Grilling & Cooking

This time around, I’m going to return to my mainstay here on the site and do a whiskey review. In particular, I’ll be looking at Quarter Horse Kentucky Rye Whiskey. As usual, I’ll start with some notes about this kind of beverage, as well as the producer. With that done, I’ll cover my tasting process in a little bit of detail to get some consistency between these reviews. Once I do that and give you my impression of the drink, I’ll move on and offer some suggestions on how I’d go about...

In this piece, I’ll be continuing my wine review series with something a little easier to get your hands on than my previous piece. As always, I’ll take a little bit to go through the drink and the brand. After that, it will be time to go through my tasting procedures so you know how I arrive at my tasting notes, which come after that. To wrap things up, I’ll finish it out with some pairing suggestions for the Winking Owl Merlot, and some thoughts on this kind of wine in general. To give a...

This time around, I’m doing something a little bit different and reviewing a wine. To be clear: I am not, will not pretend to be, nor am I likely to become a sommelier. My wine tastes are simple, and usually cheap: I like dry red and white wines, and the occasional glass of bubbly when something good has happened recently. Like most of the other drink reviews here, I’ll keep it pretty short and simple. I’ll introduce the producer of the beverage as well as a little bit as far as general...

It’s cold outside. Another Winter storm is coming. You’ll probably be confined to the house for a day or two. What to eat? Here’s a favorite that is ridiculously easy with only three ingredients, but it takes a while. The ingredients you need are: 1 lb bag of dried pinto beans 1 lb diced ham Salt pork, get the block, not the sliced. The sliced will work but is more trouble to remove. Use a ham hock if you can’t find salt pork. That’s it. If you’re feeding more than four of five people...

Now that the holidays are upon us, it’s time to start planning some excellent holiday meals. The other day, I noticed that my local grocery store had standing beef rib roasts on sale, and I thought that I’d give it a try. Following some advice from my dad, who has made this before to great effect, I got the necessary tools to make it and it came out, honestly, at least as well as any restaurant steak I’ve ever had. So, to keep things simple I’ll start out listing the tools and ingredients...

With the weather cooling down a little bit, I think it’s a good time to discuss a little heartier beer than the lagers we like to drink in the summer. This time, I’m going with a local brew, the Hollywood Brewing company Bushka Stout. As usual with these reviews, I’ll talk about the beer generally a little bit. Then, I’ll go over my tasting procedures to get the most out of it, before making some recommendations on food pairings and my overall impressions. Based in Hollywood, Florida...

With the weather in a lot of the Northern hemisphere getting cooler and wetter, now is a good time to take a look at some foods that will help shake off the chills. Here, I’m going to walk you through ten of my fall and winter favorites. Where I am in Miami, it’s been unseasonably cold and wet, and I’ve also been extremely busy with a teaching schedule. So the focus here will be on things that are fairly easy to put together as well as seriously hearty. Instead of full recipes, some of...

As an academic, I think my blood-caffeine content, most of the time, is well above what the FDA would consider being a good idea. But, all of my experience with coffee has led me to try to get to a cup of coffee that is good, cheap, gets me up in the morning, and doesn’t take too much time out of my day. Here, I want to make the case for pour-over coffee as a method that will substantially improve your morning brew, add some flexibility to your coffee choices, and save you a good bit of...

With the weather finally cooling down a bit, it’s a great time to start considering heartier spirits. This week at my local liquor store, the guys behind the counter recommend Einstock’s Toasted porter. As usual for my reviews, I’ll go over the maker of the spirit first. From there, I get into my tasting notes on the drink, and, finally, conclude with some notes on how I plan to enjoy it. Porters are a generally dark beer that comes in at a little higher alcohol content than, say, a Lager...

Taking this series in a somewhat new direction, I’m taking a look at a beer this week. Specifically, I want to consider craft beers that you can still find in your local stores without too much effort. That way, this isn’t just some academic exercise, and you can try these out for yourself. As usual, I’ll start with some information about the drink. From there, I’ll jump into tasting procedures, which are a little different between beer and spirits. After that, I’ll offer some of my...

As a home chef, I’ll maintain that it’s way more about skills and effort than it is about spending money. But, as you develop your skills, you will begin to outgrow the gear you have and might find yourself looking for some new stuff to upgrade in the kitchen. Here, I’ll offer ten things that have helped me improve my culinary results, and why I’ve made the leap on each of them to get better meals consistently.

Today, I’m doing something new and reviewing a Tequila. In particular, Tequila Mi Campo’s Reposado. Despite this being a new kind of spirit for these reviews, the format will be essentially the same. I’m excited to branch out this review series: you can read it as a kind of guide to building your at-home-bar I’ll start the review with a little bit about the brand and the drink, followed by my procedure for tasting to try and be consistent across spirits. From there, I’ll offer my tasting...

I was supposed to do a tequila review this week. That was the plan until I walked into my local liquor store (try to support small businesses when you can) and was presented with a truly phenomenal deal on Kraken rum, which was being offered one a buy-one, get-one deal. Not being one to turn up my nose at a free bottle of rum, here we are. Tequila will come next week, I promise! As always, with these, I start off with what knowledge I can find out about the spirit. From there, I walk...

You may have succumbed to the griddle craze that’s taking over the wish lists of backyard chefs, or maybe you’re old school and are sticking to the propane or charcoal grill. Either way, there are some tools you’ll need to impress anyone that will be eating your creations.

As you all know by now, I love cooking. I’ve also been blessed in life with an Argentine partner who loves red meat and red wine. When you combine my hobby with her love of the good things in life, I have the opportunity to experiment and make some awesome food. These short ribs are now, by far, my favorite way to consume beef. A brief note for my fellow Americans: these ribs are not what you usually think of when you think ribs. Instead of long-way cut racks of ribs, beef short ribs are...

One of my favorite dishes at Chinese restaurants has always been egg drop soup. Especially with some Crab Rangoons, it’s one of the better appetizers in the good industry, at least in my opinion. But, most home chefs don’t bother trying to make it themselves. Today, I’m going to walk you through making egg drop soup that stands up well even to restaurant quality, and you’ll see that it’s pretty simple. First, we’ll start with ingredients, then walk through the process, and I’ll wrap up...

With summer in full swing, it’s barbecue season for sure. Authentic barbecue is usually done in a smoker and should take all day. For most of us, that makes doing it well at home pretty hard, since we have neither a smoker nor the time to stand by one all day. But, it’s still possible to get excellent barbecue results at home. I’ve worked out a technique that uses a slow cooker and I think comes out excellent every time. The work with this one is upfront, but if you take the time for it...

In this series of whisky reviews, I give my impressions of some widely available whiskies so that you can get some idea of new things you might want to try. Today, I’m reviewing Tullamore Dew’s green label Irish Whisky. As usual, I’ll start off with a bit of history on the product and the company. Following that, we’ll walk through my tasting procedure and notes. To wrap things up, I make some recommendations on how I’d choose to drink this Irish whisky, and end with some final thoughts on...

One of my favorite foods is, of course, chicken wings. But, sadly, my love of wings sometimes conflicts with my want to eat healthily. Since most restaurants deep fry their wings, the sheer amount of calories from a plate of wings can end up pretty staggering. I’m not willing to give up on wings entirely, so, I’ve been working on a way to make wings that is at least somewhat healthier and, most importantly, is at least as good as those that you get at a restaurant. So, here is my take on...

If you go into any liquor store in the country, right now, you will find Jim Beam. It is, in many ways, an introductory whisky. As a bourbon, it has a bold flavor profile and can be a little bit intimidating for some palettes, but the fact that it can be found, affordably, at nearly any place where liquor is sold, makes it one of the classics. Here, I’ll briefly cover the history of the brand and the product. From there, I’ll offer some of my ideas in terms of tasting notes as well as the...