Tausi Insider

Photo : Allie Chanthorn Reinmann The middle slice of lasagna is always the gooiest representation of the dish— more photogenic and more highly prized, since it’s protected on all sides and often has the best balance of fillings. But we all know where the real action is : the crispy edges, where the cheese has a satisfying , caramelized crunch . For those edge-loving lasagna eaters, there’s a simple way to get that sought after crispiness on the sides, top, and bottom of every bite: Make an inside-out lasagna cake. This lasagna cake sprung from one of my irritating personality traits: I dislike large quantities of tomato sauce. More accurately , I enjoy a perfect balance of sauce to noodle, erring on the side of less sauce. T he more naked noodles on the edges that end up toasted and chewy, the better . It’s the same frame of mind that celebrates spaghetti pie , or tahdig ; t hos e crispy starches always get me, and t his dish is built with that preference in mind. The i...

Photo : from my point of view ( Shutterstock ) To say that people “like” the combination of cheese and potato would be to grossly undersell the power and popularity of the combination. They are a match made in heaven or, more accurately, France. Pommes aligot is the ne plus ultra of cheesy mashed potatoes. Far from mere cheese-flavored potatoes, these could almost be called “potato-y cheese.” Pommes aligot hails from Aubrac, a once-volcanic region in south-central France. It’s somewhere in between mashed potatoes and fondue, and it is intense, stretchy, and rib-stickingly comforting. The phrase “dangerously cheesy” gets thrown around a lot, particularly by that cartoon cheetah, but this is one case where it actually rings true. This dish is 43% cheese by mass. It contains so much cheese that it behaves like cheese. The cheese energy is so powerful, I’m afraid to let my lactose-intolerant boyfriend look at the dish, much less eat it. Making aligot is not technically difficult, but...

Photo : Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Sliders, cupcakes, petite quiche, and pigs ‘n blankets have something in common: They were all mad ideas, miniaturized food favorites that quickly became the greatest party food of our time. Now the baked potato wants in on the appetizer action. Make it mini, pop it on a skewer, and you’ve got a new classic party snack. I fully dislike regular baked potatoes. No matter how you flavor and prepare the skin, the average baked potato is a balloon of unflavored potato inside. Then you need a plate to dissect it and dump condiments inside, most of which will remain cold. It’s cumbersome, requires sitting, utensils, and focus—c ertainly not party food (and it remains a mystery to me why it’s fun at all). The mini baked potato corrects all of these issues. Baby potatoes are about an inch across, so added flavor on the outside actually works for the entire thing. They’re on a stick so you can grab it, walk, and mingle with friends at the party. Everything ...

There are a lot of ways to prepare mashed potatoes, and almost all of them are valid (even, or especially, the microwave method ). Most mashed potato recipes start the same way: Cube the spuds into roughly 1 1/2-inch chunks, then cook them in simmering water until they can be easily mashed with a fork. This usually takes about 20 minutes, but Cook’s Illustrated notes you can shave off half of that time   by slicing the spuds into 1/4-inch rounds, rather than cubing them into chunks. This move is quite obvious when you think about it: A thinner piece of potato will cook faster than a thicker one, and a uniform slice will cook more uniformly than a lopsided chunk. (There will, of course, be some irregularly shaped pieces taken from either end of the potato. That is the nature of things that grow in the ground.) Slices also take up less space, which means you use a smaller pot and less water (you just need enough to cover the spuds ). You can try out Cook’s Illustrated’s full rec...

Photo : Claire Lower If you ordered a “baked potato” at a restaurant and were served a Yukon Gold, you’ d probably be a little confused. Baked potatoes— “jacket potatoes” in the UK —are canonically Russets. B ut sometimes canon is worth fucking with. Russet potatoes, with their thick skins and starchy insides, are the standard for baked potatoes. The tough skins get crisp , and the fluffy, sightly arid interiors beg for butter and sour cream. Yukons, on the other hand, have skins that are thin enough to blend into a mash, and creamy innards that are slightly sweeter than their larger, tougher counterparts. Baking the thin-skinned yellow potatoes may seem like a fools errand that could lead to burnt exteriors and dry insides, but I’m thrilled to report that isn’t the case. Yukons are incredible when baked low and slow. This is not a new strategy. I first heard read about it on Martha Stewart’s Instagram account a couple of years ago. I tried it out immediately, then tried to write ...

Photo : Lulub ( Shutterstock ) You’re probably familiar with these unassuming gems from soup takeout, or watching The Bear, and maybe you’ve already discovered their many uses. The quart container is simple and effective for everything from holding long utensils upright to serving as an impromptu water glass. Quart containers rise above the other reusable containers, literally, because of their shape. Instead of getting wider to hold more material, they are tall and thin. You can stack leftover ribs in there, gravies, frostings, and tofu in water without concerning yourself with spillage, and maximizing the vertical space in your fridge. They’re especially useful for storing homemade stock, sauce, or broth in the freezer. https://www.tausiinsider.com/10-professional-kitchen-tools-i-use-in-my-home-kitchen/?feed_id=322422&_unique_id=63d8163535f63

Photo : nelea33 ( Shutterstock ) Potatoes have been saddled with a reputation of being “unhealthy,” and it’s unfair. The potato is just a lump of mostly starch (and a surprising amount of vitamin C) that grows in the ground. It’s as down-to-earth as a vegetable can get—literally. Sure, we can fry it in oil and call it a chip, but that’s hardly the potato’s fault. So why do so many of us think of potatoes as incompatible with a healthy diet? How did we start thinking of potatoes as unhealthy, anyway? One of the sadder statistics from the USDA’s surveys of our eating habits is that potatoes are the most commonly consumed vegetable in America . That’s not sad because they are potatoes, but rather because so many of us eat them in the form of potato chips and French fries and then don’t eat many other vegetables . A diet devoid of green veggies is a problem because it’s missing green veggies, not because it has potatoes in it. A variety of observational studies have related potato con...