Food Prep - Page 38

March 20, 2018

10 steps to making gelato like a pro

There’s a question that all ice cream lovers must face sometime during their on-again, off-again relationship with the frozen confection. The question is one we are ashamed to ask, but eventually have to wonder, "What the heck is gelato?" Sure, we know it’s different. But what makes it that thick, creamy Italian delicacy we yearn for? For help solving the mystery, FoxNews.com went to one of New York City’s resident gelato experts. Michelle Catarata is a professional pastry chef, trained at the Institute of Culinary Education in the heart of New York City. Now her main focus is gelato. When Catarata shifted to making ice-based desserts, she took her background in baking with her. At Sorella and sister gelato shop, Stellina, the former pastry chef uses everything in her arsenal for inspiration. Some of her gelato flavor highlights include Brown Sugar Strawberry, S'mores and A Bee Named Elvis, which is honey gelato, banana, caramel and peanut nougats. Catarata says she grew up watching her grandmother cook for her family in Queens, N.Y. Eventually, Catarata was allowed to help with the baking and from that moment on, she was hooked. "I have such a high sugar tolerance," Catarata said, laughing as she explained what she liked to bake. "I’m surprised I’m not dead yet." For now, Catarata has focused her sights on gelato. In the kitchen of a quaint, East Village restaurant, she concocts all kinds of drool-inducing creations. And even her grandmother has come to try Catarata’s inventions. "It was one of the proudest moments of my life," she said, recounting the day her grandmother visited the gelateria. "That sounds so corny, but it’s true." To help us crack the case behind what makes gelato, well, gelato, Catarata has chosen her signature mocha flavor. So pull out that magnifying glass, Watson, you’re about to solve one of greatest dessert mysteries ever.

March 20, 2018

8 seriously creepy popsicles

With summer in full, sweltering swing, children and adults alike look to popsicles to take the edge off a hot day. But there is a sad and often overlooked fact about those joyous moments following a Good Humor truck flag-down. Those frozen icons your kids go crazy for look downright creepy most of the time. Whether it’s that their gumball eyes are positioned inside their mouths or their bizarre (and possibly toxic) blend of colors has morphed into a dripping, ice cream-based Pollock-like piece of art, these summer staples can be pretty unsettling. So here it is: a list of popsicles that taste great, but look a little creepy going down.

March 20, 2018

What to do with barbecue leftovers

For one reason or another, many of us end up with barbecue leftovers. No matter how many times you’ve thrown a barbecue in the past, you just can’t seem to get your shopping list right, and always end up with extra buns or hot dogs lying around the house. Believe it or not, those extra hamburger buns don’t have to go to waste, and that bowl of ketchup you put out doesn’t have to go in the trash. There are plenty of ways you can repurpose what’s left from your grilling party, and they don’t involve eating hot dogs and hamburgers for several days in a row. You’ll be happy to hear that hot dogs are a great addition to your breakfast, and broken chips can go further as a delicious party mix. And if there’s ever a case where you have extra beer on your hands, why not try that beer-battered recipe you’ve been eyeing? Barbecue staples are for more than just barbecues, and we’ll show you how to use the leftovers so that you don’t have to put up with the guilt of buying too much. So after the guests have gone home and the grill has been put away, try some of these fun and delicious ideas for your barbecue remnants.

March 20, 2018

The coolest Frappuccino flavors you’ve never heard of

Ah, the Frappuccino. A Starbucks commodity. A word that wasn’t even on our tongues just 20 years ago. The Starbucks Frappuccino essentially ushered in the second wave of coffee in America, with sugary sweet, frothy concoctions that consumers flocked to. And to look back on the story of Frappuccinos — and the crazy flavors made across the globe — is pretty fun. It’s hard to believe there was a time when Starbucks wasn’t ruled by Frappuccinos, but as CEO Howard Schultz explains in his book Pour Your Heart Into It, he wasn’t always a believer. Schultz writes that he resisted Southern California’s granitas trend in the 1990s because he believed the sugary, frozen drinks diluted the integrity of Starbucks’ coffee. Still, three store managers in Southern California experimented with making Frappuccinos beginning in 1994, using a powdered base (that everyone hated), and eventually using freshly brewed coffee. Eventually, the beverage director handed over the new Frappuccino recipe to a team of food consultants, who came up with a Frap made with low-fat milk. Eventually, everyone, customers and Schultz alike, saw the light — or should we say, saw the drink. The name Frappuccino actually comes from the former coffee chain The Coffee Connection, which Starbucks acquired back in 1994. (In fact, the founder of The Coffee Connection made his own cold, slushy coffee for sale, but Schultz noted that Starbucks didn’t like the drink.) Despite the hurdle of introducing Frappuccinos (and blenders) to the 550 existing Starbucks stores, the Frappuccino was immediately a hit with customers. In 1996, Schultz notes in his book, the first full fiscal year the Frappuccino was sold, Starbucks sold more than $52 million worth of the drinks. It was even named one of the best products of the year by Businessweek. What’s crazy to think is just how Schultz and the Starbucks team brought the Frappuccino to existence (Schultz writes in the book, "I was wrong, and I was delighted about it"). He writes: "Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this story is that we didn’t do any heavy-duty financial analysis on Frappuccino beforehand… No corporate bureaucracy stood in the way of the Frappuccino. It was a totally entrepreneurial project, and it flourished with a Starbucks that was no longer a small company. Even when I doubted it, it went ahead." We now know who to thank for such a drink (even if they’re, well, making it harder to fit into our summer swimsuits). Today, there are 17 Frappuccino flavors on the menu — but that’s just in the U.S. While Americans love their Caramel Frappuccinos (the number one selling Frappuccino in America), Starbucks customers across the globe have very different flavors to choose from. Most use local flavors and ingredients combined with the traditional Frappuccino coffee base that’s a staple in the Starbucks drink — and we sort of wish we could get our hands on them in the U.S. Click ahead to find the world’s most popular Frappuccino flavors, the flavors you’ve never heard of.

March 20, 2018

Best airlines for first-class food

As Aziz Ansari's character Tom Haverford says on Parks and Recreation, sometimes, you really must "treat yo self." And when better to do that than when traveling? Especially internationally. You're already on your way to a destination of your dreams, so why not splurge and get there in style by traveling first class. First class — those two words alone can easily fill your mind with grandiose mile-high visions: advanced boarding, complimentary champagne, plush oversized seats, soft cotton PJs, excessive extra legroom, an amenity kit packed with designer toiletries and gourmet meals. Wait, gourmet meals? On an aircraft? Yes, gourmet meals accompanied by top-shelf liquors and premium wines — all from expansive menus. Even though there may not be a fully equipped kitchen on board, a number of airlines are making sure there's food from an award-winning chef along for the trip, made from a variety of quality ingredients that have made their way through a scientific process to make them as appealing as possible at 30,000 feet. British Airways menu design manager Sinead Ferguson understands just how important this process is; after all, flying factors such as altitude can have an impact on not only the dining experience, but also on our senses. "With the atmosphere being so dry in the pressurized cabin, the ability to smell and taste can be reduced by up to 30 percent," he has said. So airlines have turned to chefs who are skilled in the science of creating gourmet airline food to make their first-class food options as delicious as possible. For instance, renowned chef Joël Robuchon, working with Air France, heads up the Studio Culinaire Servair, a culinary think tank dedicated to in-flight cooking. And he's seen Multivac packaging machines and immersion circulators used on quality ingredients, allowing for undertones of decadence to thrive in his in-flight menus. Not to be left behind in the quest to develop quality airline food, British Airways has brought on Heston Blumenthal to also help design their menu, American Airlines has chosen Marcus Samuelsson, Singapore Airlines Gordon Ramsay, and Qantas Neil Perry. In an effort to ensure top-notch cuisine with regional authenticity, many airlines are going a step further and offering first-class passengers the opportunity to pre-order their in-flight meals, while others such as Turkish Airlines and Etihad are bringing those award-winning chefs we mentioned along for the trip, where they can put final first-class touches on custom meals. Although they all might be a step above an economy-class meal, some first-class meals are better than others. Check out our slideshow to see our ranked list of the best of the best, based on breadth of menu choices (both food and drink), quality of ingredients, and presentation. If you're going to splurge, well then, splurge, and enjoy a luxurioustrip while flying on one of these airlines and delighting in one of their dishes steeped in regional flavors.

March 20, 2018

The 8 drink inventions we could never do without

It's easy to get caught up in what's new and happening in the world of drink: what's the newest wine or varietal to sweep the nation? What's the newest craft beer to make waves? What's the cocktail we need to be dreaming about to get through the work day to happy hour? But we often forget just where our drinks come from. It's the little inventions that basically made our world of drinks explode into the endless variety of beverage options we have today. Without refrigeration we wouldn't have such access to drinks that spoil fast, like milk; without tea bags, the art of making a cup of tea may have been lost; without the straw... OK, we just really love a good straw. While we ommitted perhaps the discoveries that made our drinks possible — fermentation for wine and beer, distilling for spirits, carbonation for sodas, even filtration for drinkable water — it's the inventions that have made drinking into a convenience. Whether it's as small as a cork or as big as your refrigerator, we're taking a few steps towards the past to thank our lucky stars for the inventors who gave us well, all the drinks.

March 20, 2018

What are cronuts and how do I make them at home?

What could be better than a hybrid pastry of donut and croissant? The cronut, a "baked good heard round the mediasphere," according to Vogue magazine, is just that — flaky, buttery dough that's deep-fried to golden brown perfection, and then filled with cream and glazed. Since its debut in the spring of 2013, the cronut has launched into an international phenomenon, and with a dedicated following. With its burgeoning popularity, the donut-meets-croissant is in high demand — and has even found its way onto the black market. The mastermind behind the cronut craze is pastry chef and owner of Manhattan’s Domnique Ansel Bakery, Dominique Ansel, who invented the circular treat to blend his French upbringing with an American classic. Word on the street is that Ansel’s secrets include using croissant-like dough, which he then fries in grapeseed oil. The result is a light and flaky cronut that is finished in three ways: rolled in sugar, filled with cream, and topped with glaze. The cronut has become so popular that people can’t resist trying to replicate it, and news outlets and food and drink websites can't stop themselves from breathlessly covering new cronut developments every five minutes. ChicagoMag.com reports that a local Windy City bakery is serving a knockoff, dubbed the "dossant." While on the West Coast, a San Diego, Calif., bakery is dishing up an imitation of the crazy pastry, appropriately titled "cray-nut." The cronut is even going international, with "frissants" popping up in Vancouver, and Down Under, reports the The Sydney Morning Herald, with "zonuts." One Las Vegas bakery, succumbing to the hype, is simply calling their version "One of Those." Oh, and, there are the people who think they’re the ones who created it to begin with, like one drama-loving soap opera-actress-turned-cook in Texas. As you may have guessed, we tried replicating it, too. Although Ansel and the rest of the bakery’s team are keeping mum on the coveted recipe, we got the inside scoop from a professional pastry chef who used to work for Ansel — before he created the cronut — on how to make croissant dough at home. Her keys to cronut success include, "Keeping the dough chilled, otherwise you’ll have a buttery mess on your hands." Also, "When initially mixing the dough, resist the urge to overmix. Just mix until the dough is a consistent texture." Although the process seems laborious, she says,"This dough is easier to make at home than most [people] expect." We were up for the challenge and based our recipe on classic croissant dough. Taken from what we know about the original cronut recipe, we fried in ours in grapeseed oil and finished it by giving it a dusting of sugar, filling it with cream, and topping with glaze. While Ansel’s version takes a lengthy three days to complete, we’ve skillfully compressed it down to one — if you start early! So while cronut-craving tourists and New Yorkers are lining up, hundreds-deep, to get their hands on one, you’ll have no problem scoring the elusive pastry with our recipe at home — that we think just might rival the original.

March 20, 2018

America's best chocolate chip cookies

It’s one of America’s all-time favorite snack: the chocolate chip cookie. There’s nothing like biting into chocolaty goodness. But there are so many different variations that are made, it’s hard to choose which ones are the best: chewy or crunchy; large chocolate chunks versus small chocolate chunks; nuts or no nuts. So this FoxNews.com reporter decided to put it to the test, and gathered some friends for a non-scientific polling of chocolate chip cookies from bakeries across the country. We were out to find what was unique about them: the chips, the dough, the flavoring? It was a tough job to taste each one, but someone had to do it. In no particular order, here’s our take on some of America’s most delicious chocolate chip cookies and where you can find them.

March 20, 2018

The best new restaurants in the US

For some of us (you know who you are), travel is just an excuse to eat. So in our fifteenth annual Hot Tables spectacular, we've rounded up our favorite new restaurants in some of our favorite food cities, including San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, and more. The result? Eateries so good that you may never want to go home again.

March 20, 2018

Top 10 barbecue grills

Back in the good old days, Dad would wheel the grill out of the garage, fill it with charcoal, douse the briquette with lighter fluid and start a glorious fire to cook our Fourth of July meal. While many grill masters today still extol the virtues of charcoal, others enjoy the convenience of gas grills, while a few have become wood pellet converts. If you are not familiar with wood pellet grills, or if you are in the market for a new backyard cooking device, check out our list of the top 10 barbecue grills.