Willie Nelson eats oatmeal every single morning. Ringo Starr has somehow avoided eating pizza for his entire lifetime. Being unusual is far from unusual in this world, but the dinner Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards requires before every concert he plays? Get ready for an inspired choice.

What does Keith Richards eat before concerts?

According to the BBC, Keith eats shepherd’s pie before every gig the band plays. The icon is said to have developed a taste for the classic comfort dish thanks to his mother Doris and grandfather Gus, who both used to prepare it for him.

The tradition dates back to at least the late ’80s, when Keith first requested the dish on the band’s catering menu to help life on tour feel more like life at home. According to Classic Rock, Keith was so adamant about his shepherd’s pie that if he didn’t get it, he would refuse to play the show. He once nearly postponed a show because the opening band, the Stereophonics, had eaten Keith’s pie before he’d gotten to it.

“It’s now famous, my rule on the road,” Keith wrote in his 2010 autobiography Life. “Nobody touches the shepherd’s pie till I’ve been in there. Don’t bust my crust, baby.”

What made Keith Richards’ shepherd’s pie unique?

Keith also has a “top secret” hack for the perfect shepherd’s pie, which he let the BBC in on. Thanks to a tip from his late security guard, Joe Seabrook, he likes to add a layer of chopped onions to the pie before it is topped with mashed potatoes.

“That does add zest to the whole thing,” Keith told the BBC. “It’s, I thought, the crowning glory of the shepherd’s pie.”

The post This Is the Only Thing Keith Richards Eats Before Rolling Stones Concerts appeared first on Taste Recipes.

On the latest Inside Trader Joe’s podcast epsiode, the chain revealed a new Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter in collaboration with Hardywood Park Craft Brewery.

What is the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter?

Hardywood is a Virginia-based craft brewer. TJ’s has previously partnered with them on other treat-inspired releases, like its Speculoos Cookie Butter Beer and Joe-Joe’s Chocolate Vanilla Creme Stout.

On Inside Trader Joe’s, VP of marketing Tara Miller says the new porter is an “homage” to Trader Joe’s incredibly popular Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups.

Matt Sloan, the company’s “culture and innovation guy,” described the porter as “bold” and “intense” with an ABV of 9.2%. It has notes of chocolate, a bit of coffee and—of course—peanut butter. The beer, he added, is more of a dessert drink than something you’d enjoy with dinner.

The new beer has reportedly been a hit with those who have had a taste. And how can it not be when alcohol is one of the things you should always buy at TJ’s! During a tasting panel, “the whole group’s hands shot up in yes votes almost immediately,” Miller said on the podcast.

“It does taste as good as it sounds,” she added. We’ll ring the bell for that!

How long will it be at Trader Joe’s?

Like any other seasonal Trader Joe’s offering, it’s difficult to predict exactly how long the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter will be available in stores. If you want a taste, you should try to stop in sooner rather than later. But, given that the porter is part of the chain’s spring lineup, we hope that it will stick around for at least a couple months.

The post Trader Joe’s Fans Can’t Believe How Perfect This Brand-New Find Is appeared first on Taste Recipes.

Over the years, I have tried countless variations on the classic martini, but this drink never secured a place in my rotation of regular orders. Now, a tip from the late, great Julia Child has me rethinking everything I thought I knew about how to order a martini.

I recently learned that Julia’s favorite cocktail was something called an “upside-down martini,” a more vermouth-forward variation on the classic recipe. According to Culinary Historians of Chicago, Julia once said it was her favorite cocktail because it was so light “you could have two of them.”

What is an ‘upside-down martini’?

The upside-down martini, aka the reverse martini, calls for five parts of extra-dry vermouth (Noilly Prat preferred) to one part gin. This cocktail reverses the recipe for a classic martini.

Garnished with a lemon peel twist, the upside-down martini is a refreshing sipper worthy of a summer happy hour spent gossiping with friends. And Julia is correct: The surprisingly complex but not overbearing flavor will have you asking for another. No wonder this drink had culinary royalty ordering another round!

How do you order an ‘upside-down martini’?

If you’re ordering Julia’s drink from your regular bartender, you’ll want to share a couple of things that make this drink so unique. First, the martini calls for gin, not vodka. In place of sweet vermouth, be sure they use dry vermouth. And if you’re looking to be a purist, the drink needs a lemon peel garnish.

The bartender should also do plenty of shaking to get the martini nice and cold—this one wouldn’t hit the same if it was anything close to room temperature.

With my curiosity piqued, I knew I needed a taste of Julia’s drink myself. My neighborhood bar did not have any vermouth (dry or otherwise) on hand, so I picked up a bottle of Noilly Prat from the store and fixed the drink up at home.

The result lived up to the hype—and with barely three ingredients to it, this is an easy one to whip up at home using the gin of your choice. And, yes, you’ll want to have two.

The post This Was Julia Child’s Favorite Cocktail and I Totally See Why appeared first on Taste Recipes.

In a Glamour feature, Meryl describes herself as a “terrible cook” who mostly stays out of the kitchen. Her only exception is one of Julia’s recipes, which she loves to stretch to cover a week’s worth of meals.

What is Meryl Streep’s go-to Julia Child recipe?

Julia Child’s tarragon chicken recipe has a place in the three-time Oscar winner’s meal rotation.

The recipe first appeared in Julia’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1. It starts with seasoning the chicken’s cavity with salt, pepper and butter, and stuffing the bird with several sprigs of tarragon. The chicken should be patted dry, rubbed with butter and browned in a casserole pot with more butter and oil. Remove the chicken, then use the same pot to cook onions and carrots until tender. Put the chicken back in the pot and roast the whole thing in the oven for about an hour and 20 minutes.

How does she make a week’s worth of meals?

It helps that Meryl loves chicken, though she gets creative to keep it interesting over the course of a full week.

On day two, she uses her leftovers for a tarragon chicken salad. The next day, she adds mushrooms and a homemade broth to the chicken to make a risotto. By day four, she’s making a simple curry using the bird’s dark meat. Finally, she makes soup with canned cannellini beans, canned corn, chopped tomatoes, broth and the remaining meat. Leftover risotto and any fresh vegetables and herbs she has also make their way into the pot.

Honestly, Meryl, you’re being too hard on yourself. We’d happily accept an invite to nosh on your chicken leftovers any day—and we think Julia would be proud of you, too.

The post Meryl Streep Uses This Julia Child Recipe to Make a Week’s Worth of Meals appeared first on Taste Recipes.

If you’ve ever made one of Martha’s recipes, you know they just work. So whenever the culinary icon shares a cooking secret, I sit up and take notes!

In an Instagram post, I noticed that Martha revealed a surprising ingredient that she adds to her pancakes, and it will transform my weekend breakfast routine.

What is Martha’s secret ingredient?

In her Instagram post, Martha says she adds carbonated water. Her recipe for the perfect pancake batter is 2 cups of unbleached flour sifted with 3 tablespoons of sugar plus 1-1/4 teaspoons each of baking powder, baking soda and salt. She stirs the dry ingredients into 2 large eggs mixed with 1-3/4 cups of buttermilk, 2 teaspoons of vanilla, 3 tablespoons of melted butter and—the kicker here—a half cup of unflavored carbonated water.

It’s such a good secret ingredient! Using carbonated water in her pancake recipe is a low-effort way to trap air pockets within the batter. The end result is a much fluffier pancake.

What else makes Martha’s pancakes special?

Carbonated water isn’t Martha Stewart’s only secret for fluffy pancakes. On her website, Martha recommends not over-stirring the batter and never using your spatula to press down on your pancakes when you flip them. There are plenty of pancake mistakes to avoid if you want to be a pro pancake flipper!

And, of course, what truly sets any pancake apart from the rest are the toppings you adorn them with. In her Instagram post, Martha’s pancakes are served with fresh blueberries, raspberries, butter and maple syrup. It’s a very good thing indeed.

The post This Is Martha Stewart’s Secret Ingredient for Perfect Fluffy Pancakes appeared first on Taste Recipes.