Techniques - Home-Ec 101

Calzones Recipe for Fearless Friday

Skip the narrative and get right to the calzone recipe Heather says: So, what’s fearless about a calzone? The fact that I have not been able to get a good picture of one in almost 3 years. So earlier this week I said to heck with it, that’s my fearless feat for Friday. I’m going to …

Spring Roll Success: Fearless Friday

Heather says: Part of kitchen bravery is revisiting an unsuccessful attempt and trying again. So this week I researched spring rolls and invited my friend Heidi over to offer guidance. I am happy to note that this week’s attempt was full of both awesome and win. We even experimented with a dessert spring roll I …

Chicken Stock from Chicken Feet

Heather says: The point of this series is to show off our successes and failures. Please don’t be intimidated by pictures of pretty food here and on other blogs. If you go back through the archives you will see it has taken me over two years to become competent. We have just shy of 2000 …

Heather says: From time to time I get emails asking about different cuts of meat: what are they, where do they come from, and how on earth should I cook it? Since we don’t exactly have a huge production budget (it’s my weekly grocery budget after all), these questions are often deferred until the cut …

Heather says: Sometimes the tastebuds say, “Grill up a steak!” but the weatherman says, “Snow, rain, blizzard, hurricanes, cats, dogs, plagues of frogs!” What to do, what to do? Why pan sear, of course. Now, it isn’t quite the same as grilling a marinated steak, but it has some of the same qualities. I enjoy …

Sautéed Cabbage

Dear Home Ec 101, Would you post about how you cook cabbage? That’s something I never cook… is it cheap and healthy? Thanks! Signed, Cravin’ the Cruciferous Heather says: Yes, cabbage when purchased in season, is both cheap and healthy. It is a great source of both vitamin C and fiber. Here in North America …

Teach your kids phone etiquette (especially if they’re going to be calling my house)

Ivy says: Seriously, if one more person calls my house and just says “Where’s (someone that lives in my house)?”, I am going to scream. Or, “Is (whoever) there?” which is not exactly impolite, but it just drives me nuts. I’d like to say, “Yes.” and nothing else. I am HUUUUUGE on phone manners. I …

Heather says:

I have said it before, but whole chickens are often a great buy. I am a huge fan of cooking once and eating several times, but how do you reap the benefit when it is is too warm for the oven? You grill it, of course. Rather than cutting the bird into parts first, I decided to experiment with spatchcocking. This method allows for more even cooking as a larger surface is presented to the grill. Spatchcocking is simply an old Irish term that means to butterfly; I just think it’s fun to say.

To accomplish today’s project you will need:

1 grill
1 chicken
kitchen shears
your favorite rub or seasoning mix

In order to not offend our more sensitive viewers the pictures and tutorial follow the jump.

Pot roasting beef is a great way to get a tender dish from a fairly tough cut of meat. Pot roast typically refers to tougher cuts of beef: chuck, rump, or brisket cooked by braising. Braising simply means a wet, slow cook. Slow cookers and Crock-Pots® work well for this type of cooking, but the …

Simple Pizza Crust Recipe

Heather says: My kids love pizza night. They are young enough that the whole process is fascinating to them and there is a lot of excitement for little cost. My husband and I are in search of the “perfect” pizza crust that is doesn’t require a huge amount of advance preparation. This one is close. …