all things food
Hailee Catalano doesn’t come from a long line of mayo-spreading, Cape Cod chip-packing, sand-and-salt-water enthusiasts: She’s from Chicago, scared of sharks, and decidedly out on swimming. Yet, despite her coastless roots, Hailee has the ideal mindset…
Hailee Catalano doesn’t come from a long line of mayo-spreading, Cape Cod chip-packing, sand-and-salt-water enthusiasts: She’s from Chicago, scared of sharks, and decidedly out on swimming. Yet, despite her coastless roots, Hailee has the ideal mindset for someone who’s become the internet’s undisputed beach sandwich authority.
“The only reason I like going to the beach is to bring food to the beach,” she told me.
This article was updated in June 2024 to include more of our favorite products.
I looked out Amanda Hesser’s kitchen door at one of my very first Food52 photo shoots, and there Merrill was: Out on the deck, wrangling a very hot, flaming grill. Badas…
This article was updated in June 2024 to include more of our favorite products.
I looked out Amanda Hesser's kitchen door at one of my very first Food52 photo shoots, and there Merrill was: Out on the deck, wrangling a very hot, flaming grill. Badass.
This article was updated in June 2024 to include more of our favorite products.
Summer is the CSA basket’s time to shine. That’s why Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons—a seasonal-cooking bible that made our list of the top five books for all things veget…
This article was updated in June 2024 to include more of our favorite products.
Summer is the CSA basket’s time to shine. That’s why Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons—a seasonal-cooking bible that made our list of the top five books for all things vegetable—considers summer to be three different micro-seasons rolled into one. In that vein, I present to you a guide to summer vegetable cooking (or no-cooking) that’s broken down into early, mid, and late, using the vegetables in McFadden’s iconic cookbook as examples. But by all means, take creative liberties and cook outside the micro-seasons, paying attention to your local climate (and farmers markets). After all, summer is a time for a more relaxed approach to cooking that involves less oven, more salad, and loads of color. Here’s a cheat sheet:
We’ve teamed up with Green Chef to make veg-forward, weeknight dinners easier. Sign up now to get sustainably-sourced ingredients, organic produce, and chef-crafted recipes delivered to your door. Now through May, use code FOOD52 to get 60% Off + free …
We’ve teamed up with Green Chef to make veg-forward, weeknight dinners easier. Sign up now to get sustainably-sourced ingredients, organic produce, and chef-crafted recipes delivered to your door. Now through May, use code FOOD52 to get 60% Off + free shipping on your first box plus 20% of your first two months.
At the start of this year, I polled our community about their cooking resolutions for 2024. The number one goal they shared? To eat more vegetarian or vegan meals. As an omnivorous cook who would like to eat a little lower on the food chain, I can relate.
It’s January, which means our inboxes are filled with bold forecasts about the foods and fads we can expect to see on our plates in 2024. According to industry experts, buckwheat is going to be big, noshing is trending, and cacao will come into its own…
It’s January, which means our inboxes are filled with bold forecasts about the foods and fads we can expect to see on our plates in 2024. According to industry experts, buckwheat is going to be big, noshing is trending, and cacao will come into its own. The main takeaway from the various predictions? Our appetite will keep growing for less processed, but unexpected foods—and that includes our snacks.
The small bites and drinks we reach for throughout the day are often ultra-processed, simply because it’s part of what makes them so quick and convenient. But it doesn’t take a lot of time or effort to make snack time more interesting (and healthy). You just need a few innovative swaps and new recipes—and we have four weeks of fresh and easy ideas to inspire you.
Cooking (and hosting) Thanksgiving dinner can make you feel like you need six arms and maybe also six ovens. Since you probably don’t have the ability to make either of those things appear out of thin air, we’ve put together this short-and-sweet guide …
Cooking (and hosting) Thanksgiving dinner can make you feel like you need six arms and maybe also six ovens. Since you probably don't have the ability to make either of those things appear out of thin air, we’ve put together this short-and-sweet guide with tips and tricks for planning your Thanksgiving dinner this holiday season.
A lot of sweets bake at a lower temperature, around 350 degrees Fahrenheit, so try to pick recipes that accommodate a higher temp, like this Apple Pecan Pie from Erin Jeanne McDowell that bakes at 450 degrees. (Hot tip: most of Erin’s recipes bake at a higher-than-average temperature, so her catalog is a great resource.) If your vegetables or turkey need to roast at 475 degrees, it’s not that much work to bump up the temperature, versus the 125-degree jump another recipe might require.
There’s something Lucas Sin wants you to know: Water and mushrooms aren’t enemies.
“A lot of us have been told that when you process your mushrooms—when you cook them—they’re not allowed to touch a single drop of water,” says Lucas in a recent episode …
There’s something Lucas Sin wants you to know: Water and mushrooms aren’t enemies. “A lot of us have been told that when you process your mushrooms—when you cook them—they’re not allowed to touch a single drop of water,” says Lucas in a recent episode of Why it Works. “But in my experience, I found that not to be correct.” Not only is water not the enemy, he argues—it’s actually the key to extracting the most flavor out of your fungi.
“Mushrooms, because of their cell structure and the way this fungus is set up, in between all these fibers are big air pockets that are filled with air and, eventually, whatever liquid that it comes into contact with,” says Lucas. “That’s a lot of the reason why some people say [not to] soak them in water.”
We’ve all seen them on social media: packed platters and wooden boards filled with perfectly layered wedges of cheese, neat piles of fruit and nuts, and slices of salami that have—somehow—been artfully molded into the shape of a rose. Known interchange…
We’ve all seen them on social media: packed platters and wooden boards filled with perfectly layered wedges of cheese, neat piles of fruit and nuts, and slices of salami that have—somehow—been artfully molded into the shape of a rose. Known interchangeably—at least online—as grazing, charcuterie, and cheese boards, these creations seem to have become the gold standard for hosting. But they’re also a lot of work and, from a practical perspective, maybe not the best option when you have several hungry guests coming over on the busiest cooking day of the year.
“If you really have time to do all that on Thanksgiving, like kudos,” said Anna Billingskog, Food52’s senior food stylist. “But I think it’s…unrealistic.”
Thanksgiving is great, but I’d argue that Friendsgiving is really where it’s at. Thanksgiving celebrations can sometimes feel stuffy and beholden to old traditions, whereas Friendsgiving is, at its core, just an excuse to host an epic, themed dinner pa…
Thanksgiving is great, but I’d argue that Friendsgiving is really where it’s at. Thanksgiving celebrations can sometimes feel stuffy and beholden to old traditions, whereas Friendsgiving is, at its core, just an excuse to host an epic, themed dinner party with your friends.
Holly Sheppard, owner and chef of Fig and Pig Catering, is sort of an expert at Friendsgiving, hosting one every year for a group of 10 to 15 people. Here are some of her best tips for pulling off the occasion (along with some tidbits of my own Friendsgiving wisdom).
Take a peek at your spice cabinet: If it’s anything like mine, you’ve got a mix of plastic and glass jars, and maybe a few pouches here and there, too. All of them are from different retailers, ranging from the nearby dollar store to Kalustyan’s, and t…
Take a peek at your spice cabinet: If it’s anything like mine, you’ve got a mix of plastic and glass jars, and maybe a few pouches here and there, too. All of them are from different retailers, ranging from the nearby dollar store to Kalustyan’s, and there’s at least one duplicate bottle, from the time you forgot you already had a certain spice at home—in my case, cardamom.
Though it’s not the prettiest or best-organized cabinet out there, it’s deeply functional, and that’s what matters most to me. However, I wondered if—given the variety of spices in my kitchen (and their containers)—there was anything I could or should be doing to extend their shelf lives. Though spices don’t typically go bad or mold like other ingredients, they can lose their potency in a matter of months. So, I reached out to Ethan Frisch, co-founder and co-CEO of Burlap & Barrel, a spice company that works directly with farmers to source its products, who had an unorthodox answer to my spice storage question.