Social Food and Cooking Sites

Posted on June 24, 2008 by miklb

Just about every website has jumped on the social network bandwagon, ala MySpace and Facebook, and now cooking and recipe sites are fully on board as well. Equally, there's no shortage of sites trying to be the Facebook of food, and these are just a few I've recently run across. I have not actually registered and tried to use any of these, so they are not full reviews, just first impressions based on having explored many of these types of sites.

First up is Group Recipes, in the mandatory beta status, sporting the very clichéd web 2.0ish diagonal stripped background, tags, and user profiles. From their about page they aim to be

world's neatest food site. From meeting other food lovers to nifty recipe predictions and taste compatibility, Group Recipes has your grub needs covered. The project's goal is to harness the tastebuds of the masses to create a really useful resource for food lovers.

One interesting feature is "Roger" the robot, that is supposed to analyze your recipes and tastes and make recommendations based on your profile. Also included is a recipe stumbler, for those with no clue what to make for dinner, which could come in handy on those nights nobody can make a suggestion for dinner.

Next up is , Family Oven also in the ubiquitous beta status, and honestly, my exploration was cut quite short by the overwhelming amount of adds on the home page. The goal appears to be to allow cooks of all skill levels to create a profile page (think food blog ala wordpress.com) to share their love of food and recipes, including having videos. They've also incorporated a digg like feature "chomp it" (lame, huh?) to rate recipes, as well the ability to save for later, and create shopping lists based on recipes you've collected. The overall UI leaves me with something to be desired, so perhaps a second run might sway my opinion.

Following up that is Open Source Food, from the same developer who brought us the now deceased 8apps. Also a way for users to share their recipes, Open Source Food seems to have a larger emphasis on photos with recipes. One very interesting element with the recipes is that you can license your recipes (Creative Commons seems the most popular, and there's a link to "blog this" for a recipe, which you can embed in your own blog.

Example

Definitely a neat feature, and one I may explore.

Another site I recently came across is Super Cook allows you to "finds recipes you can make with the ingredients you have at home." I haven't tested this site, but will keep it bookmarked for those I just don't want to head out to the market.

Finally, not so much a social food and cooking site is Culinary Seductions which aims to show "food is the key that unlocks hearts, minds and a whole lot more. Our mission is to entertain and educate all those who are interested in winning their dates over with food." Obviously aimed at the bachelor/husband looking to impress the woman in the life, this site's goal is to share seductive recipes and techniques to achieve these dishes.

If you've come across other similar sites, or have one of your own which you'd like featured here on Cooking With, leave a comment and I'll be sure to take a look and share my thoughts.

1 Comment Edit

Tags:cooking, food, recipes and social network

The Perfect Boiled Egg

Posted on June 19, 2008 by miklb

With summer upon us, boiled eggs are a very versatile element that can be used in many places. Part of a composed salad, the ubiquitous deviled egg, the comforting egg salad, or just a quick snack that can be prepared ahead of time. Which ever is your preference, knowing how to boil an egg properly is important. There are a few skills that any good cook should know, and surprisingly, boiling an egg is one that I see many professionals not possessing. A properly boiled egg will not have that green surface on the yolk (over cooked) or be a very bright yellow, and not completely solid (undercooked). It also makes the task of peeling them effortless. There's nothing worse than trying to peel a bunch of eggs where the shell is stuck to the egg, and you wind up with as much in the garbage or compost pile as you do in the salad, or worse, embarrassment at the family picnic, as people eye the pitted and pathetic plate of deviled eggs, and only turn to them when everything else is picked over.

Certainly not rocket science, nor a major task, there are just a few simple steps to boiled egg nirvana. First, you need to make sure you are using a pot big enough for the amount of eggs you are boiling. A few eggs, a small sauce pan will suffice, a dozen, you need something bigger, a stock pot, dutch oven, the pot you boil pasta, in, you get the idea. With out enough water, the eggs will crash into each other, bang against the pot, and crack before they full set. Also, due to the cooking time, you need plenty of water to start with otherwise it will evaporate away, and the eggs will not cook evenly – tops will extend above the water line.

Second, start your eggs in room temperature tap water (filtered water really isn't required, you will be boiling it long enough). Again, this is to ensure even cooking time. I like to fill the pot with at least half as much water as I'm going to use, then add the eggs, then top off. This helps prevent cracking. Putting a dozen eggs in an empty pot, carrying it to the sink and then filling it up again allows the opportunity for the eggs to bang together, cracking, and then making a mess in your pot.

This is probably the most important step. Bring the eggs and water to a full boil. Once the water is at a full boil, set a timer, check your watch, what ever works for you (keep in mind what else you are doing. With any cooking times, if you are stepping away from the kitchen, a timer is best. It's very easy to get distracted only to come back to a scorched pot) for twelve minutes. Only after 12 minutes from boiling (and not just when you start to see the first few bubbles in the water, but a full boil), should you remove the eggs from the heat.

The final step is almost important as the previous. That is to cool the eggs down immediately. All too often, people will simply turn off the burner, move it away, and call it a day. Like most foods (particularly vegetables), the residual heat will continue to cook the egg, despite the burner being off. My routine is to pour off the hot water, and run the eggs under cool water for a few minutes. Sometimes, I'll pour off the water a second time, and run cool water over them again, especially if I didn't use a timer and am worried they cooked more than 12 minutes. The faster they cool, the better the end result.

At this point, you can either peel the eggs immediately, or refrigerate them in the shell for later use/consumption.
My egg salad is very simple, using just a little whole grain mustard, real mayonaise, salt pepper, and a little chive (or minced scallion top if chive isn't available). For that matter, that would be how I do deviled eggs for a barbecue or picnic. I believe I have a draft for my version of salad nicoisé floating around, which I'll try to get finished, as it is an perfect example of using boiled eggs in a composed salad.

Final note, these instructions assume you are using regular chicken eggs you can get at your local market, not quail or duck (or ostrich for that matter). Cooking times obviously would need to be adjusted, though I don't have much experience doing hardboiled duck eggs so I can't give a time for them.

5 Comments Edit

Tags:How To, egg, boiling and salad