Basics

A vinaigrette (as well as the mayonnaise and the aïoli) is an emulsion. That is, a mixture of two liquids that are otherwise difficult to combine. In this case, that’s the vinegar, which is mostly water, with the oil....

After doing some research, I decided to use this recipe from Nish Kitchen as a starting point. For the current version, I made some changes (i.e., omitted or substituted ingredients) based on what I had on hand....

This is the dough to make viennoiserie, risen buttery concoctions like croissants and pains au chocolat. It’s incredibly fiddly to say the least. One essential step: get the best — by which I mean highest fat content — butter you can find....

Credit where credit is due: I got this from Ken Forkish of Ken’s Artisan Pizza in Portland. It’s one of my favorite pizza places. Sadly I don’t have a wood-burning oven at home....

Poached eggs can be a pain. There’s nothing fun about hunching over a giant pot of boiling water or delicately sliding raw eggs into the pot, hoping they won’t fall apart....