Tausi Insider

Sorry about the stained tea towel. I am only human. Photo : Claire Lower Yams and sweet potatoes are sweet. No one can dispute this. There’s a reason they’re just as at home in a pie as they are as a side dish. Even so, a lot of people insist on adding brown sugar, candied nuts, and marshmallows to the orange tubers, because sugar tastes good. Marshmallows are a bit too cloying for me, however . In the past, I’ve made my own marshmallow fluff to cut down on the sugar and add a little spicy ginger , but I should have just made a Swiss meringue. It’s easier to make and work with than marshmallow fluff , and it browns and crisps in a way that marshmallows simply cannot . If you’ve never made a Swiss meringue before, it’s just like making any other meringue, with one extra step: Instead of whipping raw egg whites with super fine or powdered sugar, you combine the whites with table sugar, then heat the mixture over a double boiler until the sugar dissolves . (Rub a bit between you...

Photo : zoryanchik ( Shutterstock ) Wrestling a whole turkey body into a roasting pan (or   rather, onto a wire rack ), isn’t for everyone. Even I, a seasoned professional, have to steel myself for the gory moments of cutting through bone when I spatchcock a bird, and I would be totally OK with never having to smash in a breast bone again. If you have similar feelings about strong-arming poultry, it might be time for you to ditch the whole bird, and join me for a holiday turkey roulade. It’s still got the flavor and goodness of a home-roasted turkey, but it’s juicier , faster to make than cooking a whole bird, and allows you to avoid most of the grim details of deboning poultry. I t’s also damn fancy looking . If you’ve ever been impressed by a Swiss roll or had a slice of a holiday yule log , you’ve already got the concept. The idea is to roll a large, seamless piece of turkey around succulent filling, forming a log shape , and roast it. When you slice individual servings f...

Photo : Elena.Katkova ( Shutterstock ) People are very into their boards at the moment. I’m not going to comment on the viral butter board, except to say that it is a perversion of the butter board I came up with last year, and that mine is a better, more sanitary concept. But enough about that. The best boards are made of meats and cheeses, artfully arranged, with other little snacky bits that complement the meat and/or cheese. Cheese has its own beauty, but it can be a little harder to make meat visually appealing. On e thing you can do to jazz things up? Fold your charcuterie, people. It gives your salami, et al. a neater, more inviting appearance, but it also makes it easier to grab and transfer to your mouth. Party meats usually come packed in neat little rows, either by the deli or processor, and you might be tempted to simply remove the meat from its packaging and plunk it on the board. It will, however, be quite obvious that you did that, which communicates a slight lack...

Christmas is a big food day. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast! Liqueur in your coffee! Champagne in your orange juice! Grand roasted meats with crispy potatoes! Gravy to your eyeballs! And do not, under any circumstances, forget the pie. It’s fun , but starting the day with a dense, rich casserole can put a sleepy damper on the festivities before they really take off. Treat your Christmas consumption like the marathon it is and start your day with a festive charcuterie board. High-quality meats and cheeses with a nice baguette, crackers, fruit, nuts, and olives make a great breakfast. (Many countries, such as Croatia, Finland, and Denmark serve cold cuts as part of the morning meal. I wish it were more common here.) They’ll satiate and give you the energy you need to watch your children unwrap presents, without weighing you down and making you sleepy. (Don’t want to eat olives before noon? Grow up.) You don’t have to arrange your meats and cheeses in the shape of a tree or a wreath, bu...

When it comes to holiday gift giving, it truly is the thought that counts, but some thoughts are better than others. If you don’t know someone all that well, or tend to panic shop this time of year, you may be tempted to buy them a gift that’s rooted in their most prominent interest. It’s a good idea in theory, but it doesn’t play out so well in the practice. I don’t know what the foodie in your life wants for Christmas, but I know what they don’t want, because I asked a whole bunch of them on Twitter (read all the replies and retweets here ), and they (including Padma Lakshmi) sure had a lot to say. Of course, no two food lovers are the same, and you know your friend or family member better than I do. If they have requested something on this list, or you know they would love it, then get it for them! I’m not the boss of Christmas. As food writer Naomi Tomkey pointed out in her reply, if someone is really into something, they already own the most obvious tools and accessories tha...

Photo : A.A. Newton Cranberries are often the only source of precious, richness-cutting acid on the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner tables, which is why I’ve always insisted that they belong on the equally rich dessert table, too. This year, I finally gave in to a recurring pie-based intrusive thought: What if I made lemon meringue pie, but cranberry? If you have a bag of Thanksgiving cranberries taking up freezer space, trust me: Cranberry meringue pie is their highest possible calling. (And if you don’t have leftovers, it’s worth picking up an extra bag just to make it.) Your family and friends will ooh and ahh over the bright magenta filling and pretty swirls of toasted meringue—and they’ll only love it more when they take a bite. The tart, perky cranberry curd perfectly offsets the crisp, buttery crust and marshmallowy Swiss meringue. It’s nothing like any of the usual holiday pies, and that’s exactly why you should make it. Best of all, cranberry meringue pie is not at ...

Photo : Africa Studio ( Shutterstock ) Not all coffees are created equal . Y ou already know this if you’ve been brewing your own for more than a few cups’ time: C offee b eans vary wildly in taste, strength, and even caffeine content. B ut even how you brew your coffee changes its strength. I don’t just mean the flavor. If you’re drinking coffee for the caffeine boost, your brewing method can affect how much of a jolt each serving will give you . You might thing a n espresso shot is the best way to get moving in the morning, but an espresso— even a full or double shot from a specialty coffee shop—actually doesn’t have the most amount of caffeine per cup —at least according to tests conducted by popular Coffee Youtuber James Hoffmann. Hoffmann is the author of The World Atlas of Coffee , runs Square Mile Coffee Roasters, and won the 2007 Barista championship, so you can count on his brewing expertise . Hoffmann got his hands on a $2, 500 Lighttells caffeine analyzer and went...