Hot Food How-Tos

How To: Choose a perfectly ripe Tommy Atkins mango

Just because the grocery store sells produce, doesn't mean it's all good and ready to eat. Mangos are a particularly tricky fruit to get right… er… ripe. Tommy Atkins mangos the more common mangos, and are usually grown in Mexico (originally Florida). When choosing a Tommy Atkins mango, you need to look for a mango without bruising and with as much color as possible. Green is not quite ready yet. Red is excellent, but a beautiful mix of red and yellow is the best.

How To: Bake & cook salmon w/olive oil and lemon in the oven

This Mealplanner101 Minute reveals a secret to baking salmon to perfection. 1. Preheat your oven on 390 degrees Fahrenheit. 2. Season a salmon fillet with salt. 3. Put some olive oil and lemon juice. 4. Bake it for 12 minutes. 5. Take about 1/4 inch cut of the salmon, so that the fish oil will ditch in to the plate. 6. Place the fish in to the oven and set it for 2 minutes. 7. Check if the oil changed from clear to opaque or white. If not, continue cooking 1 minute at a time. Once it's opaque...

Make Great Depression meals: Dandelion salad

94-year-old Clara shares economical and delicious meals from Depression-era American homes. This episode: Dandelion Salad! Dig up dandelions and discard flowers, roots and dead leaves. Soak in clean water and rinse 3 times. Repeat twice more, if necessary. Dry leaves once they are clean. Arrange leaves in bowl. Pour lemon juice and olive oil over leaves. Mix salad with a spoon or your hands. Enjoy! Follow Clara's instructions and you will have a fresh, delicious and very economical salad stra...

How To: Don't Buy Vitamin Water—Make Your Own Healthier Version at Home Without All That Sugar

How many of us actually drink enough water? It's one of the easiest ways to improve your health, but most people don't get nearly as much as they should. We've grown so accustomed to soda, coffee, and sugary juices that water just seems bland by comparison. That's why drinks like VitaminWater are so popular. They're marketed as being just like water, but better tasting and with even more vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, and antioxidants. Who wouldn't want all the benefits of drinking water a...

How To: Make sweet onion & dolcelatte cheese tarts

In this video chef Jo Pratt demonstrates how to make sweet onion and dolce latté cheese tarts with pear and walnut salad. This is taken from her recent recipe book. The ingredients needed for this is one sheet of regular puff pastry, some caramelized onions, some thyme leaves,250gm dolce latté cheese, two small pears cut into small pieces, two celery sticks finely sliced, some walnuts torn into halves, two tbsp walnut oil and two tbsp balsamic vinegar. To make the dish she firstly unrolls the...

How To: McDonald's Secret Sauce Revealed: Here's the Official Big Mac Recipe

If you've ever wondered what exactly goes into a McDonald's sandwich (or what the heck that secret sauce stuff is anyways), you might be a little surprised to learn that all of the ingredients are readily available at your local grocery store. In an interesting move, McDonald's has released a video featuring Executive Chef Dan Coudreaut showing, step by step, how to make your own Big Mac sandwich at home. Here is the video, and if you'd like to read along with Coudreaut's instructions, you ca...

How To: Add a Non-Stick Surface to a Cast Iron Skillet

Many cooks refer to well-seasoned cast iron skillets as the original non-stick pan. A cast iron skillet is a versatile piece of cookware, going from the top of the stove to the oven with ease, provided the handle is also cast iron. The secret to a non-stick skillet is in the seasoning and cleaning process. Improper seasoning, cooking acidic foods and incorrect cleaning methods can all remove the non-stick capabilities. Achieving and maintaining a non-stick cooking surface is uncomplicated and...

How To: Make perfect rice in a cast iron skillet

In this video, we learn how to make the perfect rice in an cast iron skillet. First, place 1 cup of basmati rice into the skillet with 1 and 1/2 cup of water. Now, add in 1 tsp of butter and 1/2 tsp of salt into the skillet and turn it on high heat, and let it come to a simmer. Once it starts to simmer, stir it and turn the heat to low, then cover it. Let it sit for 20 minutes, and don't uncover it while you're waiting. When the 20 minutes is up, remove the lid for three seconds, then place t...

How To: Make a creamy coleslaw with a food processor

Can you imagine anybody who doesn't like coleslaw? In restaurants, it's one of the most popular sides to any meal. It's also the most popular salad topping. And it's not hard to make at all, especially with a food processor. You can prepare delicious slaw right at home, for the whole family. Check out this video recipe for creamy cole slaw from Chef Hubert Keller.

How To: Cook roast pig tails

Diva Dan provides you with a simple tutorial on how to roast pig tails. Remember, because the meat of the pig tail can turn very tough, you must cook them slowly. Begin by making the sauce you will let the pig tails simmer in for about two hours. In a bowl, mix in corn syrup (at least 3/4 cup to a cup), catchup (1/4 to 1/3 of a cup), Worchestershire sauce (1/4 to 1/3 of a cup), 2 teaspoons ginger, and 1 tablespoon dry mustard. To make it hot, you can add a little hot sauce. For extra flavor, ...

How To: Properly use chopsticks

In this video tutorial, viewers will learn both chopstick etiquette and how to use them. This video shows various types of chopsticks. Viewers learn three etiquette with chopsticks; don't point with chopsticks, don't stick them in anything and don't pass food with them. To hold chopsticks, pinch together the thumb and index. Now have the middle finger support the first chopstick underneath. The ring finger will support the second chopstick. Move the top fingers to open and close the chopstick...

How To: Make chicken royale & chicken cushion

Learn to make two different delicious chicken recipes, chicken royale and chicken cushion, from a professional butcher in this video. Watch the demonstration of how to carve a whole raw chicken into two boneless breasts and two boneless legs. The legs will become chicken cushion, a bacon wrapped dark meat dish filled with stuffing and sauce. The second recipe shown is chicken royale. It is similar to the first recipe with stuffing and sauce, but the bacon is draped over top instead of wrapped...

How To: Make raw "fried" mushrooms

Karen Knowler demonstrates how to make a quick and easy recipe called Fried Mushrooms in this video. This dish can be eaten as it is or topped with your salads. She takes in a generous quantity of mushrooms and slices them (obviously after they are washed!). Then olive oil is drizzled over the mushrooms and they are mixed well. Next, the juice of a whole fresh lemon is poured over the mushrooms with olive oil, to give an added taste. Next, she crushes two whole garlic pods and adds them in. T...

How To: Make spicy octopus sushi

In this how-to video, you will learn how to make Spicy Octopus Sushi. You will need nori, rice, masago, scallions, spicy sauce, tempura flakes, wasabi, lettuce, avocado, octopus, a table spoon and a mixing bowl. You will first roll up two balls of sushi rice into 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the balls with a third of a 1/2 sheet of nori. Close the ends with some rice to make the ends stick. Grab a small mixing container and spoon and add a small palm full of tempura to it. Add a few pinches...

How To: Dry basil and tarragon without them turning brown

Drying herbs using this method works well for herbs like basil, mint and tarragon. Herbs that don't have the fleshy body like sage Drying herbs like tarragon can be a bit trickier than fleshy herbs like sage. Tarragon is said to be great for your blood pressure and is a wonderful addition to things like soups and stews. Its also adds wonderful freshness to an early morning omelet. After a rough chop and time to dry, these herbs will hold their color and flavor until you are ready to use them....

How To: Roast a pig Hawaiian style

This video shows how to throw a Hawaiian pig roast. Remember, the most important part is to drink while you prep the pig and build the fire. Just do not burn yourself or undercook it. The longer you leave it in the ground, the better it is.

How To: Make Vegan Cake Pops

This one's vegan! Yes, Himalayan rock salt (sorry caramel, this one's only with chocolate) makes this recipe amazing. You'll also find no butter, no milk and no other dairy products (yes these cake pops are 100% dairy free)in this recipe, so it's perfect for the vegan you love! :)

How To: Make Your Own Auntie Anne's Pretzels at Home

As a kid, I remember begging my mother almost every single time we went to the mall to buy me a pretzel from Auntie Anne's. Now, whenever I pass one of those little blue and white stands, that delicious, buttery smell instantly takes me back to being an impatient four-year-old who wants a pretzel right now. The only bad thing about Auntie Anne's is that you usually have to deal with annoying places like malls and airports to find one. Wouldn't it be nice if you could just whip some up at home...

How To: Set Up a Coffee Station at Your Buffet

When having a large dinner party or family gathering, having a coffee station set up saves the Host/hostess a lot of busy work. Guests like getting their own beverages rather than having to ask for one, and the coffee station is the key solution. Plus, one can serve several kinds of coffee and even tea at the same station.

How To: Cook a Korean Seaweed Omelet

This omelet is thanks to SIB, a friend who gave me a pack of Korean dried seaweed, which I had never seen or tasted before. Since no one at my home dare try and eat it raw, in my experience, almost anything tastes good with eggs, so I experimented with the seaweed and tried mixing it with eggs for breakfast, hence the name Korean Seaweed Omelet. So, here’s how I made it.

How To: Bake a hash brown pizza with ground beef

This is why you're fat. Coincidentally, this is also why you're happy when you nom on artery clogging junk fare. We don't recommend you whip up this recipe on a regular basis unless you're hopin' and wishin' for a heart attack this Christmas, but this would make a sweet treat every once in a while.