Category Archives: Cooking

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

In pursuit of perfect pickled tripe

Posted on June 11, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers

Our recent freezer shaming brought urgency to a long-delayed project: creating a pickled tripe in aspic to match the manna experienced in Pennsylvania’s Amish country in the summer of 2017. We had visited the Green Dragon Friday market in Ephrata, … Continue reading →

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How to win your crawfish boil

Posted on May 28, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers

Live crawfish season runs from roughly March through June, putting the Memorial Day weekend at its epicenter. This makes the holiday an ideal time for a crawfish boil in which the mudbugs are cooked in a salty, peppery broth along … Continue reading →

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Freezer hoarding

Posted on May 23, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers

My blogger friend Daniel B revealed something remarkable: he has 40 chicken carcasses in his freezer. Talk about freezer hoarding! These are supermarket rotisserie chickens which have been mostly plucked clean of their meat but with some scraps and connective … Continue reading →

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How to cook a perfect steak

Posted on May 14, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers

To cook a perfect steak, start with a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. I have decided I prefer this method because the delicious juices accumulate in the pan rather than dripping into the fire. You can use anything that doesn’t require … Continue reading →

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Diamond Crystal or Morton’s, which Kosher salt is better?

Posted on April 30, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers

Most every recipe on Burnt My Fingers specifies (unless we forget) Kosher salt. That’s because we mistrust the tiny crystals of table salt that make it easy to oversalt your food, plus you might pick up iodized salt by mistake … Continue reading →

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My other cookbook is a Kindle

Posted on April 23, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers

Some chef friends had an online discussion about how they like to read recipes. Almost everybody said they preferred physical cookbooks because they like to look at the pictures and see how the food is plated. Number of people who … Continue reading →

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The surprising truth about kouign amann

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers

I hungered for a sugary, buttery kouign amann (pronounced QUEEN followed by “almond” in which the “d” is silent) before I knew such a thing existed. I had recently moved to Saratoga Springs, NY and discovered the excellent croissants at … Continue reading →

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Test driving the Misen nonstick skillet

Posted on April 14, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers

The promotional period for the Misen Nonstick Skillet has ended, but if you click the link to this checkout page you will get a pop-up offering the same 20% off for new customers in return for your email address. I’d go for … Continue reading →

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Bacon vs Pork Belly

Posted on February 11, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers

Bacon vs pork belly… which is better? You’d think pork belly is the superior product because of the recent climb in prices. Thanks to its popularity as an appetizer and in ramen, pork belly has risen in price from a … Continue reading →

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Let’s just put oregano on everything!

Posted on January 15, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers

If you order the magnificent Italian Mix sub at Roma Imports in Saratoga Springs, the last thing they’ll do is shake on some dried oregano. Likewise with the surprisingly good #2 regular ordered “Mike’s Way” at the Jersey Mike’s chain. … Continue reading →

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