Cooks have come up with bunches of ways to remove unwanted fat from their preparations of stock or broths, gravies, stews or braises, and other “wet” dishes. (Defatting solid foods such as grilled steak or roast meats is generally a slice of a knife.)

To “corn” a cut of meat means to preserve it in salt or heavily salted brine. (A “corn” of salt used to mean what we term “a grain of salt,” hence “corned beef.) The process is simple, although time-consuming, and was used by shippers of beef, and other meats, from Europe to the New World.

French cooks confit—cook very, very slowly in a bucket of fat—a lot more than just duck legs, the one food we think of as confit. (It is both a verb and a noun; the second syllable is pronounced “fee”; the word means “conserved.”)

There’s one really good reason to cut up a whole chicken: it’s always a lot cheaper to buy a whole bird than already cut-up pieces like thighs or breasts. You also can do this with duck or goose and, if you’re strong enough, with a whole turkey.

“Butterflying” the piece of meat, before it is either roasted or grilled, gives it a flatter profile and allows for more even cooking. It also guarantees a crisper exterior or skin, and makes for easier carving and serving when cooked.

Very lean meats such as breasts of chicken or turkey or pork loin roasts or chops tend to dry out when cooked to safe eating temperature. Brining prevents that.

Browning meat creates flavor compounds that, in turn, interact to make additional savory, complex flavor compounds.

One neat thing to do with an everyday, basic, all-time-favorite recipe is to put spins on it, adding to or tinkering with it so it’s not only different, it’s exciting again.

When you are your best company, dinner needn’t be “dinner.”

Which cut of beef is best served by cooking by either dry or wet heat?

What worlds of flavor and titillation fresh chile peppers can bring us!

Fresh sausages—as distinct from pre-cooked or pre-smoked sausages—must be cooked through and thoroughly.

May look like it, but this is not “food waste.”

There are as many possible sandwich combos as there are foods that you can stick between two pieces of bread.

Accidents happen, especially in the kitchen.

Grills just wanna have fun. So, why do we so often disrespect them?

Guanciale—cured fresh pork jowl—is merely one “odd” cut of meat. Photo from Popo Le Chien.

The claim that a marinade’s acidity “makes the meat tender and juicy” is rubbish.

Ten things to cook on the grill, all summer loooong.

A salad of greens dressed with vinaigrette and duck leg confit.