| Good Saturday morning, everyone. How was your week? Truthfully, mine was a bit of a roller-coaster with assorted highs (the weather!) and lows (showing up for an appointment only to realize it was scheduled for next week 😔). After a particularly calamitous day of bad luck, I questioned whether it was indeed wise to go through with my scheduled haircut (yes, I did have the right day!), since the vibes seemed to be off for me. Thankfully, no disaster ensued, and I walked out with a somewhat less chaotic mop of hair. The change was fairly dramatic — I'd estimate it looks a good 6 to 8 inches shorter — so every time I'm in front of a mirror, I'm almost startled. Who is that person? The cognitive dissonance of my mental image and my real-life appearance will fade, I'm sure, but seeing myself in a new way has been eye-opening. Of course (you know I'm going to say it), the same goes for food. There are ingredients we're used to tasting or being used a certain way, then — boom — you try them in a different preparation and your mind is blown. That's how I felt when I sampled the sauce for Aaron Hutcherson's Pork Chops With Strawberries and Port. I'm accustomed to eating strawberries out of hand or in desserts, but Aaron combines them with ginger, black pepper, ruby port, lemon juice and the flavorful brown bits left over from searing the pork to create a savory, complex, scene-stealing component. "The sauce is a nice accompaniment to the chops," says one early review. "Absolutely delicious. The strawberry port sauce pairs perfectly with the pork. But it's so good I'm thinking of making it to pour over ice cream," reads another. Now how about French bread pizza? I can't fathom how many frozen Stouffer's I ate in my youth, so when I think about that type of dish, it's the version that immediately comes to mind. As she does so well, Ellie Krieger reinvented this beloved staple with a healthier twist. Her French Bread Salad Pizza is topped with a satisfying but not over-the-top amount of cheese and sauce, followed by a colorful combination of arugula, radicchio and endive. Other times, tackling conventional wisdom or things we think we know can be just as enlightening. Have you ever wondered why you use certain oven racks with certain recipes? I offered an explanation this week. Aaron also tackled something people have asked us about repeatedly: how to clean your air fryer. Lastly, you can test your knowledge about when you should eat questionable food versus tossing it, thanks to our fun, informative quiz by food writer Rachael Jackson. We had a very busy live chat this week, answering reader questions (and rants) about recipe writing, the difference between baking pans and baking dishes, raw-in-the-middle pancakes and more. If you, too, have a cooking conundrum we can help with, we'll be back for our next session Wednesday at noon Eastern. Submit your question now, then be sure to join us in real time. Until next week, happy cooking. |
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