When we need comfort, we make meat loaf. So universally gratifying, it's a global food with countless variations. Southwesterners pack in the chili powder, as in this turkey version, topped with crushed crackers and melted cheese. Embutido, from the Philippines, cradles hard-boiled eggs, and is steamed rather than baked, which keeps the beef, pork, and ham mixture moist. The almond crust on the South African curry meat loaf adds crunch, while dried fruit offsets the spice. Danish Meatload (forloren hare) is made with beef and pork; the bacon it's wrapped in makes this rich dish even richer. See eight recipes for meatloaf from around the world »
Related: Comforting Winter Soup Recipes »
RECIPE: Southwestern Turkey Meat Loaf
The recipe for this spicy, cheese-topped meat loaf comes from home cook Matt Gibbs of Houston, Texas. This recipe first appeared in the 2012 SAVEUR 100.
SERVES 8
INGREDIENTS
1 ¼ lb. ground turkey
2 ½ cups roughly crushed Ritz-brand crackers
1 cup shredded sharp
Blog Posts by Saveur
Read More »from Tips for the Perfect Stove-Top Steak
We love firing up the grill to cook the new beef cuts that have become available in recent years, but it's possible to achieve that perfect sear on the stove-top, too. Here's how:
Related: Classic Appetizers with a Twist »
1. Never begin with a stone-cold steak: The outer portions will overcook by the time the center comes up to temperature. Instead, remove the meat from the refrigerator, liberally season it with salt and pepper, and let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
Related: The Perfect Tailgating Menu »
2. When it's time to cook, high heat is key: Large amounts of energy are required to alter the structure of the surface proteins, and that's what produces complex flavor and a caramelized crust. It's also best to use a cast-iron skillet or other heavy-duty pan that will retain heat evenly. Brush the skillet lightly with vegetable oil and keep it on the stove until wisps of smoke rise from the surface. Place the steak in the center and sear it wellTips from the Pros: The Perfect Stove-top Steak
By Saveur | Shine Food – Fri, Jan 20, 2012 11:57 AM EST
Read More »from Tips from the Pros: The Perfect Stove-top Steak
We love firing up the grill to cook the new beef cuts that have become available in recent years, but it's possible to achieve that perfect sear on the stove-top, too. Here's how:
Related: Classic Appetizers with a Twist »
1. Never begin with a stone-cold steak: The outer portions will overcook by the time the center comes up to temperature. Instead, remove the meat from the refrigerator, liberally season it with salt and pepper, and let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
Related: The Perfect Tailgating Menu »
2. When it's time to cook, high heat is key: Large amounts of energy are required to alter the structure of the surface proteins, and that's what produces complex flavor and a caramelized crust. It's also best to use a cast-iron skillet or other heavy-duty pan that will retain heat evenly. Brush the skillet lightly with vegetable oil and keep it on the stove until wisps of smoke rise from the surface. Place the steak in the center and sear it well
Read More »from Italian Christmas Cookies
Italian-Americans love to show off their cooking, and at Christmastime in our Italian-American household, cookies were a major production. My grandmother baked nonstop in the days leading up to the holidays. She made Americanized chocolate chip and sugar cookies, but her specialty was traditional Italian cookies. She used a pastry bag to shape cherry almond stars and airy pignoli cookies, and an ice cream scoop to make perfectly round butter cookies, which she blanketed with rainbow sprinkles. They looked so nice that Uncle Joe used to tell her to pick up a shift at DeLuca's, the local bakery. My favorites were her rainbow cookies, which we called stoplights: three thin cakes-one red, one green, one white, like the Italian flag-stacked on top of one another and cut into cubes, with raspberry jam between the layers and a veneer of semisweet chocolate on top.
Some years the kids would help her make the cookies, but what we really loved was helping her wrap them as gifts. The goal was toBy Marne Setton for SAVEUR magazine
As we put together our October issue story on fermented foods (Preserving Plenty), it took me right back to my mom's kitchen, circa 1974. Mom and I loved our Salton yogurt maker, but I've since learned that making yogurt doesn't require any special equipment. I start by bringing six cups of milk to a boil, at which point I transfer the hot milk to a bowl to cool slightly. Once the temperature is down to 90 degrees, I briskly whisk in a table-spoon of plain, active yogurt, a k a starter culture. Then I just pour it into a jar and set it aside in a warm place for six to eight hours. Easy.
Related: DIY Edible Holiday Gifts »I have learned, though, that the bacteria in the starter culture can be fussy when it comes to temperature. Boiling the milk kills other microorganisms that can cause spoilage, but you'll also kill the starter culture if you add it while the milk's still too hot, and if the milk's much cooler than 90 degrees at
Read More »from Easy, Homemade YogurtTruth be told, I used to shudder at the sight of the sweet potato casserole that appeared on our table each Thanksgiving. It was made with canned "candied yams," which were mushy and syrupy-sweet (sorry, Mom), and blanketed in an airtight layer of mini marshmallows. No one much cared for it. But in our Italian immigrant family, where we started the Thanksgiving meal with homemade pastina-and-cardoon soup, that casserole somehow seemed like a dish that had to be there, as if to prove that we were doing the holiday right.
Read More »from Cook the Perfect Sweet Potato Casserole
In the '90s, when we started buying sweet potatoes raw and roasting them, the vegetable's pure, earthy flavor came as a revelation, and dressed-down sweet potatoes, simply roasted, supplanted that sticky-sweet casserole in our Thanksgiving program. But I love sweet potatoes; I love marshmallows. Couldn't the two work well together somehow? I figured a little research might help me find a way.
Related: A Southern Thanksgiving Menu »
I learned that long before they8 Expert Tips to Make Your Thanksgiving Feast a Success
By Saveur | Tis The Season – Wed, Nov 9, 2011 4:13 PM ESTIn The Perfect Bird, author Molly Stevens lays out her foolproof method for roasting a turkey. But in the Saveur kitchen, we're rarely willing to just sit back and savor success. Stevens's beautiful bird sparked lively debates, with staffers putting forward their own techniques for getting the juiciest meat or the crispiest skin. In fact, every Thanksgiving recipe we tested for this issue either called forth another tried-and-true tip or gave rise to a new one. Here are a few we all agreed are worth adding to your Thanksgiving repertoire. Get tons of Thanksgiving tips, menu ideas, and more »
Read More »from 8 Expert Tips to Make Your Thanksgiving Feast a SuccessFor a turkey with skin that's crisp, and flavorful, keep a small saucepan of melted butter, whole peppercorns, sherry vinegar, and dried sage and thyme on the stove, and use a basting brush to slather the infused butter all over the turkey as it roasts, every 30 minutes or so. See the recipe for The Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey »
Tip 1: Crispier-Skinned Turkey
For a turkey with skin that's crisp, and flavorful, keep a small saucepan of melted butter, whole peppercorns, sherry vinegar, and dried sage and thyme on the stove, and use a basting brush to slather the infused butter all over the turkey as it roasts, every 30 minutes or so. See the recipe for The Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey »
Related: A Vegetarian ThanksgivingBy David Sax for SAVEUR magazine. This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #141.
Read More »from All Grown Up: Chicken Fingers for Adults
Though upscale versions of childhood comfort foods-peanut butter and jelly, corn dogs, s'mores-have colonized restaurant menus, there's one glaring exception. Chicken fingers, the ubiquitous kids' entrée, get little respect.
Related: Spaghetti 12 Different Ways »
Mitzi's Chicken FingersChicken fingers came about in the late 1970s, and they proved to be the perfect utensil-free food for picky children. According to market research from the Mintel Group, chicken fingers were the third most popular item on American menus in 2010, behind steak and Caesar salad.
Related: In Praise of Soft-Cooked Vegetables »
Still, as popular as chicken fingers are, the consensus among adult eaters was that the food was child's play and would never grow up.
But the generation gap is murkier than it appears. As I discovered recently at Mitzi's Restaurant, in downtown Winnipeg, Canada, a raging chicken finger fan is hiding below theHow to Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds
By Saveur | Shine Food – Tue, Oct 4, 2011 7:44 PM EDTFrom SAVEUR.com:
Executive Food Editor Todd Coleman shows us an amazing trick for peeling an entire head of garlic in less than 10 seconds - no acrid fingernails, no knife required.
What you'll need: 2 deep bowls of equal size
The Steps:
1. Smash the head of garlic with the heel of your hand.
2. Sweep the cloves into one bowl.
3. Invert the second bowl over the top of the first bowl.
4. Hold the bowls together where the rims meet and shake the dickens out of them.
Voilà! You have peeled garlic in less than ten seconds.
MORE FROM SAVEUR.COM:- How to Chop Garlic »
- Pesto Sauces & Varieties »
- Garlic Lover Recipes »
- Perfect Potato Recipes »
- Hearty Fall Roast Recipes »
Recipe from Saveur:
Aïoli
Use a pale-golden oil to make this silky, garlic-spiced mayonnaise. Aïoli will keep, refrigerated and covered, for up to 3 days. Makes 1 cup.
Ingredients
Aïoli
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 egg yolk, at room temperature
1 clove garlic, minced and smashedRead More »from How to Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 SecondsBy Geoff Dougherty for SAVEUR.com
Read More »from The Best Mail-Order Bacons for Your Buck
There's a plethora of bacon options at any grocery store, but unless you happen to live near an artisanal curing facility, the best stuff you're likely to find will come to you via the good old fashioned United States Postal Service. (Or, okay, FedEx.) We fried up rashers of almost every mail-order bacon available; in this Five to Try, we're highlighting our favorites.
Benton's Hickory-Smoked Bacon1. Benton's Hickory-Smoked Bacon (423/442-5003; bentonscountryhams2.com)
Tennessee's Allan Benton produces the grand-daddy of dry-cured bacon. You smell the hickory before you open the box.
Try your hand at DIY Home Cured Bacon »
Dreymiller and Kray Beer Bacon2. Dreymiller and Kray Beer Bacon (847/688-2271; dreymillerandkray.com) A pale ale brine, followed by applewood smoking, yields a nutty flavor and a sweet finish to this Illinois-made bacon.
12 Bacon Wrapped Goods »
Nueske's Wild Cherry-Smoked Bacon3. Nueske's Wild Cherry-Smoked Bacon (800/392-2266; nueskes.com)
The Nueskes, smoking bacon in Wisconsin since 1882, skip the cure for this
