Ice Cream - Past and Present

There is something oddly melancholy about watching ice cream melt in real time. It's almost as though it takes a deep breath and then lets out a big ... SIGH!



I think I just got goosebumps!

How to Cook Moist and Tender Chicken Breasts

Many a kitchen disaster begins with boneless skinless chicken breasts. What seems like it should be the utmost convenience food is actually quite a tricky cut to cook well. Cook it badly and you can easily end up with a mouth full of dry, chewy meat.

Our friends at The Kitchn offer a method that they say makes "unfailingly juicy and succulent" breasts. They say it came from the old Joy of Cooking, which gave it a special label: 'Cockaigne' - reserved for only their personal favorite and best recipes.

Moist and Tender Chicken Breasts

2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, of even thickness
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup flour
Handful of herbs (optional)
Olive oil and butter

If you have a little time before cooking dinner, lightly salt and pepper the chicken breasts. It's great if you can do this the night before, but it's not necessary.

Mix about a half teaspoon of salt in with the flour along with a little pepper. Chop the herbs finely, if using, and mix in as well.

Dredge both sides of the chicken lightly in the flour.

Heat a large heavy skillet (with a lid) over medium high heat, with a little olive oil and about half a tablespoon of butter. Quickly sear both sides of the chicken breast until just faintly golden; you don't want the insides to cook much at all.

Cover tightly and turn the heat down very low. Cook for 10 minutes without lifting the lid. Remove from the heat and let sit for another 10 minutes, still tightly covered.

Remove lid and serve. There is usually just enough chicken fat, along with pan juices, to make a simple sauce, too.

'Reach for the stars' Bourdain tells Food Network

If you've ever wondered what Tony Bourdain sounds like when he's had a few drinks, watch this video, in which he lets a few expletives fly (sadly cleansed by the Food Network powers-that-be), proclaims that Giada De Laurentiis "doesn't suck," advises that Velveeta on a cracker "doth not an hors d'oeuvre make" and says he finds Ina Garten's friends "creepy."

Late night cookies to the rescue

Maybe you've been working late... You're wired but you can't sleep. What you really want is a cookie. A nice warm cookie, fresh out of the oven. And maybe a glass of milk. And what you want more than anything is for someone to bring it right to you so you don't have to get up.

Help, in the form of Insomnia Cookies, is on the way. The company was started by Seth Berkowitz while he was a student at UPenn, as a delivery service for fellow classmates on campus. These days, the delivery zone takes in a dozen college campuses around the country and the company will even deliver to some off-campus residents in downtown Manhattan. Franchise opportunities are also available.

So how much would you pay for hot cookies delivered to your door? Most cookies are about $.90 each and the delivery minimum is &6.00. And is the price worth it? The smell of freshly baked cookies alone is practically worth it. The cookies are not bad, although they could be likened to a glorified Mrs. Fields. They are soft when warm but crisp up quickly when they cool off. So if this is the kind of indulgence you find yourself reaching for in the wee hours, order just enough for the night and eat them quickly!!

- NY Magazine, Restaurant Openings Week of March 31

World Wars in Food

At first this video seems like an awful lot of effort and time (the creator says it took him three months to do) for very little payoff. But watching it past 20 or 30 seconds, I started to realize that it's actually pretty clever.

Food Fight is an abridged history of American-centric war, from World War II to present day, told through the foods of the countries in conflict. Watch as traditional comestibles slug it out for world domination in this chronologically re-enacted smorgasbord of aggression.

What cops really think of doughnuts...

They LOVE 'em!!! Duh.

"Once I not only had a warm Krispy Kreme, I ate six of them at one time," says Andrew Smith of the Los Angeles Police Department. "And I’m willing to bet I could eat a dozen if I had a Diet Coke to wash it down."

Also, pilots are apparently just as unimpressed as the rest of us by airline food. And teachers like it when students give them an apple. Just a roundup of good information, in case you were wondering, courtesy of Good Magazine.

The new face of food television?

Lizzie Marie is an eight-year-old Girl Scout and queen of her own culinary empire. At age 6, she began baking and selling goodies at a local farmers' market to raise money for riding lessons. A year later, she launched a website offering recipes and video demonstrations and she seems to have really settled in to the role of TV hostess.

She is natural and self-possessed and clearly watches a LOT of cooking shows on TV. When she tastes her dish at the end of this video, she looks just like a mini-Giada deLaurentis. "All the colors are so pretty and it smells AMAZING. It's a little tart from the lemon, and it has all the right flavors. Mmmmmm..."

Lizzie is committed to healthy and organic eating options and will hopefully prove to be a real role model for other kids.