Category Archives: Cooking

Here you’ll find everything about cooking that isn’t actually a recipe. Tips, techniques, gripes, whatever.

Why top sirloin is our favorite cut of beef

What is our favorite cut of beef for steaks? You probably thought we were going to say New York strip or rib steak, but in fact we’re voting for top sirloin! Here’s why. Top sirloin combines value and versatility with … Continue reading

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We’re making the Election Cake early this year

It’s two weeks till Election Day as this post appears, and for many of us that will be a very stressful 14 days. Stressful ties call for stress baking, of course, so let’s get started making Election Cake. We first … Continue reading

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Shallots vs red onion, or the great shallot takedown!

We’ve been eating a lot of oysters recently, which means a lot of mignonette. Traditionally mignonette is made with shallots which are hard to find in our area and expensive when you do find them—typically $10 a pound vs $2 … Continue reading

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Our five most popular recipes in 2020

Another year has rolled by on Burnt My Fingers, so time for another clips post. Here are the recipes that garnered the most clicks (and hopefully contributed to a number of savory meals) during the pandemic. At least we didn’t … Continue reading

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Top non-recipe posts of 2020

It’s been quite a year, has it not? The readership of Burnt My Fingers (and probably most food blogs) has more than doubled during the pandemic, as folks look for something to do while stuck at home. And yet most … Continue reading

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Making ham juice with Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Ham

A gift of collards from a friend’s garden made me realize I was out of the odds and ends of a smoked ham needed to make rich, flavorful southern-style greens. Time for an order of Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Ham. I … Continue reading

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You’re invited: Niman Ranch Hog Farmer Appreciation Celebration

In the mid-aughts we did some work on the Niman Ranch website. We were guests of famed pig farmer and natural husbandry advocate Paul Willis in Thorton, IA. We toured his grounds, ate at his favorite coffee shop, even got … Continue reading

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Food for Thought: An Introduction to Korean Cooking in Recipes

  Serious Eats recently published a long and unusually comprehensive article by Sonja Swanson, a Korean food blogger and former editor of Time Out Seoul. An Introduction to Korean Cooking in Recipes is a guide to getting to know the … Continue reading

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My Quarantine with Trader Joe

There were fewer dining-out options than usual during my trip to San Francisco last week, causing me to stock up for quarantine with Trader Joe. Tried a number of new products with some hits and a few surprising disappointments. Let’s … Continue reading

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Chilling and Grilling for Father’s Day

We did our grilling for Father’s Day a few days early because of some planned travel. The results were good, so we’re passing them along. The numbers refer to the keys on the photo above. 1.The basic plan: we took … Continue reading

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