If you have been to France, you know that the bars there bear little resemblance to American watering holes. Over there, when you go into a bar for something to drink, you’ll most likely be enjoying coffee, water, or what the French drink before dinner–an aperitif. Since aperitifs precede dinner, […]
Piping is often functional: use a pastry bag to transfer the mousse to the serving bowls, place the glaze in a piping bag to cover the cake. Precision is nice, but not always necessary. But if you are interested in creating detailed cakes, homemade chocolate bonbons, cute cookies, or delicate […]
For many home bakers, creating a flavorful, tender pie or tart crust is a fearful and challenging process filled with questions. How is it that some home bakers consistently produce flaky, crispy, and tender crusts or shells while others consistently find this task so daunting? As pie and tart dough […]
French may be the language of love, but for us, French food is our love language. Try one (or more) of these classic French recipes to wow your love for un dîner romantique. Duck Confit Duck confit is rich duck legs cooked completely submerged in duck fat. After a nice […]
Many of us have an innate belief that wine and cheese were made for each other. Not to disavow you of that belief, but dry wines can often clash with rich cheeses, and red wine is more often the culprit than white! Here, though, are a few simple ground rules […]
You don’t have to be a football fan to enjoy The Big Game, especially when there’s a great spread. Chips and dip, fried foods, and pigs in a blanket are all favorites, but we love the tradition of serving regional foods from the competing teams. This year, we’re looking to (in […]
Valentine’s Day is less about being in love and more about sharing love, whether that’s with a partner, a family member, or your very best friends. We may be biased, but here at The CIA, we don’t think there’s a much better way to show someone you care than to […]
Doubling or tripling recipes or cutting them in half successfully requires more than simple multiplication. Recipes for baked goods rely upon a number of “sensitive” ingredients, such as leaveners, flavorings, seasonings, and thickeners. These ingredients don’t scale up or down directly in proportion with other ingredients. If you are planning […]
Even the best-tested recipe can have flaws. After all, we don’t all like our cookies, cakes, or pies exactly the same. Someone’s perfect chocolate chip cookie might be too crisp for you, or too chewy for someone else. The beauty of at-home baking is that you are in charge of […]
A beautifully golden brown mushroom that’s slightly crisp on the exterior, but tender and flavorful on the interior, is not a difficult outcome to achieve. And yet, it is one of the biggest challenges for CIA students and home-cooks alike. After observing the struggles to cook mushrooms with results that […]
If you’ve ever encounter a recipe that told you to, “Bake in a hot water bath” with no further instruction, keep reading. Some ingredients are just more sensitive than others, and as you discover more about food, you learn how to handle even the most delicate of ingredients (talking about […]
Whether you’re facing cold and flu season or are simply craving a rich and hearty soup, preparing a high-quality chicken stock (or, bone broth as it’s sometimes called) is an essential kitchen tool. There are plenty of guidelines and ratios to help you make the perfect stock, and while these […]