Serious Eats / Yasmine Maggio In our current age of social media racket, trends and hacks come and go at a dizzying pace—some of them are worth trying (see here and here), some of them most certainly are not. This week’s example in the definitely-not-worth-it category: Using an immersion blender to grind spices and coffee beans. The technique involves turning an immersion blender upside down, adding a small amount of spices or coffee beans to the bowl-shaped blade-guard, covering the blade-guard with a piece of plastic wrap, then letting it blitz. We get it, novelty is appealing, and the idea ..read more

Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian Armenian food is a study in contrasts: indulgent and celebratory on one hand, and humble and nourishing on the other. Historical Armenia, which includes the current-day Armenian Republic along with much of what is now part of Eastern Turkey, was a mountainous, isolated, and relatively poor region. With limited access to the outside world, Armenians learned to make do with what they had, particularly during their long winters. Armenians were (and many remain) a very religious people (it is a point of pride for many that the Kingdom of Armenia was the first nation ..read more

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik Grapes are practically obligatory on cheese platters and in buffet lines, lunch boxes, fruit salads. Sometimes they provide a juicy, sweet interlude in between savory bites, and other times merely add a pop of color and texture. In late summer through fall, when they're at their peak of flavor, is when grapes assert themselves in everything from salads and entrées to desserts and beverages, but since they're available year-round, you can make the most of them anytime. We've gathered some inspired grape recipes that showcase the best of fruit: sweet and tangy pickled ..read more

Serious Eats / Michelle Yip I've been honing the art of making chapati—the soft unleavened savory flatbread commonly served alongside meals in several East African nations—since my childhood in Kenya and I’ve been fortunate to pick up many tips and tricks from various family members along the way. The cooking process for chapati is relatively simple in theory: A one-bowl dough is mixed by hand, rested briefly, rolled, shaped, and cooked for just a few minutes on the stovetop. But I know from experience that it can take a bit of practice to nail the right technique to get this unleavened savory ..read more

Serious Eats / Brian Kopinski I was born in Delaware, but after 20-some years of living in southern New England, I consider myself a bonafide East Coaster: I’ve dug a hole in the sand for a clam bake, clutched an iced coffee in the middle of winter, and evaded enough potholes to earn a lifetime of free lobster rolls. I love the fall and the warm tones it paints the treeline and, as a Rhode Island resident, I have a visceral reaction when I’m too far from open water.  Like all good New Englanders, I also have a deep connection to L.L. Bean—but not in the way you might think. While most ass ..read more

Getty Images Imagine for a moment the joy of opening a brand new bag of potato chips: Your fingers grasp the metalized plastic, pull it apart, there's a soft rush of air, and then you reach in and grab that first crisp bite. And oh how crisp it is! Now imagine that you didn't manage to finish the bag in one sitting (we know, that part is hard to imagine). You rolled down the top, secured it with a clip, and saved it for a rainy day of Bridgerton binging. But on that fateful rainy day, you reopen the bag to find the dreaded humid chip—softened, old, utterly unwanted. Is that it? Is there nothin ..read more

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez When I was a kid, there was always a bag of navel oranges in our fridge. My parents never stored their oranges any other way, and because our family went through the fruit so quickly, the citrus never went bad. It never molded, it never shriveled, and it never, ever went uneaten. Simply put, my family had no reason to think of the “best way” to store them. But as a citrus lover and an editor at a food publication known for its limitless curiosity, I wanted to know: What is the best way to keep oranges so they remain delicious for as long as possible? To find out ..read more

Serious Eats / Taylor Murray It’s hard to imagine the days before we had the convenience of electronic kitchen appliances. Mixers, food processors, and blenders all replaced tedious work done by hand. (Imagine making massive quantities of whipped cream manually! My wrist hurts just thinking about it.) But the food mill is one manual contraption that has stood the test of time. This simple handheld device is used to make smooth purees and works by gently pressing ingredients through a sieve, resulting in something silky, but still textured. We’ve never formally reviewed them, so we tested nine ..read more

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez I don’t mean to brag, but I do drink water sometimes. I mostly drink it from a tap in a glass or a ridiculous pink tumbler, but I do drink it sometimes! Other times—and again, I am not trying to make anyone jealous—I forget my absurd drinking vessel and I have to buy bottled water.  That’s where my bragging rights end. I am a fairly hydrated person whose brain is rotted by the internet and the times and the motherhood of it all, so when I am standing in front of a wall of bottled waters, all of which are packaged like the way typing in all lowercase letters fe ..read more

Serious Eats / Greg Dupree Okay, you clicked on this story, so we will forego the usual discussion of how this wonderful herb is polarizing. You're here already, so you know the truth: Cilantro is delicious, and so many of our favorite dishes rely on its unique flavor. In most cases, cilantro is added as a last-minute accent. But in this collection, we highlight cilantro recipes that use the herb in ways (and quantities) that go beyond mere garnish. Also, a heads-up for cilantro lovers: there are other cilantro-adjacent herbs you should know (if you don't already, of course). Culantro, also kn ..read more