Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari Baklava is indispensable to the Persian culinary landscape, just as it is to other baklava-loving cultures from Armenia and Azerbaijan to Lebanon and Syria and over to Turkey and Greece. The most common iterations of traditional baklava feature layers of buttery phyllo dough and nuts drenched in simple syrup or honey. And if you are a fan of traditional baklava—regardless of the cultural origin of the particular iteration—you will likely agree with me that the process of making this crunchy and nutty dessert is a bit involved, and can be intimidating to make for those less acquainted. But this Persian baklava–inspired cake—a confection that’s well known throughout the Persian diaspora—is a great way to enjoy the best qualities of baklava, within a simpler-to-prepare cake. While this rich, dense, syrupy cake is less complicated to prepare than baklava, it still delivers the aromas, flavors, textures, and appearance that should satisfy most baklava ...
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This Small Change to a Classic Salad Ingredient Has Become a Favorite of Chefs
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Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Salads follow food trend cycles like nearly every other food category. Do you remember that there was a time before Americans regularly ate kale salads? Now they're everywhere. Today, if I were to make a spreadsheet of the best restaurant salads (yes, I have been known to make this sort of spreadsheet), many would have an ingredient more typically associated with fried foods and casseroles: breadcrumbs. And this is a trend I'm definitely on board with.
My all-time favorite salad is a Caesar salad, yet I can't even recall the last time I saw a crouton on a Caesar at a New York City restaurant. Where have all the croutons gone? Apparently, they've gone into the food processor and come out as delightfully crunchy breadcrumbs. In Brooklyn, where I live, this trend is just as common at Michelin-starred restaurants like Lilia as it is at wine bars like The Fly—one of my favorites—or even my local sit-down pizzeria, Speedy Romeo. And honestly, it’s genius.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
How many dull salad knives have I taken to unyielding, brittle croutons that have crumbled or slipped right off my plate and onto the floor? Using breadcrumbs instead of croutons solves that problem. Plus, freshly toasted breadcrumbs add another layer of flavor and texture to every bite without distracting from the star of the salad—the lettuce and/or vegetables. Many restaurants have opted to do away with croutons entirely, so why shouldn't you do the same at home? Instead of saving your day-old bread or buying fresh bread to make homemade croutons, use the breadcrumbs you probably already have in your pantry.
The Best Breadcrumbs For Salad Are the Ones You Have
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Which breadcrumbs should you use to spruce up your salad? Any kind! As long as you toast them in butter or oil. Yes, you can still opt to make the breadcrumbs yourself by putting hearty, stale bread in a food processor as Kenji does in his spring vegetable salad, but for an even quicker salad topper, use store-bought plain breadcrumbs and season them at home. These Caesar breadcrumbs and the pickle juice–scented breadcrumbs from our version of the TikTok-famous fried pickle dip, are two flavorful options. But if you've already gone out of your way to make a homemade Caesar dressing for a classic Caesar salad, don't mess with perfection—plain toasted panko breadcrumbs will do just fine. Simply combine a tablespoon of butter or oil with a quarter cup of breadcrumbs and toast in a pan over low heat until golden brown, then season with salt and pepper.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
The next time you're at the grocery store to buy all your salad components, re-up your breadcrumbs supply. This easy ingredient swap will jazz up your home salads and open a world of crunchy possibilities.
Serious Eats For years, Lodge cast iron pieces have been our affordable pick for essentials like Dutch ovens and bread ovens , but there are times when they’ve even beaten out more expensive competition. In fact, the brand topped our grill pan review and its cast iron skillet has been our absolute favorite for six years and running. Already reasonably priced on any given day, it’s now $14—the lowest price we’ve ever seen. Why It Won Our Review It Excels at Searing and Baking This cast iron skillet sears a golden-brown filet mignon and bakes the most uniform cornbread . It’s a standout in conducting and maintaining heat across its cooking surface without any hot or cold spots. It also gets hot fast . In our tests, we reported a whopping 53.4% increase in temperature after just a minute over medium heat. That kind of high heat is what helps you achieve a crispy crust on tofu steaks or breakfast hashes . It’s Impressively Slick This Lodge skillet comes pre-seasoned straight ou...
Serious Eats This summer, I spent five months living and working at Camp Denali, a wilderness lodge in Denali National Park, Alaska. Backcountry hiking is the main attraction, and on each outing, our naturalist guides carry more than 10 pounds of gear, including a slew of emergency preparedness supplies. But the item that I find most important isn’t truly an “essential.” It’s a thermos full of hot chocolate . Our guides carry Stanley thermoses on every outing into the park so guests can enjoy a hot beverage after a long day of hiking. Ranked as one of the best thermoses in our review, the Stanley Classic Legendary bottle keeps beverages steaming hot for many hours—but most impressively, the thermos is basically indestructible. In fact, Camp Denali has used the same thermoses (cleaned after every use, of course) for over 30 years. What's a Thermos Good For? Serious Eats If you like to bring hot drinks on the go, a thermos is an excellent option. It keeps the conten...
Serious Eats / Qi Ai I did not understand the value and appeal of a pressure cooker until I became a mother. Time has become especially precious, and I find myself frantically rushing around during my son’s brief naps to meal-prep as much as I can. Stressed and short on time, I’ve quickly adapted all my go-to recipes—such as beef noodle soup and congee—for the Instant Pot, so they can be made as quickly as possible. One of the first recipes I adapted for the pressure cooker was lu rou fan (Taiwanese braised minced pork belly), a comforting and deeply flavorful dish that has long been a fixture in my kitchen. The first iteration of this recipe is in my cookbook Made in Taiwan: Recipes and Stories From the Island Nation. I learned to make the dish from Lin Tai-Yu, the third-generation owner of Lin Family Braised Pork Over Rice in the Taiwanese city of Tainan. Lin, who goes by Gloj, spends his days slowly simmering hand-diced pork in a sweet and savory concoction of soy sauce, fried ...
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