Dear Chef,
Should lace tuile cookies be really crispy and can they be frozen?
Thanks!!!
Tracy, St. Louis

The thin, crisp crunch is the whole point of lace cookies. The name “tuile” means tile, and frequently the flat cookies are shaped (while hot) around a rolling pin so that they have a slight curve (like a roof tile) […]

I need to take a sweet potato dish to a Thanksgiving party, but I don’t want to take my mother’s super-sweet syrupy sweet potatoes. Do you have a suggestion?
Yes! Sweet potatoes are already sweet, so why do we add more sugar? How about this creamy gratin:
Sweet Potato-Corn Gratin

2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into […]

Food scientist Harold McGee confessed yesterday in the New York Times that he does not brine his turkey. Neither do I. His complaint with brining is that the turkey drippings are too salty and tasteless for making a delicious pan sauce – and the gravy is the crucial component. I do not brine turkey because I find it an […]

Chef Bruce Piatek II is the executive chef of Eleven Eleven Mississippi. His wife, Anne Piatek, is also a chef. She works as a personal chef to families creating nutritious and healthy meals. Together, Bruce and Anne teach really wonderful cooking classes at Kitchen Conservatory because their different styles compliment each other so well. At their last […]

In a participation cooking class the other night, the chef-instructor (Cary McDowell of Revival) repeatedly asked the student to “aggressively season” the meat. What a great phrase! Don’t just sprinkle on a little salt, but aggressively season — meaning, coat the meat with flavor. Seasoning — especially salt — may be the biggest difference between […]

“I’d like to get my grand-daughter a sushi-making kit. Do you have one?” a customer called to ask. Yes, we have the sushi mat and rice paddle available.
“I want a kit that has everything in it,” the grandmother said.
To make sushi, all you really need is the wooden mat for rolling up the ingredients.
“But don’t you […]

It’s apple pie season! Since we answer more questions on pie than any other cooking dilemma, here are the most common pie pitfalls:
1. Dough is too warm. Flaky pastry is the result of a cold dough hitting a hot oven. Plus, warm dough absorbs more flour. Flour does not add flavor! Be sure that the […]

Dear Chef, 
I have been cooking for over 50 years and have never deveined my shrimp. Never saw the real need for it. I love cooking and ethnic foods. Friends and family never complained. A couple of friends my age are shocked that I don’t devein. Are there many people who don’t devein? How important is […]

Dear Chef,
I’m trying to find out why we bother to pound chicken breast. It’s already very tender. Why can’t we just slice it to the thickness we want? Does the pounding somehow change it in a good way?
Thanks for your time! Melissa
There are two reasons to pound meat: to make the meat tender or […]

Frequently in cooking class, a student will ask “aren’t we sealing in the juices by searing the meat?” or “won’t the milk sour if it comes to a boil?” It’s time to debunk some common kitchen myths.
Searing the steak seals in the juices. Searing the steak browns the meat and caramelizes the exterior, thus making […]