Is the Cast Iron Renaissance Due to...Smartphones?
Cast Iron cookware fell out of favor more than 50 years ago, but is starting to become popular again. Why might this be? Does it have to do with its uses in cooking, or is it deeper than that?
The 7 Best Meals to Learn to Cook Yourself
Cooking is hard for some people. I don't really understand why, as there are a lot of really easy recipes out there and following a recipe is in itself very easy (even easier if there is a video to go along with it), but nonetheless many people still struggle with cooking. And there are others…
Zach's Complete Guide to Things That Should Be Common Sense
People often smugly use the term "common sense" to belittle people and make themselves feel better. "Ha! That's common sense, that person is an idiot for not knowing it!" But perhaps some tidbits of knowledge aren't as common as some people think. Everyone probably has a set of things that they think should be "common…
Knowing When to Give Up: My Gumbo Adventure
There are all too many motivational anecdotes about never giving up, and that's good and all, but I think there need to be more motivational anecdotes about knowing when to give up. This is one of them. On Saturday I made a goal: that I was going to attempt to cook shrimp gumbo. If you've never had…
[Video] The Only Five Pieces of Cookware You Really Need
I frequently cook my own meals, and over the years have learned a thing or two about cooking items. There are all sorts of wild and wacky cooking items out there, and a lot of them are useless. As it turns out, you don't really need much to cook delicious food, just make sure that…
Engineered: How Long Should You Smoke a Pork Shoulder?
Over the holidays I helped my dad make some BBQ using his new smoker, and it turned out really well! Smoking a pork shoulder isn't too terribly difficult, the tricky part is getting the smoker set up so that the temperature is stable, getting the rub on the meat right, and then just being patient…
A Rekindled Love for My Stainless Steel Sauté Pan (Plus Chicken Recipe)
When it comes to cookware, my 12" and 10" cast iron skillets have ruled the roost in my kitchen for several years now. And for good reason, cast iron cookware is extremely resilient (it actually gets better the more you use it) and is able to handle whatever types of heat you can throw at…
[Recipe] Chicken Tikka Masala
Disclaimer: this recipe is based on one from thekitchn.com, but with a few slight modifications made that dramatically improve the quality of the dish, in the author's opinion. I had never had Indian food until a few years ago, but I became pretty quickly hooked on it, thanks to this dish. Chicken Tikka Masala is perhaps the…
How to Cook Chicken Breast that Isn't Awful
Chicken breast is the workhorse of the American kitchen. It's the classic "jack of all trades, master of none" meat. It doesn't get the glamour of steak or the mystic of pork, but it is affordable and goes with many different sides. It is a blank canvas. The only downside with boneless, skinless, chicken breast…
Stop Wasting Money on Cooking Gadgets
One of my small passions is watching infomercials on Saturdays. There is something simply mesmerizing about the sheer enthusiasm of the salespeople that are promoting various gadgets. I never even buy anything that is pitched on an infomercial, I just enjoy learning how awful my life is without [insert product] and how much better it could…