My first attempt at poaching eggs didn’t go very well: The whites were ragged (feathery, if we’re being kind) and only partially-attached to the yolks; worse yet, since the yolks were barely insulated by the whites, they cooked up patchily, nearly-hard-boiled in spots. A decade or so later, I’ve tested out pretty much every method out there, and discovered some indispensable tricks along the way. Here I’m breaking down two separate techniques, how to poach eggs in a saucepan and via sous vide cookery, both of which have their merits.
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Basics
Honey Whole Wheat Cornbread
Over the years, I’ve auditioned a variety of recipes for stuffing, pie, mashed potatoes, turkey, and cranberry sauce. The one constant at my Thanksgiving table: this hearty cornbread, which makes an appearance both as a side and as the backbone of cornbread stuffing. Sour-cream-enriched, and lightly-sweetened with honey, it is a decidedly Northern take on the cornmeal quick bread, akin to a dressed-up, homemade take on Jiffy cornbread.
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Perfectly-Crisp Roast Chicken Thighs
Typically, I’m very skeptical of things dubbed “best” or “perfect”. My perfect is not necessarily your perfect, and worse, these terms are so often overused by lazy writers looking to grab attention that it’s hard to trust that it’s not overblown. So when I saw that Bon AppetÃt was claiming a recipe with such a simple ingredient list (chicken thighs, salt, and oil) was superlative, I was both intrigued and doubtful that it could live up to these lofty claims. Well, as you may have surmised, I was wrong. Since I first tried out this technique for cooking chicken thighs, I have rarely strayed from it, as it is a pretty much foolproof.
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