Print Cod Pocket Pie Photo by Lynne Calamia Course Mains Keyword Fish, pastry Prep Time 1 hour hour Cook Time 30 minutes minutes Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes Servings 6 pies Equipment medium sized fine mesh sieve Sifter (can be stolen from Grandmom) or food processor Rolling Pin Pastry brush 2 half-sheet pans (standard equipment in restaurant kitchens and bake shops, the half-sheet pan is an 18" x 13" pan with a 1" lip. You cannot have enough of them. Inexpensive cooling racks are made to fit inside so we suggest having at least two of those in your kitchen at all ..read more

Homemade Valentine’s Day treats get a boost of flavor from cocoa powder, either natural or Dutch-process. But what’s the difference? Americans love chocolate, but we don’t generally know much about it, including how to handle it in the kitchen. Cocoa powder, for example, gets a bad rap for being an inferior product to, say, baker’s chocolate. On the contrary, cocoa powder is the pure essence of chocolate, without any added fat or sugar to detract from its inherent goodness. In fact, if we were forced to choose, we’d rather have high-quality cocoa powder in the test kitchen pantry than chocolat ..read more

For crispy, juicy, Super Bowl-ready buffalo wings, skip the deep-fryer and go for the steamer basket. Super Bowl Sunday is upon us once again, which means it’s time to contemplate which protein-packed snack you want to nosh on during commercial breaks. For us, nothing satisfies that game-day craving quite like crispy buffalo wings. We won’t be rolling out the deep fryer for this application, though. Deep-fay frying is the norm for chicken wings because it dehydrates the skin, forming a crust that inhibits further oil absorption, while denaturing the internal proteins. In layman’s terms: It cri ..read more

Our secret for easy-peel hard-boiled eggs, a healthy make-ahead breakfast that’s as simple as it is delicious. Behold the egg: A cheap and nutrient-dense source of protein that, when cooked correctly, is a creamy and satisfying addition to any meal. Whether you’re trying to get back to “healthy habits” after the holidays or are just looking for a quick, make-ahead breakfast, hard-boiled eggs are an obvious go-to. In the test kitchen, the way we cook our eggs has evolved over the years to use steam rather than boiling water. Here, we share our secret for easy-peel hard-boiled eggs… But first, s ..read more

I miss going to the movies. I miss the usher with the bad clip-on tie, the squeaky seats, the sticky floors, the lights going down, the previews, the feature. I miss laughing in the dark with strangers, and forgetting about the world for a couple of hours…or at least ninety minutes. But what I don’t miss is popcorn. That’s because home-made popcorn is about a thousand times better than most movie theater popcorn, and I know because I used to pop professionally for a 13-screen multiplex back in the 80s. Not only does home-popped taste better, it’s fun to make and no, you don’t need any special ..read more

Not sure what to do with all those leftover herbs after the holidays? Dry and store them, of course. Here’s how. Grocery shopping for the holidays can be an exhausting endeavor that often leads to over-purchasing and dreaded food waste. While it’s easy to repurpose roast turkey into turkey salad or use extra whipped potatoes to top shepherd’s pie, leftover herbs are another story… Instead of tossing the excess, why not dry them for another use? Believe it or not, learning how to dry and store herbs at home is really not that hard. Technically, any herb can be dried, but heartier herbs like ore ..read more

I like brownies, and judging from the emails we’ve been getting over at altonbrown.com, so do the rest of you. That said, some of you have recently taken issue with our recipe, and I think it’s probably because there was a discrepancy regarding the volumetric measurement vs. the weight of the cocoa powder on the version we provided to the Food Network website. In other words… oops. So, just to confirm, we made up a few more batches this week and I’m happy to confirm, my favorite brownie contains 160 grams of natural (not Dutch process) cocoa powder. In our kitchen, this translates to 2 cups, r ..read more

It takes just two pieces of hardware to stock your fridge with some of the best winter soups. There are few things more comforting on a cold winter day than a steaming bowl of soup. And if you play your cards right, a pot of the stuff can last you the better part of a week… unless you go back for seconds. Now, not every soup requires heavy-duty hardware, but sometimes, the right piece of machinery can make a tedious process like stock-making quick and easy. For us, few pieces of equipment do the job quite like a pressure cooker — you don’t even have to check on your soup while it’s cooking. Ho ..read more

Stock your bar with a few low-ABV staples to sip holiday cocktails all season long… without the hangover. The holidays are a treacherous time. Despite the shiny allure of tinsel and trimmed trees, dark dangers lurk down every dark hall. During this time of year, home accidents go up, car accidents go up, and emergency room visits go up. The culprit? Alcohol, of which Americans double their dosage during the holidays. One answer to the problem would be to stop drinking. Or, you could switch gears to low-alcohol holiday cocktails, which can deliver complex flavors without inspiring the complex b ..read more

Green bean casserole: Beloved Thanksgiving tradition or sad, bland waste of space on your overflowing plate? We in the test kitchen think this traditional and often divisive dish deserves its due, so after quite a few trials, we’ve finally come up with possibly the best homemade green bean casserole you’re likely to come across this November. From the sauce to the skillet, here’s how we’re upgrading our green bean casserole game this holiday season. THE BEANS Fresh ingredients make all the difference in our Green Bean Casserole 2.0. We swap the traditional canned beans for fresh specimens, cut ..read more