A couple weeks ago I tried making homemade mozzarella. Niki made it sound so easy on the Serious Eats blog! I bought the citric acid and the rennet on amazon, got the non-UHT whole milk, I was ready to go. Maybe I’m just bad at following directions, but when Read more…
A Michelada (pronounced meech-ehl-ah-dah) might be one of the most underrated cocktails ever created. I’m hestiant to even call it a cocktail — It’s easy to make, and even easier to drink — You basically can’t mess it up and it always tastes great. Like in-a-hammock-on-a-beach-wearing-a-sombrero great. It’s GREAT. If Read more…
It’s memorial day weekend, which means lots of BBQ, a big jug of punch, an epic cookout…and possibly fireworks. A solid recipe for a great time at the Manganini residence. Now about that punch. As per usual, I’ve been assigned punch duty. Not that I’m a great bartender or anything Read more…
This past Sunday Donald and I went to one of my favorite places in the city: HMart! This huge Korean grocery store is right in the middle of Central Square in Boston (by MIT). We walked there from our apartment in about 40 minutes – But once you’re inside the Read more…
Remember when Donald (head brewer) and I (the assistant) brewed that farmhouse saison months ago? We’ll it has FINALLY reached final gravity (about 1.01), and we racked it into secondary. It wasn’t that easy. Saison yeast likes warmer temperatures, around 80 degrees, much like myself. We had to put the Read more…
A little over two years ago, Donald introduced me to Kimchi. It’s a Korean staple food, but I hadn’t really given it a shot. He told me about how he had tried to make it and failed, so naturally, I accepted the challenge and set out to make my own Read more…
Discovering new cooking techniques and recipes can be difficult. Sometimes I just don’t have the patience or time, or I just don’t know where to start. It can be tempting to keep making the same meals again and again – it’s just muscle memory! But really nailing a new dish Read more…
I’m not much of a meat-eater. In fact, for half my life I’ve been an on-and-off vegetarian, but there are three meats I always have a hard time giving up when I go veg: Hamburgers, Chicken wings, and Lamb shanks. Every few months I splurge on a good lamb shank Read more…
There are few things more concerning than an overcooked piece of really nice fresh fish. Swordfish is one of my favorites, but I’ve always been scared of overcooking it on the stove top or in the oven. The grill always seems to cook it perfectly – charred on the outside, Read more…
A few months ago, Don and I had a great idea: A Big IPA Blind Tasting! Could we identify our favorite big IPAs in a blind tasting? How much of the draw is the brand and the scarcity? Is the liquid really as good as we think it is? After Read more…