Category: Side Dishes
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Laughably-Easy Lard (or Bacon Fat) Pastry Crust
The perfect pastry crust eludes most of us…seemingly thousands of infinitely-thin layers that are tender, but shatter in your mouth while still remaining moist and succulent. It usually involves massive amounts of butter cut into the flour at just the right temperature to just the right texture…then a chill in the fridge…then the addition of…
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Homemade Chevre (Fresh Goat Cheese)
The pungent, goat-y chevre you get in the grocery store is an acquired taste. I’ve definitely acquired it. But many people haven’t. Part of the reason it’s so pungent is that it’s old. The longer goat cheese sits, the more pronounced its flavor becomes. This flavor is caused by an enzyme called “lipase” that exists…
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Sous Vide Scotch Eggs
The Scotch Egg was invented in a pub in London, and it was an intriguing, if crude, concept. A hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage, breaded and fried or baked to a crisp. But hard boiled eggs are truly one of the worst inventions of mankind. Yes, they are a convenient and nutritiously dense snack. …
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Bourbon Preserved Figs
If you’re lucky enough to have a fig tree, or a neighbor who has one, you have figs coming out your ears in early summer…and perhaps again in late fall, especially if you live in a Southern state. This fall crop of figs often gets interrupted by early frosts. The figs are still green when…
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How to Make Aged Cheese: “Black and Bleu” Ricotta Salata
I’ve been making cheese at home for about 3 years now, and SO many fans have begged me for instructions on how to make cheese after I’ve posted photos of exquisite homemade cheeses. Cheesemaking is a specific hobby with it’s own set of necessary equipment and supplies. It’s sort of like wine making or beer…
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*NO CANS* Green Bean Casserole
Ah, green bean casserole…that staple of Thanksgiving dinners and church potlucks for decades. So easy that even someone who can’t cook can make it, because all you have to do is open a can of green beans, a can of cream of mushroom soup, and a package of French fried onions and it makes itself. …