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Baked pasta is one of my favorite dishes. Or, rather, baked pasta is one of my favorite ways to consume cheese, therefore making it one of my favorite dishes. There’s something inherently nostalgic, joyful even, about pasta bakes—the cheesiness, the crispy edges, the oddly satisfying squelching sound of the sauce being stirred into the pasta. While macaroni and cheese is probably the most beloved iteration, pasta bakes come in many forms. My take on baked pasta pairs hearty winter vegetables like cauliflower and kale with a creamy sauce and a very generous topping of feta cheese for spanakopita vibes. It has all the richness of my favorite macaroni and cheese—only lighter, brighter, and a little bit greener. It may be hard to imagine that vegeta...

Ayo Balogun loves dinner parties, so much so that he throws them several times per week—and he does it for complete strangers. You’d be understandably mistaken if you thought the venue where he hosts these parties was his living room, the walls of which are crammed with oversize photos of his parents, his uncle, and other family members. It’s actually his Brooklyn restaurant, Dept of Culture, a 15-seat, single-room space that consists of a giant communal table and a kitchen near the intersection of Nostrand Avenue and Quincy Street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Chef Balogun, a native of Kwara, Nigeria, opened Dept of Culture in January 2022, and it’s had a consistent and profound presence in the NYC dining scene ever since, earning a J...

Beef Published: September 24, 2023   |   Updated: September 22, 2023   |   Comment This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy for more details. This easy ground beef enchiladas recipe takes simple ingredients and transforms them into delicious enchiladas smothered in sauce and cheese. It’s great for family weeknight dinners served with your favorite toppings. Beef enchiladas is a Tex-Mex inspired recipe made with taco-seasoned ground beef, onions, garlic, and green chiles as a tasty and flavor-packed filling. Pick your favorite kind of tortillas, arrange them in a casserole dish and smother them generously with enchilada sauce and a Mexican cheese blend. Bake until they are warm and toasty and all that cheese has melted. Then...

Lately I’ve been spending time on Vending Machine TikTok. It’s a soothing, optimistic place where small-business owners rule the land and glinting, aluminum-packaged cheese snacks are omnipresent. In the videos, which regularly rack up millions of views, vending machine owners unlock their machines and count up their dollars, coins, and card-reader funds, tallying everything to a grand total and giving us a peek behind the clear glass curtain. The amounts of money earned in the TikToks are vastly different: sometimes $4 in four days, sometimes $288.76 in 20 days. Sometimes operators don’t check the machine for a while and unnoticed malfunctions lead to months of disuse. Even though I am 31—which is 85 in TikTok years—I got a little obsessed with...

Tin of Anchovies What Are Anchovies? Anchovies, small, silvery fish that pack a punch of flavor, have a storied history in the culinary world. These tiny, oily fish belong to the Engraulidae family and are found in temperate waters around the globe. Despite their diminutive size, anchovies have left an indelible mark on various cuisines, adding a distinctive and intense taste to a wide array of dishes. What Do Anchovies Taste Like? Anchovies are renowned for their distinctive and intense flavor. The taste of anchovies is characterized by a combination of saltiness, umami, and a slightly fishy and briny profile. The saltiness comes from the curing process, during which anchovies are typically preserved in salt. This process not only helps in preservation but also enhan...

Marinating Chicken What is Marinading? Marinating is a culinary technique in which food, usually meat, poultry, fish, or vegetables, is soaked in a liquid mixture before cooking. Marinating aims to enhance the flavor, tenderize, and sometimes preserve the food. The liquid mixture used for marinating, known as the marinade, typically contains a combination of acidic ingredients (such as vinegar or citrus juice), oils, herbs, spices, and seasonings. The acidic components in the marinade help break down the proteins in the meat, making it more tender. Additionally, the flavors from herbs and spices infuse into the food during the marinating process, contributing to a more flavorful end result. Marinating times can vary depending on the type of food and the recipe, ranging fr...

Live From the Après-Ski Party with Marissa Mullen and Fromage From Europe Presented By: Fondue season is upon us—are you prepared? On a brisk December evening in New York City, we hosted a warm and bubbling fondue party and Fromage From Europe cheese tasting at Murray’s Cheese. The event was hosted by cheese expert Marissa Mullen, author of That Cheese Plate Wants to Party. Marissa was joined by TASTE editor in chief Matt Rodbard and Charles Duque, managing director of the French Dairy Board for the Americas. Duque spoke about the diversity of cheese in France, the characteristics of the many regions, and the terroir which yield over 1,200 unique cheeses in France alone, some with pr...

All About Oysters Hmm, Hmm, Hmm. We do love oysters in our house. I personally only like them freshly shucked and served with cocktail sauce or mignonette sauce but my wife and daughters like them baked, fried or even grilled. What Exactly Are Oysters? Oysters are a type of shellfish highly prized for their unique flavor and nutritional value. They are commonly found in coastal areas worldwide, where they are harvested and served fresh, cooked, or raw. Oysters are a versatile food that can be enjoyed in various ways and have a long history of cultural significance. Oysters are known for their distinct flavor, often described as briny or salty. This taste comes from the high concentration of salt and minerals found in the waters where oysters are harvested. The flavor of...

Craig’s, a Los Angeles celebrity catchall restaurant, name-checked equally by the Drakes and the De Niros of the world, answers the question that many have asked: “What if DJ Khaled decorated a Ruth’s Chris?” Opening in 2011 on a stretch of Melrose Avenue in Beverly Hills that’s become one of LA’s great drivable malls, Craig’s has remained, almost inexplicably, one of Los Angeles’s most popular restaurants, and I wanted to know why. Why do paparazzi dot the entrance nightly when so many other restaurants serve the same slightly dated “California cuisine,” but better, within a one-mile radius? Dozens, in fact, do it better a short Lyft ride away, including The Grill on the Alley, South Beverly Grill, anything advertising a grill, really.  The e...

I consider being born with a healthy appetite and spending the first ten years of my life in some very diverse neighborhoods as my great double blessing. When I was eight and living in Skokie, Illinois, all the kids on my block either were born somewhere else or their parents were. My friend Eugene and his family, who had come from Korea, lived in the apartment next to Sammy, a friend whose parents had defected from the Soviet Union. Across from them, I had a friend named Sebastian who had emigrated from Greece when he was two, and a few apartments down from him were a pair of Chinese brothers who taught me how to pop a wheelie on my black BMX bike with yellow tires. The great unifier among my buddies was that their mothers all loved me because I ...