Vanilla beans don't just grow on trees!

We bring you quick, useful and fun cooking inspiration each day from places we like from around the web, in 3 minutes or less.

Let’s get to it, clock’s tickin’!

Everyday Recipes

• Want a unique, weekday fish preparation? Try this Swordfish in Sweet and Sour Sauce from Lidia Bastianich. If you like Italian food and don’t know Lidia, you should get to know her!

• This lemony Olive Oil Cake from Chefsteps* is simple and very moist and delicious. It’s really a perfect cake, and I make it regularly. My only note is that you absolutely don’t need 4 whole vanilla beans (which would make this recipe very expensive). Instead, you can use just 1 vanilla bean or some Vanilla Bean Paste — I’ve done it both ways and both have ended up great.

*We generally try to avoid sharing any paywalled recipes. Some recipes from Chefsteps require you be a paying member, and some are free if you give them your email. This recipe is free, but requires you to sign up for an account with your email. We think this recipe is worth the trouble of creating a free account, but you can watch the video on their website first before deciding for yourself.

Project Time

• In a post from last week we shared a video that presented a few ways that cooks of different levels prepared pasta carbonara. The most experienced of the cooks used guanciale, as opposed to bacon or pancetta, to prepare his carbonara. Guanciale adds a delicious element to carbonara, but it’s not always the easiest to find. As far as cured meats go, though, it’s a relatively easy one to make. Here’s a guanciale recipe from the book Preserving Italy by Domenica Marchetti (buy from Amazon or an independent bookseller via Bookshop.org).

  • This guanciale recipe is actually a bit on the complicated end. There’s a dead simple one from a chef who has turned out to be a bit… hmm… problematic. Let’s just say his name rhymes with Sbario Shmatali. His simple recipe is to combine ½ cup of sugar, ½ cup of salt, 15 black peppercorns, and 4 thyme sprigs, and use that mixture to coat 2 lbs of hog jowls which you place in a nonreactive casserole dish in the fridge, covered, for 5 to 7 days. You then remove the jowls, and hang them in your fridge with butcher’s twine for about 3 weeks. See? Simple.

Something Fun (or Interesting)

• Have you ever stood in the grocery aisle staring at canned tomatoes, wondering whether the expensive ones were worth it? Are you supposed to buy San Marzano? Do they need to say “DOP”? Do these differences matter after an hour or two of simmering? Well, Ethan Chlebowski has done a very deep dive into canned tomatoes for his article “Are San Marzano Tomatoes Actually Worth It?” I learned, for instance, to look out for calcium chloride in the ingredients, and pay attention to what liquid the tomatoes are packed in. Check it out!

Let us know what you tried (just reply)! More soon.

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