Chef's Blog, Chef's Notes Plus

All About Quick Pickles

If your kitchen cabinets are currently storing more than one empty glass jar, you are officially missing an easy pickling opportunity. Pickled fruits and vegetables are the absolute best way to add some excitement to any recipe, cheese plate, or mid-afternoon snack attack. There are many pickling strategies, which can […]

Chef's Blog, Chef's Notes Plus

Vegetable Purées for Plant-Forward Cooking

Plants are quadruple-threat ingredients, adding flavor, texture, color, and nutrients to any dish. They’re versatile, and we eat them raw or roasted, whole or bite-sized, simple or seasoned, and every possible way in between. In the plant-forward kitchen, vegetables are even more useful, because they can be used not just […]

Chef's Blog, Chef's Notes Plus

Home School: Risotto (yes, it’s easy!)

Risotto is a dish we most often eat at restaurants, reinforcing the illusion that it’s difficult to prepare. Sorry to spill the beans, restaurant chefs of the world, but despite being creamy and decadent, risotto is actually really easy to make and not nearly as time consuming as you might […]

Chef's Notes Plus

10 Plant-Forward Lunch Recipes

If you’re still a member of the work-from-home club, we suspect you’re running out of practical lunch ideas. And, if you’re anything like us, that might mean your take-out burrito average may be higher than usual. We’ve been looking to our favorite plant-forward lunch recipes these days, especially ones that […]

Chef's Blog, Chef's Notes Plus

Spring Salads with Your Farmers’ Market Finds

As we look forward to our yearly Global Plant-Forward Culinary Summit, which perfectly coincides with the start of spring, we naturally (and typically!) are finding ourselves hungry. Spring is a food-lover’s best season—seconded only by Thanksgiving, of course—with a seemingly endless bounty of vibrant colors and flavors at the local […]

Chef's Blog, Chef's Notes Plus

Creamy Recipes, Made even Better!

Some of the most decadent and delicious dishes we all love are milk-based. Scalloped potatoes, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, ice cream! All are flavored or fortified with a heavy pour of milk, cream, and/or butter. And while a creamy sauce is sort of perfect already, the most fool-proof way […]

Chef's Blog, Chef's Notes Plus

5 Recipes That are a Sure Sign of Spring

After a long winter, the world is turning back to green. Asparagus is shooting to the sky and curly pea tendrils seek out the sun, promising a near-future of farmers’ markets and tender fruits and veggies. To inspire you, here are some of the recipes we spend all year waiting […]

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Recipes Between the Lines: Caramelizing Onions

The phrase “caramelized onions” is tossed out on menus or recipes like they’re no big deal. Standard, everyday stuff that people are making in their kitchens after a long day at work.  The reality of caramelized onions is a little different. Yes, they’re simple to make. Slice onions and cook […]

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Ingredient Spotlight: Tamarind

There is a Buddhist parable about the tamarind tree in which its seeds are said to be symbols of faithfulness and forbearance. While the story doesn’t say much about the tamarind as food, it does illuminate a little bit about the history of this venerable plant and its incredible sweet […]

Chef's Blog, Chef's Notes Plus

Recipe Conversion Handbook

With the world at our fingertips, trying new recipes has never been easier. But looking far from home for a new recipe can mean unfamiliar units of measurements that can make planning, shopping, and cooking just a little more difficult. If grams and milliliters have you scrolling past great new […]

Chef's Blog, Chef's Notes Plus

Parts of a Chicken, and When To Use Them

Boneless, skinless chicken breast is one of the most popular items in American homes, and no wonder. They’re easy to pick out, easy to store, and easy to cook. But whether you’re tackling new recipes, shopping a great sale, or figuring out exactly what is in your CSA box, sometimes […]

Chef's Blog, Chef's Notes Plus

Using Candy Molds

Using molds to make hard candies is very easy and requires only the desired molds suitable for use with sugar. There are different types of molds available that can be used with hard candy; metal molds, either heavy cast molds or lighter stamped molds, are the most common variety, and […]