Blog Posts by bon appétit magazine

Photo by Ashley RodriguezBy Alison Roman, Bon Appétit

Unlike many things in the baking world, sugar cookies are meant to be foolproof. They don't have much butter or leavening, so they'll keep their shape when you roll out the dough and cut them. They're sturdy enough to be handled and decorated, but soft and delicious enough to be a Christmastime dessert staple. But there are still ways to totally mess them up. Assistant food editor (and resident baking goddess) Alison Roman gave us the skinny on the most common sugar cookie mistakes.

1. Roll Out the Dough Too Thin or Too Thick
If you roll this dough out even a little too thin, they'll become fragile. Not good if you're having a cookie-decorating party. But if you roll the dough out too thick, then they won't cook through and become dense and, honestly, pretty gross. The ideal thickness to roll out your sugar cookie dough is about 1/4"--that way, they'll be tough enough to be handled and decorated, but thin enough to stay a little crunchy.

Read More: Bon

Photo by Romulo Yanes

By Adam Rapoport, Bon Appétit

I got my latke recipe from my mom, Maxine Rapoport, who got it from her mom, who, I'm pretty sure, got it from her mom. So I guess you could say it's a family heirloom. But when I moved to New York and began hosting my own Hanukkah dinners, I started toying with it. I wondered if I could get the latkes even crispier on the outside, and more flavorful. I did my research. My good friend Mitchell insisted that the key to great flavor lay in the onion-to-potato ratio, so I upped my Vidalia count. Good call: The onions introduced a subtle sweetness. I fried the pancakes in a mixture of schmaltz and vegetable oil because, well, chicken fat delivers taste. And I added a step that my mom never bothered with: wringing the water from the grated potatoes for the crispiest latkes possible. Then, instead of packing the potato mixture into patties, I spooned it into the pan, producing crunchy, craggy edges. Are these latkes different from what I grew up eating? Yes.

Photo by Ashley RodriguezBy Bon Appétit

Somewhere down the line, "vanilla" became a synonym for "boring." Which is an unfair rap because, one, it comes from some of the most exotic places in the world, and two, it tastes so damn good.No

So when you bring out a tray of these festively decorated vanilla roll-out cookies, you could wear a pith helmet and jodhpurs... or you just watch everyone's faces as they vow never to equate "vanilla" with "boring" again.

Read More: Bon Appétit's Favorite Winter Appetizers

Vanilla Roll-Out Cookies
Recipe by Dorie Greenspan
Makes about 40 small or 15 large cookies

For a lemony twist, reduce the vanilla extract to 3/4 teaspoon and add 1 1/4 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel.

Ingredients
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
Sprinkles or other sugar decorations (optional)
Royal Icing (optional)

Preparation
Using electric mixer, beat butter

Photo by CN Digital StudioBy Bon Appétit


We promise: spend a little extra on these items and it will make a world of difference to your cooking--and your happiness. No joke.

1. Chicken
When picking up chicken, buying organic makes a difference. Not only are you avoiding consuming antibiotics (gross), but the flavor is far superior. "That old saying 'it tastes like chicken' means is tastes like nothing," says Bon Appetit Deputy Food Editor Janet McCracken. "This tastes like chicken should taste."
From Whole Foods: About $5.00, whole chicken, uncooked
From Food Emporium (non-organic): Chicken: $3-5, about .88 per pound


Read More: 28 Delicious Thanksgiving Side Dishes

2. Olive oil
Put some money towards the primo stuff for finishing dishes--not for cooking them. There are so many good ones on the market, but one national brand that McCracken likes that's not even that expensive is Columela. It's important to keep in mind that olive oils can range from tasting buttery and mild to being pungent

Photo by Romulo YanesBy Bon Appétit

Kerala-Style Beef Stew
Recipe by Asha Gomez
4 servings
active: 25 minutes
total: 1 1/2 hours


This fragrant coconut milk-based curry from chef Asha Gomez of Atlanta's Cardamom Hill delivers big flavor with very little work. "It's a complete meal, a one-dish wonder," Gomez says.






Ingredients
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 1/2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1" pieces
Kosher salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper plus more for seasoning
5 garlic cloves, chopped
3 serrano chiles, seeded, chopped
1 1x1-inch piece ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
3 cups low-salt chicken broth
1/2 pound small carrots, scrubbed or peeled, halved lengthwise
1/2 pound baby red-skinned potatoes (about 1 1/2"-diameter), halved, or quartered if large
1/4 pound frozen, thawed pearl onions, halved
2 cups canned unsweetened coconut milk
Cilantro sprigs

Ingredient info:
Canned unsweetened coconut milk is sold at Indian, Latin, and Southeast Asian

A food mill or ricer is the key to fluffy spuds.By Mary-Frances Heck, Bon Appétit


Po-TAY-to, po-TAH-to, right? Not when it comes to smooth, fluffy mashed ones. There are a lot of things that could go wrong: they're too lumpy, too gluey, too cold, too bland. We chatted with BA Test Kitchen director Mary-Frances Heck to find out where home cooks go wrong and how to avoid lackluster spuds on Thanksgiving. Her advice--plus some tips for heating up do-ahead potatoes--below.

1. Use One Kind of Potato
You want a 50/50 mix of waxy potatoes, such as Yukon Gold, and starchy potatoes, such as Russet and Idaho. Starch absorbs butter and cream while giving the potatoes a fluffy, whipped texture. Waxy potatoes have good flavor but can get wet and gluey if they're the only potato in the mash.

Read More: 28 Delicious Thanksgiving Side Dishes

2. Don't Wash Your Potatoes
It may sound obvious, but sometimes people just peel their potatoes without washing them first. POTATOES ARE DIRTY. Avoid getting specks of dirt in your spuds by

Courtesy photo By William Bostwick, Bon Appétit

The Thanksgiving table is defined by a golden turkey, a white tablecloth, family angst, and a festive bottle of...beer? That's right. The holiday's American roots and patchwork of flavors suit it to craft brew, which is often more versatile than wine and always more humble. Luckily, the best craft beers come in large-format packages that are worth showing off at the table.

Often fermented a second time in the bottle, like Champagne, beers such as wits (white beers) and saisons (farmhouse ales) are extra-bubbly, which means that the heavy, oversized glass and cage-reinforced cork serve a practical purpose. But the bottle is symbolic, too, of a beer to savor and, more important, to share. Maybe that's why extra-large beers--whether wax-dipped, foil-wrapped, corked, or all three--look so good. These big bottles hold brews that are often strongly flavored and just plain stronger than their lower-alcohol 12-ounce siblings. So treat them like wine. (Smaller

By Bon Appétit

If your ideal Thanksgiving feast hinges on a ladle-full of hot gravy cascading over slices of turkey or soaking into a mountain of mashed potatoes (and really, whose doesn't?), then this post is for you. Our feeling? Gravy doesn't need to be complicated, but it does need to be perfect.

The first and most important thing to know is that good gravy begins with good stock. At least one day (and up to four days) before the feast, make your own rich turkey stock. Use our Do-Ahead Turkey Stock recipe (in a pinch, you can use store-bought low-salt chicken broth, but the results with homemade are incomparable).

When you're ready to make the gravy, bring 4 cups stock to a boil in a medium pot. (We give these measurements based on a recipe that serves 8-10.) Remove from heat and keep warm. Then follow these steps:

More from Bon Appétit:

28 Delicious Thanksgiving Side Dishes

10 Snacks You Thought Were Healthy But Really Aren't

Avoid These Common Turkey Mistakes