12 Kitchen How To's To Help You Master The Cooking Basics (& Then Some)

Grilled cheese. Meatballs. The Old-Fashioned. This is classic food and drink we've all enjoyed for years using simple, time-tested recipes. But did you know that these dishes can be entirely transformed, and often improved, with just a little extra time, effort and smarts. With this in mind we've rounded up some of our most popular how-tos, as well as some insider tips for our more adventurous readers. Do you know how to build a snack stadium or saber a champagne bottle? We didn’t think so. Read on.

12 Kitchen How To's To Help You Master The Cooking Basics (& Then Some)

How to Make Gnocchi From Scratch

Here's the easy way to make gnocchi

Valtellina: where Italy meets Switzerland. Also, birthplace of East Village bistro Paprika chef/owner Egidio Donagrandi. Making gnocchi from scratch is one of his specialties — and he insists that it's easier than you ever could have imagined. But words are cheap, so he showed us, step-by-step. And would you believe it, he was right!

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How To Saber A Champagne Bottle

The easy way to pull off the ultimate party trick

Dating back to the Napoleonic-era in France, sabering Champagne (sabrage if you will) has been widely established as the coolest way to open a bottle of Champagne.

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How To Make Steak Tartare

A recipe for steak tartare straight from Colicchio

We hit Colicchio & Sons last week to explore how meat masters take their steak tartare. Turns out they like it just like everyone else — prime, raw and bursting with flavorful shards of shallot, cornichon and tons of fresh herbs. Discover their secret ingredient after the jump. 

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35 New Ways To Mix An Old Fashioned

You can teach an old drink new tricks. Cheers!

Nowadays, in craft cocktail lounges, many a bartender makes an Old Fashioned cocktail. But you don’t only find your typical bourbon or rye Old Fashioned anymore. You might find a white whiskey Old Fashioned, a bacon-infused Old Fashioned, maybe even a tequila-based version of the drink. Are these bastardizations of a classic? Hells no! Here's 35 reasons why not.

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How To Peel Ginger With A Spoon

The easiest way to peel ginger. Period.

I'll just give away the secret right now and let you know the fancy kitchen tool for learning how to peel ginger is a spoon. Oh it was in the main photo, you say? Good. Great. 

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How to Make Marinated Mushrooms

A pickled mushroom recipe for the perfect garnish

These little beauties can enliven so many dishes. Scatter a few into mushroom soup and enjoy the way the tart pickle plays against the soup’s earthy creaminess, or nestle a generous spoonful next to a game terrine or some smoked meats. 

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The Playbook: How To Make A Snack Stadium

The way to add major snack swag to Super Bowl XLVII

Let's talk gridiron snack style. Not all snack stadiums are created equal. If you really want to impress your fellow Super Bowl party people, a custom-built snack stadium is a true crowd-pleaser. And, quite frankly, one hell of a delicious work of art. Here are a few pro tips.

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Littleneck Guide To Shucking Oysters

Brooklyn seafood shack shows us their secret trick

We recently stopped by Littleneck in Brooklyn to drink some beers (obvs) and find out how, exactly, the professionals shuck oysters. Read for a quick how-to, with an animated .gif for reference.

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How To Build A Newer, Better Grilled Cheese

Start here with the Blue Apple, recipe included

During the comfort food renaissance of the past few years, the lion’s share of attention has fallen to splashy, big-ticket items: groaning racks of barbecued ribs, crispy piles of fried chicken or rich slabs of pork belly. But over the past few years, the grilled cheese has come back into its own, albeit in a vastly evolved form. Read on.

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How to Make Stuffed Meatballs

A simple technique that's easy to master

Here's the thing about stuffed meatballs: Nobody has to know they're stuffed until they're fork-deep. Is that a great surprise for someone, or what? Pasta, subs, pizza - are any of these made worse with the addition of molten mozzarella? Nope. All made better. Plus, they're as easy as making regular meatballs, but with the fun extra step of meat-sculpting.

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How to Make An Herb Basting Brush

An easy grilling trick for fresh herb-infused meat

Rather than using an ordinary basting brush, I prefer to make my own by securing a bunch of herb sprigs to a dowel, the handle of a wooden spoon or a long-handled carving fork. The herb brush flavors the baste, releases oils into the crust as it builds and eventually becomes a garnish. Plus, it looks really cool and makes people think “Food!”

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How to Make Caramel Apple Shots

Your favorite fall shot, now with REAL apples!

Once in a while, a party trick comes along that grabs our attention. Food blogger Michelle Oddis of That's So Michelle loves making caramel apple shots we can't imagine anyone would turn down. She uses, wait for it, real fruit and time-tested formulas for tasty, jiggly shots that stay put in their edible "shotglasses...

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