How to Make Tasso Ham
Tasso Ham is a classic New Orleans ingredient, and Chef Tom takes us step-by-step through the preparation process.
Thanksgiving Day, One Hour at a Time
Timing your Thanksgiving dinner is a balancing act. Especially if you are limited on heating sources. The key is to have everything planned in advance so you’ll know what to cook and when. Here’s the hour by hour breakdown of cooking so you’ll be able to have your meal done on time. Traditionally, many people
Our Favorite Flavors
Have you ever gone to a restaurant and wondered how the meat had such a wonderful balance of flavors? Maybe you’ve encountered a familiar flavor that you never imagined would work well combined with roast or pork. It all comes down to the spice combinations and applications. You can surprise your family or friends with your
3 Tips For Setting Your Holiday Table
It’s the holidays, which means dropping by a friend’s open house, hosting a formal dinner, or going on a weekend visit to see family. The tips below can help you with table setting, guests and gift giving during holiday social situations. In today’s hyper-casual world, it’s a treat to sit down to a well-set table
Turkey Stock from Scratch
You might think turkey stock is limited in uses, made only as a base for gravy, or saved for the traditional Thanksgiving leftovers “go-to” meal – turkey noodle soup.
Perfect Pie Crust
The Thanksgiving meal isn’t complete without a sweet treat, and the dessert that always gets the holiday nod is pie.
Wine Fun for Thanksgiving
The holidays are upon us and that means home entertaining and those long-anticipated dinner extravaganzas with family and friends. I’m always looking for the great wines at a great price that go well with the array of holiday cuisine. Wines that will leave your guests impressed with your thoughtfulness and send them to the wine
How to Spatchcock a Turkey for Great Results Every Time
There are many ways to prepare and cook a turkey for the holidays from roasting whole to cutting into quarters and cooking separately. In the end, most methods work well enough. In our journey to find the best way to prepare a turkey, we have tried it all. We always come back to the method
Better Turkey with Brine
Brining is the process of submerging meat in a salt solution, often in combination with other flavoring agents (herbs, chili, aromatics), to give your meat its best shot at staying moist while cooking. With brines, you’ll want to marinate the whole bird/spatchcocked bird at least a couple of hours, but for more flavor leave it
4 Types of Turkey, What’s Your Best Choice?
Everyone knows that turkey is the star of the Thanksgiving table. Whether you’re selecting fresh or frozen, here everything you need to know about buying your Thanksgiving turkey. While the original settlers feasted on turkey because it was plentiful and native to the Americas, the turkey you’ll get at the store has little resemblance to
Tips & Techniques: How to Freeze and Store Fresh Peaches
Chef Tom shows you two techniques for freezing and storing fresh peaches for use year round. Plus, we make a peach salsa recipe that is sure to impress.
Tips & Techniques: How to Make Jalapeño Mustard Aioli
Chef Tom shows you how easy it is to make aioli from scratch. We of course put a twist on it and add a little something extra, but the basics are here.
Tips & Techniques: How to Butterfly a Pork Loin
Chef Tom shows you how easy it is to butterfly a pork loin for a roulade.
Tips & Techniques: How to Make Chicken Stock
Chef Tom shows you how to make chicken stock with a twist, he grills the chicken breastbone beforehand to add another depth of flavor to the finished stock.
Tips & Techniques: How to Break Down a Whole Chicken
Chef Tom shows you how easy it is to break down a whole chicken at home. Save money, and make better food at home with your own chicken stock. Chef Tom is using a Semi-Stiff Curved Boning Knife for this process.
Tips & Techniques: How to Handle Hot Food While Cooking
Just how does Chef Tom move all that hot food without big cumbersome gloves? The answer is simple, nitriles over cotton gloves.
Tips & Techniques: Does Searing Steak Lock In Juices?
You’ve heard it before, that you need to sear your steak to “lock in the juices” or “lock in the moisture.” But what is really happening when you sear your steak? Chef Tom breaks it down for you.
Tips & Techniques: How to Make Clarified Butter
Chef Tom shows you just how easy it is to make clarified butter at home.
Tips & Techniques: The Truth About Resting Steak
Chef Tom puts the theory of resting steaks to the test. We cook five steaks to 125º internal temperature and rest them for different periods of time, from 0 minutes to 12 minutes. We provide you with the results of our test, and you can decide if you want to rest your steaks or not.