Renegade Kitchen

Check out my latest article with LiveStrong.com! Everything you've ever wanted to know about pasta making but were too nervous to ask a chef! 

Expiration dates are not actually tied to food safety at all, though that is how we think of them. Instead, they’re chosen by the manufacturer to indicate the date at which optimal flavor has passed. But that doesn’t mean your food is unsafe to eat. Here's the full breakdown on how it all works!

There are many vegetable fats to consider when we walk down the grocery aisle these days. Do we cook with olive oil or should we use canola? What’s the difference between sunflower and safflower? Though these are all produced from various plants, they differ considerably in their application once we step into a kitchen

Let’s start the new year on good footing, yes? For centuries we’ve found fortune and favor in the foods we eat, interpreting shapes, and colors to portend success and harmony. Many countries, and indeed, cities, have their own traditions and today I will investigate three of my favorite

Though champagne can be consumed year round, most of us turn to the bubbly stuff when December pushes its last seconds through the hourglass. As I pour myself a cold flute of the golden liquid my mind turns to the more technical aspects of this spectacular drink. It’s time to investigate the physics of champagne!

Pick up any carton of eggs today and you are bombarded with language meant to obfuscate the truth. Free Range one carton exclaims, while another touts Cage Free! What's the difference? Here's a handy list that will help you interpret the marketing on egg cartons across the country.

Gingerbread houses can be the cause of much frustration. After spending hours planning, baking, and then constructing, it can all fall apart due to simple mechanical issues. The prime culprit in any gingerbread house disaster is the cement used to hold everything together. Do you know what kind of icing you’re using?

You’ve certainly heard chefs say loudly, “Make your own stock, it’s better than anything you can buy.” And they aren’t wrong. But if you’ve been holding off because you think it’s too labor-intensive, then now is the time to tune in and pay attention. Making stock (or bone broth if you insist on pop-culture terminology) is easy and you should start today. 

At the end of the year when snow is glittering on pine needles, the flavor my brain calls out for is reflective of that sentimental weather: cool, crisp, fresh, and bright. Peppermint candy canes have stolen my heart.

Infusions are easily personalized, you could very well make a few different batches and hand out various treats to your family but I like to brew one big batch of something flavorful, label it with the particular year it was made, and then give it away with a bow on top. Over the years I have infused many different liquids, and I will now look at the options with you.

Surely, we’ve all seen the words "starchy" and "waxy" used to describe potatoes in bins. Or perhaps you’ve been baffled by the use of those words in recipes as you prepare for Thanksgiving or Christmas. All potatoes are not created equally. The semantic distinction is significant, and it is worth understanding how a potato is built in order to affect your cooking.

It is now the time of year most firmly associated with dark spices. You know those of which I speak, the oily powders we keep hidden away through the summer only to find perpetually at our side as the days grow shorter. Cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves, and allspice; these are the spices that keep our hearts smoldering like coals through wind and snow. 

Is there any other food so closely associated with teenage rebelliousness? Imagine a hallway full of gum-smacking adolescents, three or four walking toward you unaware of your presence. You quake in your oxford loafers while they pass. But while gum may be culturally connoted with the under-18 crowd, it has a long history of supplying adults with something sweet to keep their mouths occupied during long work days.

When the weather changes, and the air becomes crisp with wintery anticipation our minds turn to the burnished flavors of fall. Apple, cinnamon, pumpkin, and that king of all syrups: maple. At some point in our lives each of us has pulled a bottle of the liquid gold off the grocery store shelf and marveled at the price tag. Indeed, maple syrup is a costly item, but one that is more than worth the investment

Apples hold a special place in world culture. We give them to teachers as a sign of respect, we tell our loved ones they're the apple of our eyes, and we still hold to the age-old medical advice: an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Ever wonder what makes apples so special? 

We live in a world inundated with water filters, I bet nearly everyone reading this has, at some point, owned a Brita filter or some other such product. But do you know what these filters do? Do you know what they remove?

Rice is the staple food for over half of the world’s population. As a commercial crop it has the third highest worldwide production (after maize and sugarcane). But, considering that much maize is not even grown for human consumption, rice is the most important crop to our species. It provides more than one fifth of the calories consumed around the world by humans.

Halloween is coming up which means we will all be investing in some blocks of dry ice. But what is dry ice? Have you ever stopped to consider the inherent contradiction in its name? Click through for a thorough investigation of this beautiful chemical!

Rock candy, so popularly associated with garishly colored sticks and strings, makes its first appearance in world culinography in 9th century Iran. It seems even at such an early time in human history we had already learned to grow sugar crystals. And why would we be growing sugar crystals? Keep reading!

We see so many popular athletes advertising Gatorade and other sports drinks that we assume they’re the best option for electrolyte replenishment after a hard workout. But the truth is, as with many packaged goods, that we can do far better with a few ingredients from our pantries!

Working with Paige Hemmis was absolutely smashing. She agreed to help me fill my home with some new furniture and I agreed to contribute some geek-ery to the project! This brass table is great for entertaining, no coasters needed. Let your guests color the table with their glasses and leave a history of their revelry. 

Chili Peppers are not unique to one country or culture. Evidence of their cultivation dates back to 4,000 BC. But the love of hot foods is exclusive to humans. The rest of the animals on this planet either lack the neurological receptors to register hot food or they avoid peppers altogether, lumping them in with other poisonous plants. Why do we love them so much then?!

Soap is a rather remarkable creation resulting from the mixture of two common materials. Though it seems odd to say, soap is a salt. Salts are the products of acid+base reactions, in this case the fatty acids contained in vegetable oils and the alkaline properties of lye. Sodium Hydroxide (now industrially produced and known as lye) was once collected and made from ashes and rainwater.

The bounty of summer is upon us and it is time to investigate that most wonderful invention, the refrigerator. Winter harvests produce tough, solid produce, but the joy of summer is in tender, exquisite, gentle fruit and vegetables. These things can spoil quickly and our attempts to keep them in our homes are often met with mealy frustration. But what causes fruit to become mealy? Can it be avoided

This is how I will become a grillmaster. Neither changing propane tanks, nor praying at the altar of Weber, but rather with a tandoor. The contraption now sits in my backyard, taunting my with its emptiness. It is neither difficult to build nor challenging to maintain and at the risk of sounding alarmist I want to scream through the digitas WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Often I am asked for restaurant suggestions around the country. While my list is hardly comprehensive, it is heartfelt and detailed. Take a peak and visit one of my favorites if you happen to be in any of these fair cities.

Any scientist worth her salt will tell you that the two most important factors in any experiment are consistency and reproducibility. Considering that every time we bake we are essentially conducting a science experiment, why wouldn’t we hold the same standards in the kitchen?

What is a morning without the powerful aroma of coffee twisting through your skull? Learn the history behind the world's most popular beverage and start roasting your own beans at home today!

Sugar has withstood much slander of late, and I am tempted to defend it in some sense. Yes, sugar is problematic in the human diet, but not solely because of its chemical structure. You see, we are abusing it. We are junkies. We are addicts. And so I present, not a defense, but an exploration of sugar. Knowledge is power, information is delicious. Eat. Think. Be Merry.

When it comes to delivering a toast, above all else do not let cloudy sentiment run away with the speech. A toast is a salute to your beloved, to the honored guests, not a state of the union. Memory records fondly those that are brief. The longwinded among us will be forever poetically lost.