1. Everyone loves sriracha. Or some member of the new wave of srirachaey sauces. But I have to say, I think I’m going to make this chile vinegar sauce recipe before I buy my next bottle. Chef Michael Hung, via Tasting Table, calls it his secret weapon. It’s easy to make, but patience is required. A few days go by before it’s ready to eat. This is a great reason to take advantage of those piles of chiles at Central Market.
2. Remember the potato salad Kickstarter campaign guy, Zach Danger Brown? Well his campaign is over, and he raked in $55k to make a potato salad. He seems to be heeding the advice of many opinionated bloggers and is giving a lot of it to charity. (Maybe some Dallasite can make a tuna salad campaign to fight hunger here as well.) Zach is holding PotatoStock 2014 with bands and lots of the promised item, then some goes to charity and some goes to create a for-profit company. He had this to say:
“We are going to contribute a significant portion of the remaining money to the fund at the Columbus Foundation. This will create a permanent fund to help Central Ohio’s non-profits end hunger and homelessness. These types of funds gain interest every year and grow over time, so, while our little internet joke will one day be forgotten, the impact will be felt forever. We believe that humor plays a big role in making the world a better place. We plan to use some of the profit from this campaign to start an LLC, pay web hosting and buy / rent production equipment to continue making content. Our LLC will be a for-profit venture and its goal will be to spread humor and joy around the world.”
3. Thawing steak is a drag. You wait and wait, and you think it’s ready, but – nope, still icy in the center. This video makes the lazy part of me happy, because America’s Test Kitchen says to stop thawing steaks altogether before cooking them. There is a trick to freezing the meat properly to prevent ice buildup, and a trick to cooking it without too much splatter and without overcooking the center. This is a pretty informative tutorial and science lesson. The image below is a screenshot from the video showing the difference between thawed and unthawed meat after cooking.
