In the seventh installment of our new weekly series, we give you a behind-the-line look at our recipes, Slack conversations, and more.
Serious Eats
While this Monday and Tuesday after Thanksgiving were almost a lost cause (the emails…endless, accumulated emails) we can sincerely say that the SE team is finally back in the groove this week to bring you more recipes and reviews and all things food-related. We’ve still got a month left in the year, people! And we’re intent on finishing it off with a bang. In this week’s Mise en Place, you’ll find a special Serious Eats Wrapped, lots of math surrounding our upcoming Thai recipes, and so much commerce content that you won’t be able to contain your excitement about it. Dive in!
Serious Eats Wrapped
Top artist, number of minutes listened, yada yada yada—sure, we love sharing our Spotify Wrapped (probably more than we love seeing everyone else’s). But today we see your Spotify wrapped and we raise you our Serious Eats Wrapped: an overview of all the fun and words and reviews that made up our website this year. Is any of it surprising? Not one bit. Is it all fun to see? Absolutely! Some notable stats include a word count of 6,003 from Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm on food subscription boxes and a whopping 101 pizzas made by our commerce team this year to test gear. Can we top these stats next year? Only time will tell!
We haven’t called it a wrap on the year just yet, so stay tuned for more exciting recipes, reviews, and roundups throughout December!
It’s High Time for Some New Thai Recipes
If you’ve loved the Thai recipes on our site from contributors Derek Lucci and Pailin Chongchitnant, then you’re in luck! The two are back for another round. This past week, Amanda and Daniel hit the studio with Derek and shot five Thai noodle recipes over the course of two days. The math was indeed mathing, with Daniel and Derek doing so much math to make sure the recipes came out flawless.The three studio-goers also consumed 10 bowls of soup (three a piece for Derek and Amanda; a whopping four for Daniel!!) on Tuesday alone. Goals? Goals!
A behind-the-scenes look from our shoot day last this Tuesday. Check the site next week to find out what thai noodle soup we were shooting here!Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
These Thai recipes are dropping next week, along with a guide to Thai noodle soups from Pai. They are arguably essential dishes to add to your “How to Defeat the Doom and Gloom of Winter” kitchen kit.
What’s Your Flavor? Tell Me What’s Your Flavor!
Do you have a favorite hot sauce? Because you’d better believe that the SE team does.(We’ve got lots of opinions on just about everything, if you haven’t picked up on yet.) We are hot sauce people through and through. Grace collected some thoughts on staff favorite hot sauces, and while a few of the classics like Cholula and Frank’s Red Hot made the list, there are plenty more that might just become a new discovery (and a new favorite!) for you. Keep an eye out for that roundup next week and get the wings ready!
There’s more commerce content where that came from! Let it be known that Grace made an ungodly amount of flan for a review of casserole dishes, and she somehow did not get sick of it. What a flan queen! The review will be up next week, along with guides to the best programmable coffee makers, electric pasta machines, coffee percolators, and even a review of a dough sheeter. In the meantime, check out this week’s roundup of the best pasta drying racks. Mamma mia!
In the fifth installment of our new weekly series, we give you a behind-the-line look at our recipes, Slack conversations, and more.
Serious Eats
Another week in the books at Serious Eats. It’s been nothing but utter chaos over here as we prepare for one of the biggest food-centric days of the year, but…we’re managing, as always. Anyway! We’ve got lots of ground to cover this week—much like last week, and the week before, and so on—including our own Thanksgiving plans, gift guides galore, and what turned out to be a non-controversial Cincinnati delight. Let’s get into it, shall we?
Turkey Day Slay
Ladies and potatoes, the time has come—well, almost. We’re in the home stretch! Less than a week from now is The Big Day. No, not the Super Bowl, as Tess seemed to confuse it with when I used the term earlier this week (Editor’s note: Amanda agrees with Tess). Turkey Day! Most of us are usually tasked with making sure our families’ Thanksgiving dinners go off without a hitch—whether that means making a few dishes or taking charge of the whole dang show. This week, we went around the (virtual) table and shared what’s on the menu for said Big Day:
“I'm flying down to NOLA with my family for a big Thanksgiving with 30-plus of my in-laws, and the meal will be catered. I'm actually pretty stoked for it: It's all coming from Cochon Butcher, which I know from prior visits does great food, and the menu reads like exactly the kind of marriage of traditional turkey-day fare with Cajun and Creole influences I would want. One turkey will be smoked, the other stuffed with boudin. The cranberry sauce is flavored with local Satsuma mandarins and the dressing includes shrimp and eggplant. There will be jambalaya and pimento cheese finger sandwiches, platters of cold cuts galore, plus oh-so-many pies and tarts along with a salted caramel doberge cake. The only thing I'm worried about is that I under-ordered, but that's always an anxiety I have and every other time in my life it's led to me grossly overestimating how much we need. Fingers crossed there's too much food this year as well, not because I like waste but because I adore Thanksgiving leftovers.” —Daniel Gritzer, senior culinary director
“It'll just be me, my sister, and my Dad this year. We have yet to make any actual plans, but you know what will be there? Deviled eggs. Obviously.” —Amanda Suarez, associate director, visuals
Amanda's deviled eggs will not look nearly as nice as these.Serious Eats
“So for the first time in forever, we're not cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year. (Although my version of "not cooking" still includes roasting the turkey, making a pumpkin pie, and probably a lasagna still). We're going to stay with my mom for the week in OC, NJ and celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. We've decided to order dinner from our favorite local butcher (I guarantee it won't be as amazing as Cochon). I will definitely cook from all of the leftovers, though. Our (new-ish) family tradition is leftover turkey with mole (I don't know what kind yet this year) and freshly made tortillas. I might turn it into leftover turkey enchiladas, and reference Kenji's chicken enchilada recipe.” —Leah Colins, senior culinary editor
“I found out someone who has a dairy, egg, grape, and cruciferous vegetable allergy is coming to my Thanksgiving. So I don't want to talk about anything. Suffice to say, ALL MY PLANS WENT OUT THE WINDOW." —Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm, senior commerce editor
“1) Leche flan (pumpkin-ified). CANT STOP WONT STOP. 2) After hearing such high praises of SE's sage and sausage stuffing, I'll be making that to compete with classic, beloved boxed stuffing for a seat at the table. (It might come to blows, idk). 3) John is making Kenji's smoked turkey, and we're looking to get the skin all crackly and crispy (rather than tough and chewy, an issue we've had with chicken skin in the past). Fingers crossed!” —Grace Kelly, associate commerce editor
Our culinary team not cooking much this year? We’re shocked! But also, they deserve a break. Grace making leche flan for the 3587th time this year? That tracks. Jesse, we’re obsessed with your family’s tradition and can’t wait to see the results. And Amanda, deviled eggs are always an excellent choice—let us know how many you end up downing. Our condolences to you Riddley for the loss of your dream Thanksgiving, but we’re eager to know what you come up with to still make it special. Please share!
As for me? My family will have the usual suspects (turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, etc.), along with my mom's "world-famous" stuffed mushrooms (if I say it's famous on a food website circulating the internet, then that makes it true, right?)—those will probably be the first to go. I’ve also taken it upon myself to switch up our typical Costco pumpkin pie with Arlyn’s pumpkin chiffon one instead, which I haven’t stopped thinking about since I made the decision to make it this week.
If our own feasts don’t inspire yours, we don’t know what will!
Time for Some Cincinnati Chili. Play Nice, Everyone!
Here at SE, we love food opinions—yours, ours, anyone’s really. A little controversy never hurt anybody! When we started working with Jed Portman on a Cincinnati chili recipe, we were ready for an onslaught of reactions. To locals, the dish is a delicacy, but to many outside of the city and the state of Ohio, it can tend to induce horror. But as Jed notes, “It’s noodles, Mediterranean-spiced meat sauce, and cheese. What’s not to like?” Louder, Jed!!!
To our surprise, once we dropped the recipe on Instagram this past Wednesday, the comments were nothing short of pleasant and lovely. Even those who weren’t a fan of the dish encouraged others to enjoy it as they see fit. Jed even mentioned that he was “tired of defending the dish,” but looks like he didn’t even need to. See what happens when we all play nice? Well done everybody, I had faith.
The only question we’re left with is: How much cheese is too much cheese? Does the limit exist? Just say when!
‘Tis the Season
Mariah Carey may think she was the first to welcome the holiday season on November 1st this year, but it—news flash—it was actually our commerce team! They’ve been hard at work for weeks—nay, months—putting together a slew of gift guides to kick off your holiday shopping. No, these are not your boring list of 20 products you already thought of or that no one needs. These babies are curated, okay!!
There is—and we cannot emphasize this enough—truly something for everyone. And if you need even more of a reason to start shopping, check out these early Black Friday deals our commerce team discovered! As the saying goes: happy shopping!
In the second installment of our new weekly series, we give you a behind-the-line look at our recipes, Slack conversations, and more.
Serious Eats
We’re back this week with another round of Mise en Place, a new and casual weekly update giving you a behind-the-line look at all the things that made Serious Eats, well, Serious Eats this week. We're just trying to get to know you better, and also navigate our difficult-to-navigate website. Let’s get into the chaos, shall we?
Some Piping Hot Tea For Ya
Amanda has dubbed this moment in time “squarely tea season,” which is fitting since we just dropped our recipes for chai and teh tarik. With the days getting shorter and the impending gloom of winter nearing, what better way to bring some joy into our lives and also fight the sniffles? (This would be a great place to add that it was just this week we learned that one of Tess's personal icks is the word “sniffles.” Turns out she feels “unwell” or “snotty” does the trick. We've not yet come to an official conclusion on whether or not we will be banning “sniffles” on Serious Eats, but we will keep you updated). We'd be remiss if we didn't re-up Daniel’s new-ish pumpkin spice latte, purchase a sunrise lamp (or a few), and consume a hefty daily dose of vitamin D…we’re doing what we can over here!
Where Did All the Yukon Golds Go?
When we got a reader email this week—we love these, by the way!!—with the subject line: “Where are the Yukon Gold potatoes?” We were intrigued! One Carlo Vogel reached out to us (and several other food publications) this week with a genuine concern: While several food websites call specifically for Yukon Gold potatoes in their recipes, Mr. Vogel "[has] not found Yukon Gold potatoes in dozens of different stores for several years.” In fact, he went on to clarify, “there are lots of people who are literal enough and afraid to screw up a recipe that they will drive to multiple stores looking specifically for YG in vain.” And to that we say…we’re on the case, sir. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, Leah pointed us to this excerpt from Vegetables Illustrated, a Cook’s Illustrated book she worked on in her previous role :
The Yukon Gold potato, though yellow fleshed, is a cross between a yellow and a white potato and is usually labeled as such. A “yellow” or “gold” potato is not a Yukon Gold potato, but all three potatoes have similar starch contents and flavors and can be used interchangeably in recipes.
The mystery remains, but don’t let that stop you from leading a potato-inspired life!!
The Candy Corn Discourse Is Out of Control…
Who doesn’t have any opinion on candy corn? Is it a good opinion? Do you know how your coworkers feel about it? I’m afraid that I do…
If you didn’t already know, our very own Tess Koman is probably candy corn’s biggest fan (yes, candy corn). Every year she conducts a staff poll that goes something like: “What’s everyone’s opinion on candy corn? If you hate it, you suck.”
Every year she begins to insert her candy corn discourse into our Slack conversations [Ed. note: Yasmine, we've been working together for two years!!], slowly as fall approaches, then a lot more frequently around Halloween—or until she’s finished the last of her candy corn for the year, whichever comes first. Does anyone else have such strong feelings about these cone-shaped sweet bombs (and tooth destroyers)? Honestly, we’re afraid to ask.
Anyway, if you, a normal human, also can’t stand candy corn, might I suggest these spooky marshmallow sandwich cookies instead? ‘Tis the season!
Let’s Get Steamy
Serious Eats/Irvin Lin
It may be squarely tea season, but it’s also squarely steam season around these parts. No, it’s not what you think! The commerce team has been hard at work testing bamboo steamers with everything from broccoli to salmon filets and, of course, frozen soup dumplings. Because no, we can never have enough dumplings, and yes, we will only be making them with the best possible steamer we can find! Contributor Irvin Lin tackled this testing and more in his newly published review: “To this day, when I smell the particular scent of a bamboo steamer in use, I get sent back to being 12 again,” he writes, “anxiously awaiting my first taste of my mom’s homemade steamed pork buns.” Irvin, do you think your mom will have us over sometime soon? We'll have to settle for making our frozen dumplings in the top-rated bamboo steamer in the meantime.
