares.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cordials
Swap cane syrup for corn syrup in these delicious, chocolate-dipped cherries.

SAVORY

Cane Syrup-Glazed Grilled Shrimp with Asparagus
Cane syrup lends a subtle caramel flavor to these grilled shrimp, spiced also with Worcestershire and cayenne.

Wild Rice Soup with Maple Syrup
Use cane syrup to add a hit of rich sweetness in this savory wild rice soup.

Maple Syrup Roasted Tomatoes
There's nothing better than oven roasted tomatoes, especially when they are marinated in sweet maple or cane syrup.

Yellow Pea Soup
This savory pea soup tastes even better with a drizzle of maple or cane syrup.

Baby Back Ribs
Add sweetness to these smoky baby back ribs by adding cane syrup to the sauce.

New England Style Baked Beans
Maple syrup typically sweetens these traditional New England beans, but try swapping in cane syrup for a deliciously different flavor.

Steen's: Appetizer Meat Balls
Direct from Steen' recipe archive, these sweet and savory meatballs will be the hit of your next cocktail party.

Steen's: Sweet Cornbread
A hit of Steen's cane syrup adds buttery depth to classic cornbread.

DRINK

Petit Punch Vieux Cocktail
This Caribbean cocktail isn't complete without cane syrup.

Steen's: Steen's Banana Milkshake
What could be better than a rich, creamy banana milkshake sweetened with cane syrup?

Leah Koenig is a freelance writer and author of The Hadassah Everyday Cookbook: Daily Meals for the Contemporary Jewish Kitchen.

I Love My Kitchen Because: Kerry Diamond

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EST

� I love my citrus juicer. I had mine for a decade and it finally gave out when I was making blood orange mimosas for my girlfriends a few weeks ago. They chipped in and bought me a new one, which was very cool of them. When you make your own orange or grapefruit juice, you'll never be able to drink the stuff that comes in a carton ever again.

� I spent my entire adult life using inferior knives and I had no idea how much better professional knives were. Prep work is so much easier when you have decent, sharp knives. It's revelatory. Lessons here? One: Date a chef. Two: Go buy a good knife.

� I've learned some good habits from cooking with Rob. Clean as you go. Read the whole recipe before you start cooking. And mise en place! Everybody should know about mise en place-and not just because it's fun to say and makes you sound like a better cook than you probably are.

� My kitchen doesn't really have a color, but I love the idea of a kitchen with a major color theme. My Aunt Olive was famous for her red kitchen. Red stove, counter, curtains. When I say everything was red, I mean everything was red. It was easy to buy her gifts: red pot holder, fridge magnet, spatula. Bingo.

� I love that Rob tested so many of the dishes for Seersucker in our kitchen. We had a really fun year of inviting friends over to try everything before we opened the restaurant. Lots of good food and bourbon were consumed and we washed a lot of dishes. It was a blast.

Previously

I Love My Kitchen Because: Brian Ray �
Kitchen Tour: Inside the SAVEUR Test Kitchen �

Get to Know Your BFBA Finalists: Best Single Food Video

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EST

We love each and every one of the six finalists in each and every one of the sixteen categories of our Best Food Blog Awards, and we want you to get to know them as well as we do! The picks for Best Single Food Video feature the work of talented directors, videographers, and cooks, each with a beautiful, compelling, visual story to tell about what we eat. From home kitchen recipe how-tos to travelogues spanning nearly a dozen countries, each of these finalists is a captivating example of the extraordinary power of video as a storytelling tool.

BEST SINGLE FOOD VIDEO

Rick Mereki: EAT
Simple, concise, and incredibly appetizing, this video chronicles three friends eating across 11 countries, driving home the message that the joys of food surpass all cultural barriers. Watching it inspires wanderlust - and makes us hungry for a great meal.

Vote for this video �

Leaf: Avocado, Shrimp andamp; Endive Salad
Perfect music, clear cinematography, concise instructions, and dreamy avocado shots: this video elevates the art of the how-to instructional.

Vote for this video �

Kitchen Vignettes: Baba Au Rhum
A decadent, boozy dessert, the baba au rhum is a highlight on any table. Though its preparation is complex, this visually lush video breaks down the process, while imbuing the act of baking with emotional resonance.

Vote for this video �

Tiger In A Jar: Mulled Apple Cider
A dreamy video with clever textual integration, this video recipe for Mulled Apple Cider makes us long for a cold, wintry night in need of warming up.

Vote for this video �

The Kitchy Kitchen: S'Meaches
The simplest of recipes - a slice of grilled peach paired with a marshmallow and sandwiched between graham crackers - somehow conveys, in under a minute, the very essence of summer, friendship, and sweetness.

Vote for this video �

The Perennial Plate: Mississippi Hand Grabbing
This episode in Daniel Klein and Mirra Fine's video series takes the duo to Mississippi, where they catch a giant catfish with their bare hands-a fascinating, wildly entertaining ritual.

Vote for this video �

Vote in all the 2012 Best Food Blog Award Categories �

Get To Know Your BFBA Finalists: Best Food Humor Blog, Best Food Photography, Best Celebrity Food Blog

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EST

We love each and every one of the six finalists in each and every one of the sixteen categories of our Best Food Blog Awards, and we want you to get to know them as well as we do! The blogs in these three categories each brings something unique to the table. The finalists for Best Food Humor Blog are some of the funniest food websites out there, spanning everything from dangerously drunken cooking shows to perfectly pitched fast food reviews. In the Best Food Photography category, the finalists have captured our attention not just for their exquisite recipes, but for their compelling and visually inspiring images. And our picks for Best Celebrity Food Blog recognize people who, even in the midst of successful careers as authors, TV personalities, and movie stars, understand the power and importance of the internet.

BEST FOOD HUMOR BLOG

� Food Junk
Home of the most hilarious junk food reviews in the blogosphere, no food is too lowbrow for this site: think witty reviews of Slim Jims and Jolly Ranchers. The recurring mascot, a Storm Trooper action figure who gracefully interacts with the foods on trial, is entirely perfect.
Vote for this blog �

� Anger Burger
Mystery candy, spruce jelly, and a Boston Terrier that lurks: Sunday's blog is an offbeat compendium of food-related stories, recipes, and experiments, from Banh Mi Burgers to a disquisition on why the Reese's Peanut Butter Easter egg the ideal candy.
Vote for this blog �

� Bon App�tempt
Amelia shares her kitchen adventures - successes and grand failures alike - in her candid and down-to-earth style. She tackles one impressive culinary challenge after another, equipped always with a sense of fun.
Vote for this blog �

� The Food in my Beard
This recipe blog keeps the jokes coming, but also gets humor through its wry, unexpected culinary combinations, from pad thai pot pie, to "arepanadas": a combination of (obviously) arepas and empanadas.
Vote for this blog �

� My Drunk Kitchen
Hannah Hart's cooking show concept is a simple one: cook and get drunk simultaneously. Her video-driven site is a true one-woman show, filming, editing, and starring in all of her own episodes.
Vote for this blog �

� Fancy Fast Food
Never did we think you could make petit fours from Subway sandwiches, but Fancy Fast Food achieves the culinarily improbable. While they can't promise it'll taste as good as it looks, the photos are amazingly convincing.
Vote for this blog �

BEST FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY

� La Buena Vida
Food and lifestyle photographer Nicole Franzen's images are full of texture and natural light. Her photos show off not just finished dishes, but the context around them: ingredients, environments, and scenes.
Vote for this blog �

� Pratos e Travessas
Photographer and stylist M�nica Pinto loves "food as an object of contemplation," a concept that comes through in her beautifully composed photography, which is formal and elegant without feeling stuffy.
Vote for this blog �

� Gastrofotonomia
Manny Rodriguez loves capturing all the moments of food preparation: the raw ingredients, the finished dish, even the stains and juices left on a plate after the meal. He has a real skill with close-ups, rendering foods and ingredients almost abstractly.
Vote for this blog �

� Not Without Salt
Food and lifestyle photography come together on this lovely, light-filled blog-from a bowl of rhubarb against an all-white table setting to the vibrant palette of freshly-caught fish in the tropics, her fascination with food reveals itself visually.
Vote for this blog �

� Seven Spoons
Originally started as a recipe file, Tara's blog has been going strong now for nearly seven years. Throughout, her minimalist, bright photos show off a beautiful sense of color and light, and illustrate a love for the process of cooking.
Vote for this blog �

� Sunday Suppers
A graduate of the NYU/ICP masters program in photography, Karen Mordechai's work is full of bright whites and splashes of vibrant color. While working as a food and wedding photographer she founded Sunday Suppers, in which full dinners and cooking classes are chronicled in lush detail.
Vote for this blog �

BEST CELEBRITY FOOD BLOG

� Aida Mollenkamp
TV personality Aida Mollenkamp's blog is an entertaining m�lange of her experiences, secrets and tips, and recipes. This is Aida unedited, a site that offers us candid insight into the life of a food television star.
Vote for this blog �

� Gwyneth Paltrow/GOOP
Gwyneth Paltrow, queen of the multi-taskers, shares tips on everything from motherhood to fashion in her weekly e-lifestyle journal Goop, but it's the culinary content that keeps us coming: tried and true recipes, ingredient and restaurant recommendations, and more.
Vote for this blog �

� Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman
Ree Drummond, better known as The Pioneer Woman, is a self-described country wife, who along the way has written several cookbooks and starred in her own Food Network show. On her blog, she whips up cowboy-friendly fare (plenty of butter), doles out photography tips, and delivers advice for all things domestic.
Vote for this blog �

� Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Bourdain brings his sardonic, cutting wit to his blog, where he gives us the inside scoop on his show "No Reservations," sharing his thoughts, musings and opinions - unfiltered, of course.
Vote for this blog �

� Dorie Greenspan
Dorie Greenspan's a cookie goddess, Francophile, author of ten cookbooks, and recipient of six James Beard awards. In other words, she's a baking legend. On her blog, she shares recipes for everything sweet, with plenty of stories to keep things interesting.
Vote for this blog �

� David Lebovitz
David Lebovitz's culinary endeavors have brought him from the fabled kitchens of Chez Panisse to one of the most iconic food destinations in the world: Paris. Along the way, he's written six wildly successful cookbooks, and turned in his chef whites in favor of chronicling his oh-so sweet life in Paris full-time.
Vote for this blog �

Vote in all the 2012 Best Food Blog Award Categories �

Links We Love: Laser-cut Sushi, Pixar's Cereal Bar, and More

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EST

� Wolfgang Puck recently took his first trip to his wife's homeland, Ethiopia, where he experienced some of the country's traditional coffee ceremony, a bustling market, and a homemade meal or two. [Wall Street Journal]

� The latest trend to hit the sushi world is intricately designed, laser-cut nori, patterned with traditional Japanese motifs like cherry blossoms and tortoise shells. [The Huffington Post]

� NYU Professor Marion Nestle makes the case for the importance of recognizing good advice when it comes to eating right. While it can be a struggle to navigate the sea of often-conflicting studies, reports, and fads, the basic principles of nutritious eating couldn't be more simple. [The Atlantic]

� A fashion shoot inspired by the paintings of 16th century Italian painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo puts food at the center of attention: produce dresses, prawn necklaces, even a seafood headdress. [T Magazine]

� Since the 90s, ramps have been steadily growing in popularity, with a consequent increase in foraging and ramp poaching, resulting in serious levels of scarcity. The Smithsonian blames Martha Stewart; specifically, a recipe published in her magazine a decade ago. [Smithsonian Magazine]

� We love a good focaccia recipe. Toasted, slathered with jam, in a pressed panini, or even eaten plain, the possibilities are near endless. [Scientically Sweet]

� Pixar's headquarters may have a world-class theater and a room dedicated to action figures, but the real highlight is the cereal bar: stocked with virtually every cereal imaginable, it's the real fuel behind the animation studio. [Devour]

Photo: Ramps by sparktography/Flicker

Saveur.com: Kitchen

Softshell Crabs

I Love My Kitchen Because: Karen Shimizu

Previously

How To Measure Flour

Links We Love: Mayonnaise Tricks, the White House Garden, and more

The Flavors of Senegal

Spring Flowers

1. Borages

2. Nasturtiums

3. French Marigolds

4. Cornflowers

5. Amaranths

One Ingredient, Many Ways: Rhubarb

SWEET

SAVORY

DRINK

Win a trip to Napa Valley with SAVEUR and Google Schemer

Links We Love: Writers' Fuel, Steak Frites, and More

I Love My Kitchen Because: Michael Chiarello

Previously

Memorial Day BBQ Pinterest Contest

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

One Ingredient, Many Ways: Lettuce

SALAD

NOT SALAD

The Saveur Library: Bread Books

Recipes from James Beard Award Finalists

2012 Best Food Blog Awards: The Winners!

Best Cooking Blog

Best Baking andamp; Desserts Blog

Best Single Recipe, Sweet Or Savory

Best Food Photography

Best Single Food Photo

Best Single Food Video

Best Wine or Beer Blog

Best Cocktail Blog

Best Culinary Travel Blog

Best Regional Cuisine Blog

Best Piece of Culinary Writing

Best Food Humor Blog

Best Special Diets Blog

Best Restaurant/Dining Coverage

Best Group Blog

Best Celebrity Food Blog

I Love My Kitchen Because: Melissa Clark

Previously

Behind the Photo: Picnic at Red Rock Canyon

American Bread Special Issue

Behind the Story: Iran

Lamb Roasts and Braises

One Ingredient, Many Ways: Cane Syrup

SWEET

SAVORY

DRINK

I Love My Kitchen Because: Kerry Diamond

Previously

Get to Know Your BFBA Finalists: Best Single Food Video

BEST SINGLE FOOD VIDEO

Get To Know Your BFBA Finalists: Best Food Humor Blog, Best Food Photography, Best Celebrity Food Blog

BEST FOOD HUMOR BLOG

BEST FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY

BEST CELEBRITY FOOD BLOG

Links We Love: Laser-cut Sushi, Pixar's Cereal Bar, and More