I don’t know how they celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in the Emerald Isle, but it amuses me to no end that here in the States we get decked out in green (lest we invite a pinch), make corned beef and cabbage, and enjoy Ireland’s most celebrated foamy export—Guinness extra stout. You know St. Pat’s is close at hand when the grocery stores start stacking cases of it. It’s malty, hearty, and rich....

Poor Man’s Soup I consider this hamburger soup recipe kind of a “poor man’s soup” because you just throw a bunch of ground beef, seasonings, veggies and broth into the mix and out comes a flavorful and hearty soup. We’ve used potatoes, parsnips (or carrots), onion, green beans and celery in this recipe but you could really clean out the fridge with this one. Basically, use the beef, seasoning and broth as the base and use whatever veggies you have on hand or whatever sounds good to you!...

Learn it and you, too, will be more apt to throw all kinds of fresh herbs in your cooking! Leafy Herbs vs. Woody Herbs First off, these techniques are for soft, leafy herbs—ones like parsley, tarragon, basil, and sage. They don’t work so well for firm, woody herbs that are all needle-y, like rosemary and thyme. We’re sharing two techniques. One is for little leaves like parsley and cilantro. The other is for flat, broad leaves like basil and sage....

Grilling meat to a safe and delicious temperature for consumption is a seemingly straightforward process, but to achieve backyard grillmaster status, it’s important to understand the types of heat and the degrees of temperature needed for each cut. Grilling Prep As I said above, meat should be cooked to a safe and delicious temperature. A bone-in ribeye steak is safe to eat with an internal temperature of 180º F, but unless you are looking for a doorstop, you will not want to eat it....

So, what is the best way to measure wet and dry ingredients for baking? Measuring by Volume First things first: use the right measuring cup for the right ingredients. Measuring flour in a liquid measuring cup will mess up your recipe. Same with measuring water in a dry measuring cup. Why? Liquid and dry ingredients have different properties. Secondly, not all measuring cups are created equal! Measurements are standardized, but inexpensive sets can (and do) vary in size....

Unfortunately, peeling tomatoes can be more complicated than a typical vegetable. If you try to use a vegetable peeler for the task, you will often lose more flesh than you might like. There are other ways, too, such as microwaving or freezing tomatoes; both approaches seem simple enough, but the former can unevenly heat the fruit while the latter takes too long. So, what’s the best way to peel a tomato?...

“What are we going to do with this goat?” Elise asked. Her acupuncturist Steve had given her an entire front shoulder of a goat from a local farm. Why not goat curry? It was one of my favorite Jamaican foods growing up in New Jersey, along with those awesome meat patties the street hawkers would sell on corners in New York City. Rich, filling and spicy, goat curry (often made with beef back then, when goat was a little harder to find in NYC) was just as good on a hot day as a cold one....

Here’s a guide to the MVP ingredients you’ll need for taking any recipe in a plant-based direction. Instead of Tuna, Try Chickpeas Just like lentils, chickpeas are a great way to up the nutritional quotient of a meal by swapping out meat. When coarsely mashed, they make a surprisingly good stand-in for tuna in the classic tuna salad sandwich. They also provide a convenient option for veganizing saucy chicken dishes....

This microwave baked potato cuts way down on the cook time with nearly identical results (especially if you use my finish-in-the-oven hack below). For a Better Baked Potato, Use the Microwave There are two main reasons to use a microwave to make a baked potato: How to Get Crispy Skin If you cherish the crispy potato skin of a baked potato (I know I do), there’s a trick to achieving a crisp exterior on a microwave potato....

The basic elements are mixed greens with pecans and goat cheese, tossed with a sweet mustard vinaigrette. The recipe has plenty of room for improvisation—use baby spinach or butter lettuce instead of or in addition to the mixed greens, orange segments or sliced kumquats for a citrus note, toasted walnuts instead of pecans, etc. Use more or less of any ingredient to taste. 4 ounces whole pecans 1 tablespoon butter, melted 1 tablespoon sugar...

In my never-ending quest to develop a seafood roll recipe that was undeniably delicious, budget-friendly, and simple to put together, I landed on these warm, Old Bay-spiced shrimp rolls that just so happen to be as crowd-pleasing as they are economical. The Components of a Shrimp Roll There aren’t a ton of ingredients in these shrimp rolls, but each serves a very specific (and important) purpose: The hot dog buns keep everything in their compact, handheld package, and since they’re top split, both sides of the buns can be toasted to buttery, golden perfection....

You know all the times you pull out a fork or knife to test the tenderness/doneness/cooked-through-ness of something? Use a metal cake tester instead! The advantage of a metal cake tester over a fork or knife is that the tester’s tiny pinprick doesn’t let steam or juices escape prematurely (crucial if you’re testing the softness of a foil-wrapped baked potato or roasted beet and it ends up needing more time) or leave behind a noticeable slit or three-pronged poke in your food that can compromise the structure of a delicate piece of fish, for example....

this recipe 5 Minute Roasted Pepper Sauce Yes, five minutes is all it takes to make an out of this world sauce. The roasted peppers give it a bit of a smoky taste while the avocado adds a creaminess you wouldn’t believe. This is about to be your new favorite sauce! We love it on this Paleo chicken bowl! Simple Ingredients The best part about this bowl is how simple, yet hearty and nourishing it is....

Don’t get me wrong—brines, marinades, and dry rubs are great for adding flavor. But the meat needs to marinate for the flavors to come through and that takes time, sometimes a while. With a paste you can grill at a moment’s notice. We’ll show you how! Then, head outside and fire up the most talked-about cookout of the summer—it’s just a matter of paste. The Building Blocks for a Tasty Paste A paste should be thick and spreadable—enough to generously douse the meat right on the grill—so it needs to be sticky, not loose and runny....

The Secret to Making Sure the Sugar Dissolves Well, the problem is that if you just stir all of these together the sugar will sink to the bottom. So the best way to make lemonade is to make a simple syrup first, by heating water and sugar together until the sugar is completely dissolved, and then mix that with the lemon juice. The proportions will vary depending on how sweet and strong you like your lemonade, and how sour your lemons are to begin with....

Don’t be afraid of smoking meat While smoking a roast may sound daunting, it’s really pretty easy. This is especially true if you have an electric smoker or pellet smoker like a Traeger. These keep a consistent temperature and allow you to set the temp and forget about it. Smoking on a charcoal grill is a little more difficult, but you can see some setup tips for a charcoal grill in this video....

The recipe is adapted from one in the Sacramento Bee by Jane Dewey, the wife of a local pistachio farmer. I tweaked the recipe a bit from the original. I prefer using a brick of white chocolate and chopping it into chunks for a more rustic look, but white chocolate chips will do just fine. I also reduced the butter and used kosher salt which gives a spark of contrast to the cookies’ sweetness....

This crusty loaf takes some time and effort, but it’s well worth it! You’ll need two days to prep this bread, including time for the dough to rest and develop some flavor before baking. The earthiness of the pumpkin purée pairs perfectly with tangy sourdough. It also adds moisture and softness to the crumb. This bread is sweet but not overly so. Baking spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger impart warmth....