ARCHIVE RANDOM RSS Home About Manifesto Foods Contact Us GUIDES Quick and Dirty: What is Gluten? It’s been a while since gluten-free became a thing, but it still feels like most people don’t know what gluten is, where it’s found, or if it’s even bad for them. So, to clarify the issue once and for all, we’re doing quick and dirty answers to what it is, where it can (and can’t) be found, and if you should eat it. Continue reading ] Share R GUIDES Seasonal Produce for Spring A few weeks ago, we talked about getting seasonal produce during winter. The advantages of buying seasonal is that the produce will often be cheaper, taste better, and be more likely to have been grown locally. With warmer weather on the way, we decided to do another guide for spring. Over the next few months, make a beeline for these items in order to buy fresh and save some dough. Continue reading ] k1 notes Share R COOKINGGUIDES Hot or Not? How to Assess Jalapeño Spiciness Jalapeño lovers undestand that there’s a risk in every bite. That is, that you never know if the pepper you’re using is spicy or not. Indeed, jalapeños range from 2000 to 9000 scovilles, which is a very high range that makes it difficult for cooks to titrate their usage for cooking. If you’re not sure how spicy any given pepper is, how do you know how many to buy/use, whether to take out the seeds, whether to warn more sensitive guests, etc? That’s why we’ve done some research to put together some clues for determining how spicy your pepper is before you start cooking with it. Be aware that the extant body of research offers no guarantees* as to the efficacy of these tips, but if you know the following tips, you increase your chances of properly assessing the spiciness of a given pepper, which leads to smarter, better cooking. Below, a summary of what to look for, as well as a handy cheat-sheet you can glance at the next time you’re at the store. Continue reading ] Share R GUIDESCOOKING Are You Using the Right Salt? Salt has been an important commodity throughout human civilization. Due to its efficacy in food preservation, its necessity has been second only to water, and accordingly, people have built communities around it, fought over it, and bartered for it. Today, salt is readily available and affordable, but it is still an essential in food preparation. The typical chef is more likely to use salt as a flavoring agent than in curing his or her own meat. For that task, several common salts have emerged as popular choices. We go into the most commonly used salts in American cuisine, outline the characteristics of each, and provide advice for the best ways to use each. Continue reading ] Share R GUIDES Cheap and Good - Get Seasonal Produce When grocery shopping, the best way to get your money’s worth and ensure that you’re getting the freshest, tastiest produce is to veer towards what’s in season. Even in today’s ever-shrinking world/globalized economy/all that jazz, the best things are often the things that occur naturally and aren’t forced to flower under greenhouse lights. An added bonus is the fact that, without the additional cost of implementing such artificial methods, seasonal produce costs the grower less to grow, which means it costs the grocery store less to stock, which means that it costs you less to buy. Plus, seasonal produce is more likely to be grown locally, so if you’re a fan of the locavore movement, this is your best bet. Photo by Sodanie Chea, CC by 2.0 In honor of these benefits and a rapidly-fading winter (at least in the northern hemisphere), we’ve compiled a quick list of winter produce that is at its prime for just a few weeks more. Get your hands on these while they’re still fresh! Continue reading ] Share R COOKINGGUIDES All About Spatulas When stocking up on kitchenware, one of the most important tools is the spatula. This handy device, in its simplest form, is a stick with some kind of flattened spoon or blade at the end. It’s a versatile tool that can be used for baking, scraping, flipping, stirring, and more. For the casual chef, the best spatulas are multi-purpose tools with features that maximize all of these functions, which minimizes the number of additional tools that you’ll need to buy and store. There are probably thousands of spatulas readily available on the market, but what should you look for when selecting one? We list some of the features to consider and reveal our ultimate preferences. Continue reading ] Share R GUIDES Oranges and their Relatives: A Practical Purchasing Guide If you’re anything like us, you might not be quite sure about the differences between oranges, tangerines, clementines, and the like. When in the mood for citrus, you might wander around the fruit section and pick out anything that’s round, orange, and on sale. Only afterwards, when you’re already home and have started to peel your fruit, will you discover the exact nature of your purchase. Ohhh, that’s the one I like or egh, not this one again. With winter – prime season for citrus – in full throes, you might find yourself encountering this issue with increasing frequency. We acknowledge the frustration with buying something without being sure of what it is, and in response to that, here’s a quick and practical guide to the most common orange-y fruits that can be found at a typical grocer, along with a summary of important characteristics to be considered when making such a purchase. Continue reading ] k3 notes Share R COOKINGHEALTHYGUIDES A Guide to Brussels Sprouts Brussels sprouts are among the most hated foods in America. In this post, we explore the hatred, history, and health benefits of this controversial vegetable, and end with a brief guide to its successful preparation. Continue reading ] Share R Page 1 of 1 Pages Home About Manifesto Foods Contact Us Posts We Like Dark Roast Espresso + Magnum Bars Photo via yummyinmytumbly RASPBERRIES N’ CREME BISCOFF CREPES Photo via kawaii-food-is-kawaii See more ] © 2015–2021 Manifesto Foods