Category Archives: Cooking

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

Reviewing McDonald’s new condiments

McDonald’s has recently introduced two condiments, Mambo sauce and Sweet and Spicy Jam. Although the advertising suggests you should try them one at a time, there is nothing to prevent you from adding 2 of each to your mobile order … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Top 5 recipes of 2023 on Burnt My Fingers

Another year, another clips post with the most popular recipes in the past 12 months as measured by clicks. A few changes if you compare to 2022 and 2021. Recipe: Halal Guys White Sauce. Once upon a time, people would … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Five most popular non-recipe posts in 2023 on Burnt My Fingers

Each year at this time we do a recap of our posts that have garnered the most clicks in the past 12 months. The world has convulsed with conflict and climate change yet our most popular posts, and even their … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Perfect hardboiled eggs in the Instant Pot

We tend to tune out a lot of the fan chatter about the Instant Pot, especially when folks start talking about how to cook something in the IP that has no business there—like prime rib!—or something that would be just … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Recipe: Chicago-Style Beef for sandwiches

Chicago-style beef for sandwiches is a big winner: rich, beefy, juicy and fall-apart tender. Drench it in jus, add some of our Chicago-style giardiniera and maybe a bit of provolone, and you’ve got just about the perfect sandwich. Ingredients: 3 … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Eating, Mains | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Mistakes in making gumbo

The other day I had a pound of just-harvested okra and decided I would make gumbo. I heated maybe ¼ c of olive oil and added the Holy Trinity of chopped onion, celery and green pepper, about 2/3 c each. … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Recipe: Chicago-Style Giardiniera

We have some Chicago-style Italian beef sandwiches in our future for which Chicago-Style Giardiniera is a key component. Compared to our standard giardiniera it’s spicier, and contains oil. I long resisted the oil but am happy with the result. It … Continue reading

Posted in Condiments, Cooking, Eating | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Food for thought: Lebanese food blogs

A search for the best way to cook dried chickpeas led us to the Forks and Foliage Lebanese food blog. It’s a fairly new blog with just a few recipes but its author obviously has big plans judging from the … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Eating, Food for Thought | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Trader Joe’s Premium Peeled Garlic

I use a lot of garlic when I cook. I hate peeling garlic. Ergo, I use already-peeled garlic cloves. I have tried several brands from Asian markets and also the Spice World brand, which is sold at my local big … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

In search of the elusive chuck eye steak

I was lucky in my experiment breaking down a chuck roast that I got one with a nice chuck eye steak included. This is by no means guaranteed. According to this source, there are no more than 2-3 chuck eye … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , , | 8 Comments