The mother of Beyoncé and grandmother of Blue Ivy, Rumi and Sir revealed in a recent interview that the gift she wants most for Mother’s Day is for Bey and her sister Solange to come and learn how to make gumbo. It’s significant for Tina because she first learned to make this labor-intensive dish from her mother, Agnes.

But with Beyoncé having just kicked off her cross-country Cowboy Carter tour, it’s not looking like that will happen soon. I suspect Tina will do the cooking this Mother’s Day.

What does Tina Knowles cook for Beyoncé?

The dish that Tina loves to cook is Louisiana Creole gumbo. It was the first dish she learned how to make and remains her favorite thing to prepare for family gatherings.

A recipe for the dish was featured in Tina’s 2002 book Destiny’s Style: Bootylicious Fashion, Beauty, and Lifestyle Secrets from Destiny’s Child and recently resurfaced on TikTok.

The dish starts with a roux, 6 pounds of frozen okra, celery, bell pepper, onions and seasonings. Then she adds chicken, crabs, sausage and tomatoes. The gumbo simmers for three to four hours before the shrimp is added, and the end result is served over rice.

“There are no shortcuts, so you are going to have to baby-sit that pot until it’s ready,” Tina’s recipe reads.

It seems Beyoncé just doesn’t have the patience—or the cooking skills. Tina admitted in a 2019 interview that the superstar “can’t cook,” but Bey is no diva. She’s crazy in love with Tina’s cooking, once calling her mother “the best cook in the world.”

“She makes the best Creole food, all the gumbo and jambalaya and soul food,” Beyoncé said. “When I go home, I want to be babied. I want my mom to cook me food, I want to wear my socks and crawl up into bed, and I don’t want to cook!”

Related:

• Louisiana Gumbo Recipe
• What’s the Difference Between Cajun and Creole Food?
• I Made Dolly Parton’s Butterscotch Pie

The post This Is What Beyoncé’s Mom Makes for Mother’s Day appeared first on Taste Recipes.

Meet “Mom’s Slice,” a trend in which one slice-shaped section of a cake is decked out in maximalist glory and inscribed as belonging specifically to Mom.

What is ‘Mom’s Slice?’

The trend of icing one extra special slice of cake seems to have been popularized by a number of bakeries across the country. Edda’s Cake Designs in Florida first posted the idea on its Instagram last May. Other bakeries—like Clay’s Bakery in Pennsylvania and McArthur’s Bakery in Missouri—have also taken to the idea, adding “Mom’s Slice” options to their menus.

Not surprisingly, the idea has also shown up on TikTok, where user @tiffanys_cakes_ shared her take on the trend in a video viewed over 650,000 times.

While the most popular examples of the trend usually show “Mom’s Slice” with a mound of buttercream flowers, you could make the trend with any type of topping that the cake’s recipient loves to eat. You could achieve a similar effect with a smattering of edible flowers, fruit, sprinkles or candy. Some social media comments suggest that “Mom’s Slice” should actually have less frosting than the rest of the cake, if that’s more your mom’s speed.

How do I add it to a homemade cake?

While bakeries have popularized this trend, it’s pretty straightforward to try at home. You just need to go about baking your cake as you ordinarily would, and when it comes time to decorate it, differentiate one slice-shaped section from the rest of the cake. Drive the message home by writing “Mom’s Slice” and adding a piped arrow pointing to this special section.

If I were to make this for my mom, I’d go the less-frosting route and keep it simple with delicately arranged fresh strawberry slices, because they’re her favorite fruit. Give it a go, and let us know how it turns out!

Related:

• Viral TikTok Recipes and Food Hacks
• Mother’s Day Recipes She’ll Love
• Mother’s Day Lunch Ideas Mom Will Love

The post What Is ‘Mom’s Slice’ and Why Do You Need One for Your Mother’s Day Cake? appeared first on Taste Recipes.

Does it come as any surprise, then, that Anna is known for ordering the same thing to eat for lunch every single day? In a now-viral TikTok video, restaurateur and celebrity chef Geoffrey Zakarian revealed exactly what Anna ordered when she came to his restaurant. Gird your loins!

What does Anna Wintour eat for lunch?

According to Geoffrey, Anna’s go-to lunch order was an off-menu, nearly rare hamburger patty served with a large side of Robuchon mashed potatoes, a particularly butter-intensive variation on the traditional recipe. To begin her meal, she’d reportedly have a cappuccino.

“She had sunglasses on, never took them off, even when she ate,” Geoffrey said. “She would obliterate the entire thing in less than 15 minutes.”

After Vogue’s offices relocated to 1 World Trade Center, it appears that Anna started a new lunch regimen. In Amy Odell’s biography Anna, the author reveals that Anna’s new go-to lunch order was steak paired with a Caprese salad (hold the tomatoes) from nearby steakhouse The Palm. We’re unsure what a Caprese salad without tomatoes entails—isn’t that just mozzarella and basil? But it’s hard to argue with genius.

If you’re curious, yes, this lunch order does align with what Andy Sachs (played by Anne Hathaway) was forced to fetch for Miranda Priestly (played by Meryl Streep) in The Devil Wears Prada. In the 2006 blockbuster, Miranda’s lunch order was a steak. In the novel this movie was based on, the Runway editor required a raw ribeye paired with baked potatoes, smashed potatoes and “eight perfect stalks” of asparagus. Sounds familiar!

Related:

• Meryl Streep Uses This Julia Child Recipe to Make a Week’s Worth of Meals
• Stanley Tucci Served This at His Wedding Instead of Cake
• Secrets a Steakhouse Chef Will Never Tell You

The post This Is What Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour Eats for Lunch Every Day appeared first on Taste Recipes.

We all know Colonel Sanders is the grandfather of fast-food fried chicken. But can he make a respectable waffle? I doubted it would live up to the hype. However, as a longtime lover of KFC, I had to place an order.

What’s the deal with chicken and waffles?

This southern staple is a sweet-and-salty indulgence. You can pair KFC’s waffles with the chain’s fried, bone-in chicken or its Original Recipe Tenders. For my first taste, I ordered waffles with three pieces of KFC’s extra crispy signature fried chicken plus an order of Ed Sheeran’s go-to fries on the side.

My order arrived with the chicken and waffles in a box, along with two containers of Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup.

Are KFC’s chicken and waffles good?

I knew what I was getting into with KFC’s chicken, so I first sampled the waffle on its own. This is a Liège-style waffle, meaning that it’s smaller and denser than a typical waffle. It also has a subtle glaze of pearl sugar that caramelizes, forming a thin crust when cooked. The result couldn’t be further from the soggy mush I feared I’d be tasting.

The waffle, even when doused with syrup, had a sweet, crispy texture and was so flavorful I could hardly stop eating it. I had to remind myself there was also the chicken to consider.

But let’s get to the chicken and waffles of it all. It was logistically challenging to arrange a bite of both chicken and waffle, and, admittedly, these bites weren’t my favorite. The two flavors cancelled each other out a bit. I recommend alternating bites of chicken and waffles and embracing the messiness of it all. Just be sure to grab extra napkins before you dive in!

The whole thing is wonderfully decadent and perfect for Saturday brunch. Fortunately, the KFC near me opens at 10:30 a.m.

How long are the chicken and waffles at KFC?

KFC hasn’t said how long its chicken and waffles will be on the menu. This item first appeared in 2020 and then quickly disappeared for a five-year hiatus, so if you want chicken and waffles, order sooner rather than later. While you’re there, check out KFC’s new Strawberry & Crème Pie Poppers, which just joined Apple Pie Poppers and Cherry Pie Poppers on the dessert menu.

Related:

• • Homemade Chicken and Waffles
  • Copycat KFC Fried Chicken
  • Is Raising Cane’s the Next Chick-fil-A?

The post KFC’s Chicken and Waffles Are Back—Here’s Our Honest Review appeared first on Taste Recipes.

In a recent interview for a popular podcast, English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran told host Alex Cooper that when he’s in the U.S. to tour or promote his music, he turns to one particular fast-food chain above any other.

What is Ed Sheeran’s favorite fast food chain?

“When I’m in America, Whataburger in Texas,” Ed said. “I think that burger bangs the most in terms of all the burgers that I’ve had. Whataburger bangs.”

We can’t argue with Ed here, even if we wish the regional burger chain would go ahead and open more locations. Currently, Whataburger has about 1,000 restaurants in 18 states, mostly in the South. The chain is best-known for its made-to-order burgers and its Dr Pepper milkshake, a seasonal fan favorite.

What does Ed Sheeran eat while on tour?

Whataburger isn’t the only fast food Ed takes into his loving arms while on the road. In the podcast interview, he said he also enjoys Five Guys and KFC, particularly the Colonel’s chicken wings and fries.

“KFC actually does the best fries. KFC’s fries bang,” Ed said.

When it comes to KFC, it’s a family affair for Ed. He added that he recently ordered a family bucket of chicken to enjoy with his two children in tow while staying at his manager’s house. He paired the fried chicken feast with a bottle of Dominus wine, a pricey Napa Valley red in what he called an “initiation” to being back in the U.S. Sounds like a perfect duet to us.

Ed’s fast-food picks surprisingly excluded In-N-Out, a perennial celebrity favorite that is a regular stop for Zendaya and other stars during awards season. The chain even has a hard-won seal of approval from Gordon Ramsay. According to Ed, however, the fries at In-N-Out have room for improvement.

No matter where Ed is getting his fast-food fix in the U.S., one thing is for sure: He’ll always dip his fries in plenty of ketchup. The heavily-inked singer loves the condiment so much that he has a tattoo of a Heinz ketchup bottle on his arm. Now that’s commitment.

Related:

• This Is All Willie Nelson Eats for Breakfast in the Morning
• Trader Joe’s Sells Timothée Chalamet’s Go-To Snack—and We’re Obsessed
• 91-Year-Old Carol Burnett’s Favorite Comfort Food Is So Nostalgic

The post Ed Sheeran Just Revealed His Favorite Fast Food Spot—and It’s Not What You’d Expect appeared first on Taste Recipes.

25-year-old Brooklyn, the eldest son of soccer star David Beckham and his wife Victoria Beckham (aka Posh Spice), told Taste Recipes in a recent interview that he isn’t much for going out these days. Instead, he prefers to stay in and cook for friends or his wife Nicola, who he married in 2022.

So, what’s on the menu at the Peltz Beckham household on a typical evening? Like many of us in these uncertain times, the couple is typically turning to the carb-y comfort of pasta recipes.

What is Brooklyn Peltz Beckham’s favorite dish to cook at home?

According to Brooklyn, his go-to dish to cook at home is spaghetti bolognese, a dish that he said he also cooked for Nicola early on in their relationship. Over the years, he’s worked to improve it and believes he may have made his best batch yet—though he stopped short of calling it perfect because he “doesn’t want to make the Italians mad.”

“The pasta dish is mine and my missus’ go-to dish,” Brooklyn told Taste Recipes. “The other night, I made her probably my best spaghetti bolognese that I have made so far. She tried it and she was just like, ‘Oh my God.’ I love making her happy.”

What makes Brooklyn Peltz Beckham’s spaghetti bolognese unique?

Of course, we had to know how Brooklyn wins raves for his signature dish. The key, he said, is to use bronze-cut pasta, like Barilla’s Al Bronzo, a made-in-Italy pasta line that is relaunching this week with two new pasta shapes—fusilloni and orecchiette. Brooklyn is currently partnering with the brand.

Using bronze-cut pasta, Brooklyn said, allows the pasta to grip onto more sauce—and, therefore, more flavor—with every bite. Since the pasta holds onto more of the sauce, you can avoid encountering a watery surprise at the bottom of your bowl. This is true of most pasta sauces, whether they’re creamy or tomato-based.

“I don’t really like the little puddle at the end,” Brooklyn said.

Brooklyn’s other secret to his spaghetti bolognese is the somewhat unconventional tip to avoid cooking the pasta in water—he prefers to cook it until al dente, right in the sauce itself.

We’re waiting for our pasta night invite, Brooklyn!

Related:

• The Ultimate Guide to Pasta Sauce
• How to Cook Pasta
• I Made the ‘Weeknight Bolognese’ That Ina Garten Loves

The post Brooklyn Peltz Beckham Just Revealed the Dish He Cooked to Win Over His Wife appeared first on Taste Recipes.

The chain has long been a customer favorite for its wide-ranging menu of hearty Italian-American dishes, its never-ending soup and salad and, of course, those warm, perfectly buttery breadsticks. In 2024, however, Olive Garden experienced just 0.8% growth in its system-wide sales.

What chain took over for number one restaurant chain?

The new leader in the casual dining space saw its sales climb by 14.7% in 2024, and that leader is the steakhouse chain Texas Roadhouse.

The chain, which serves up Southwestern-style steakhouse cuisine, has benefited from an increased consumer appetite for steak. It has also managed to keep its menu prices affordable for diners.

In addition to its steaks, Texas Roadhouse is well-known for its flavorful ribs, fresh-baked rolls (hello, honey cinnamon butter!) and popular appetizers like the “cactus blossom” fried onion platter and cheese-stuffed “rattlesnake bites.”

Other chains also experienced significant growth last year, including Chili’s, which leapfrogged Applebee’s to place third in the new ranking due to its 15% growth in sales, and LongHorn Steakhouse, which saw 7.2% growth in sales. LongHorn passed over rival Outback Steakhouse to rank as the nation’s sixth-biggest casual dining chain.

What other restaurants are part of the Texas Roadhouse family?

Texas Roadhouse’s success has allowed the chain to expand its offerings to two other growing restaurant concepts—Bubba’s 33 and Jaggers. Bubba’s 33 is a sports bar-inspired casual dining concept known for its pizza, wings and burgers with over 40 locations across the country, including restaurants in Texas, Indiana and Florida. Jaggers is a fast-casual chain that offers burgers, chicken sandwiches and shakes. It currently boasts 20 locations across the U.S. including spots in Indiana, North Carolina and Kentucky.

The post Olive Garden Is No Longer America’s Top Restaurant Chain—Here’s What Took Its Spot appeared first on Taste Recipes.

Aimee Lou Wood, who previously appeared on Netflix’s Sex Education, plays a fan-favorite character named Chelsea on the series. The show follows the interwoven drama of Chelsea and the other wealthy guests of the fictional White Lotus luxury resort and the staff who dote on them. And don’t worry: We’re not going to spoil the shocking White Lotus finale in case you haven’t watched it yet.

What tropical fruit did Aimee Lou Wood love?

In a recent interview, Aimee shared that she “got addicted” to the fresh coconuts that were available during the cast’s lengthy shoot in Thailand.

“There was one point where I was drinking a concerning amount of coconut a day,” Aimee told Today. “People were like, ‘Surely that much isn’t actually healthy anymore.'”

Aimee’s new addiction turned out to come with a hefty price tag. “It turns out that they’re very, very, very, very inexpensive on the beach, but I was obviously ordering them at the Four Seasons, and because they had the Four Seasons stamp on them, they cost a lot of money,” Aimee said in an interview with People.

Aimee didn’t say exactly what her coconut bill came out to, but noted to People that it “absolutely exceeded” the amount of money HBO had budgeted for her per diem.

It’s not surprising that Aimee kept the coconuts flowing while filming White Lotus, given how balmy the conditions were. Aimee’s costar Parker Posey told The Standard that filming the show was an “endurance test” due to the “intense” heat in Thailand. Because of its natural electrolytes, hydrating coconut water is particularly refreshing to enjoy in hot, tropical environments.

What are some good ways to enjoy coconut?

If you’re feeling inspired to add more coconut to your diet, especially with warmer weather right around the corner, there are plenty of delicious ways to enjoy the fruit.

Of course, coconut lends itself very seamlessly to satisfying and subtly sweet desserts like coconut pies, cupcakes and even cheesecake. On the savory side, dishes like Thai coconut beef, chicken curry soup or coconut lentils with rice are comforting entrees that are also packed with fiber, vitamins and minerals for a surprisingly light, healthy meal any time of year.

Close your eyes and these flavors might even transport your taste buds straight to White Lotus luxury vibes—hopefully without the body bags.

The post ‘White Lotus’ Star Aimee Lou Wood Reveals the Tropical Food She Was ‘Addicted’ to Eating in Thailand appeared first on Taste Recipes.

Fred Rogers was a mainstay of television with his iconic Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood PBS show, which ran for an astounding 31 seasons. The show’s simple and straightforward mission was to teach the nation’s children how to be kind and take care of each other, and it’s a message that has resonated with generations of kids to this day.

It’s no surprise, then, that one of the best comfort foods ever was a favorite of Mister Rogers.

What was Mister Rogers’s family recipe?

When Mister Rogers was growing up outside of Pittsburgh, one of his grandmother’s go-to recipes was a five-ingredient corn pudding. According to PBS, this family recipe was one of Mister Rogers’s favorite dishes throughout his lifetime.

Given that Mister Rogers followed a vegetarian diet, it’s no shocker that he gravitated toward such a hearty, satisfying side dish. Even across three decades of airtime, his award-winning show never featured any meat being consumed.

To prepare Mister Rogers’s favorite corn pudding, beat two eggs in a mixing bowl before adding the remaining ingredients: one 16-ounce can of cream-style corn, 2 tablespoons of flour, a 1/2 teaspoon of salt, a 1/2 cup of milk and 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Mix all the ingredients well, pour the mixture into a buttered casserole dish, and bake the pudding at 350°F for an hour or until the pudding is set. The result is a creamy, cozy dish that’s basically the edible version of a cozy red cardigan.

In addition to being approved by the ultimate next-door neighbor, this recipe is great because it’s easily adaptable. Use sugar to sweeten it and sour cream to moisten the crumb and add tang like this version. If preferred, you can cut the amount of butter used in the mixture by half or substitute Egg Beaters instead of whole eggs. You can also jazz up your corn pudding with other ingredients, like jalapenos, pimientos, shredded cheddar cheese or diced onions. It would pair well with some comforting meat loaf or pork chops on a dinner plate as well.

However you choose to remix this classic recipe, this corn pudding would make any day a special day. There’s simply no other dish in the whole world like it.

The post Mister Rogers’s Family Recipe Will Make You Want to Be His Neighbor appeared first on Taste Recipes.

Historians say Walt was never the most adventurous eater. Perhaps owing to his Midwestern upbringing, he liked to eat familiar, somewhat basic foods like canned chili, eggs and toast, sandwiches and macaroni and cheese.

For dessert, however, PBS shares that Walt had a more unusual favorite. He loved a family recipe called Chris’s Cold Pie, named by Walt’s grandson, Christopher Disney Miller.

What is Chris’s Cold Pie?

Walt’s live-in cook, Thelma Howard, is said to have prepared Walt’s dessert every night. Her desserts included things like custard, bread pudding and red Jell-O with fruit. But one of Walt’s particular favorites was Chris’s Cold Pie, a lemon chiffon pie with a graham cracker crust.

The pie’s ingredients are fairly straightforward: eggs, lemon, gelatin, sugar and salt. These ingredients are all combined to sit atop a graham cracker crust. Then, an unusual finishing touch: Dust the top with nutmeg.

The result is a tart yet balanced dessert that’s perfect for a warm summer day (or any day in Los Angeles, where Disney and his family lived).

Where do I find the recipe?

The recipe for Chris’s Cold Pie first appeared in the 1960s, in Mamie and Dwight Eisenhower’s cookbook, Five-Star Favorites: Recipes from Friends of Mamie and Ike. For anyone who doesn’t want to search through vintage cookbooks, the recipe is also on D23, the official Disney fan club website.

The most important thing to remember with any chiffon recipe is that it should be chilled for several hours before serving. The filling needs enough time to set and firm up before being served at its ideal cool temperature.

The post Walt Disney Had a Favorite Dessert—But It’s Not What You’d Expect appeared first on Taste Recipes.

Not surprisingly, Carol spent more time on stage than in the kitchen. She does have at least one famous recipe, though. During the question-and-answer session at the end of one of her show’s episodes, an audience member asked Carol about what she likes to cook. In response, Carol revealed that she makes a great meat loaf.

What is Carol Burnett’s meat loaf recipe?

In the famous clip, Carol asks the audience member, “Gotta pencil?” Then, she describes in detail how she makes her meat loaf.

First, Carol says, you take “a bunch” of ground round (aka lean ground beef) and mix it up in a bowl with a couple of eggs, some milk, bread crumbs, chopped onions, salt, pepper, celery salt, garlic salt and tomato sauce. Then, form the mixture into a loaf, place in a pan, cover with more tomato sauce mixed with water and pop in an oven preheated to 350°F for about 45 minutes.

“And then you go out to dinner,” Carol quips.

Carol’s response on the show left out measurements, of course, but in 1978, the recipe landed in Habilitat’s Celebrity Cookbook. The recipe calls for 2 pounds of ground beef and specifies the amount of tomato sauce as two 8-ounce cans. The written recipe also adds chopped green peppers and calls for a longer oven time of 1-1/2 hours at a reduced temperature—325°.

Carol’s famous meat loaf recipe is fairly traditional, and even longtime fans report that it could use more flavor. If you want meat loaf for dinner tonight, consider Ree Drummond’s meat loaf, which adds Parmesan cheese, fresh parsley and bacon to the mix, or our most popular meat loaf recipe, which calls for ketchup, brown sugar and Worcestershire.

Whatever recipe you choose, I recommend creamy mashed potatoes and fresh green beans on the side!

The post 91-Year-Old Carol Burnett’s Favorite Comfort Food Is So Nostalgic appeared first on Taste Recipes.

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.