Delish Quarterly Issue 1 2021

It’s funny how we spend so much energy on dinner. Dinners out. Dinners in. Easy dinners! Thirty-minute dinners! This year, I’m making a solid case for breakfast. One morning years ago, I woke up in a good mood and felt compelled to make my kids fresh waffles before school. They were so enchanted that everyone got in the car without an argument, and my son Spencer reported to his teacher that it was a good day “ ’cause my mom made us waffles!” Since then, I barely get to brush my teeth before someone has expectantly asked, “What’s for breakfast?” Experts always tell us that the morning meal is the most important of the day—metabolism, vitamins, blah blah blah. But I feel its emotional importance is constantly underestimated. Making something…

SERVES 3 TO 4 TOTAL TIME: 30 MIN 3¾ c. milk, any kind (I prefer 1%, but Grandma Rose always used whole)3 tbsp. sugar1 tsp. salt, plus more to taste2 tsp. vanilla1½ c. pastinaHoney, raisins, cinnamon 1. In a medium saucepan, stir milk, sugar, salt, and vanilla together until sugar dissolves. On medium-high heat, cook the milk mixture until small bubbles form around the edges. 2. Add the pastina, and continue stirring until the milk comes to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook 6 to 8 minutes or until pasta is cooked, stirring constantly so the milk doesn’t burn or bubble over and the pasta doesn’t stick to the bottom—I remember my grandmother doing this frantically. It’s done when the mixture has thickened and most of the milk…

Veteran cooks, keep moving. If you’ve been holding a knife confidently since high school and actually know where your broiler is located, you probably don’t need the advice here. It’s the rookies who may have had a tougher time this past year, when restaurants shut down and grocery shopping became a complex game of Risk. They’re the ones who started learning, started googling, burned a few things, watched a Delish video or three (oh hey), and hopefully started to enjoy the whole process. That’s when the real fun begins. When you’re first starting out, you tend to look at recipes like they’re tomes not to be tweaked. Yes, of course they supply necessary information: ingredients, measurements, cook times, temperatures, serving suggestions. But as you get more confident in the kitchen,…

SALT These alternatives can offer stronger flavor and a layer of complexity to your food. STARCH Typically neutral in flavor, starches are infinitely swappable, and can even give your recipe a brilliantly unexpected twist. SWEETENERS FYI: Honey is sweeter than granulated sugar; brown sugar has subtle toffee notes; maple syrup imparts a bit of caramel. PROTEIN When replacing protein in a dish, it’ll serve you best to stay in the same general category. If you choose to use a leaner cut, though, be sure to supplement with some additional fat (butter, oil, etc.). Red Meat & Poultry If subbing one cut of meat for another (thigh vs. breast, say), consider how your final cook time is affected. Cuts of meat that are particularly tough or contain bones take longer to…

How do you take them?…

TOTAL TIME: 10 MIN What the Pros Know: A strainer can save you. Straining eggs before you drop them into the water removes the loose outer whites, so you don't get those tadpole tails. Fresher eggs are obv better Look for the three-digit Julian date on egg cartons, which indicates what day the eggs were packed: 001=January 1, and 365=December 31. Be gentle. Keep the strainer (or bowl) level with the surface of the water, and delicately tip the egg into the pan. Watch the heat. Bubbles in boiling water tend to jostle eggs, which can cause the whites to spiral out. Our method traps the heat of freshly boiled water with a lid.…