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Rachel Perlmutter is a recipe developer, food stylist, and culinary producer at The Kitchn. Originally from Houston, Texas, she spends her free time trying to perfect kolaches and breakfast tacos that taste like home. Rachel currently lives in Brooklyn with her partner, dog, cat and rabbit, where they all share a love of seasonal local produce.
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Rachel Perlmutter
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I grew up eating steamed jasmine rice every single day for dinner, and it was lovingly made by my grandmother in an ancient electric rice cooker. The scent of jasmine rice still makes me think of Chinese food and home cooking, and it’s hands-down my favorite kind of rice — and a recipe I know by heart.
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Christine Gallary
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Pruitt Kerdchoochuen grew up in Thailand, splitting her time between the city of Bangkok and the northeastern town of Muak Lek, Saraburi. Outside of her regular kitchen job, she runs Thaiglish, an occasional Thai(ish) pop-up, as a way to stay connected to the flavors and memories of her childhood. She is constantly on the hunt for fresh Makrut lime leaves.
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Pruitt Kerdchoochuen
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With five children, Shifrah is learning a thing or two about how to keep a fairly organized and pretty clean house with a grateful heart in a way that leaves plenty of time for the people who matter most. Shifrah grew up in San Francisco, but has come to appreciate smaller town life in Tallahassee, Florida, which she now calls home. She’s been writing professionally for twenty years and she loves lifestyle photography, memory keeping, gardening, reading, and going to the beach with her husband and children.
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Shifrah Combiths
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Out of all the celebrities out there to have brownie recipes, I’ll be completely honest with you: I never would have expected someone like Victoria Beckham to have one. So when I came across her brownie recipe, which is apparently her “favorite brownies to make,” I honestly was curious. People reports that these brownies are “not too fudgy and definitely foolproof,” which sounds like my kind of easy recipe. But would it be good? Would this brownie recipe truly “spice up my life?” (Wink, wink.) I put it to the test to find out.
Get the recipe: Victoria Beckham’s Easy Brownies
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat together the sugar, cocoa powder, and melted butter. Crack in the eggs and mix in the vanilla extract, beating until smooth. Sprinkle in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat until the batter is combined.
Grease a 13×9-inch pan with butter, then spread the batter with a rubber spatula into the pan. Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the brownies cool for about an hour before slicing and serving.
You know it’s a very good sign these brownies are going to be great if you find yourself licking the spoon, and evidently the rest of the bowl, after scraping the brownie dough into your pan. I was transfixed by how delicious this brownie batter tasted despite being so simple to throw together, and honestly felt excited to bake these brownies and see what they tasted like once I had the finished baked good.
I can happily report that People’s description of these brownies was actually correct. They aren’t too fudgy, yet they are incredibly easy to make. I’m a fan of a cakey brownie versus a super fudgy brownie (probably because I’m more of a cake person than a frosting person), so this dessert was perfect. My only critique is that I feel it needs a touch more salt to accent all of that cocoa powder in the batter, and maybe some added chocolate chips to get some gooey chocolate to level out the texture of the dessert. However, these things are very small and easily adjustable, so I feel I will be making this recipe again soon.
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Kiersten Hickman
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I love olive oil and basically never use any other cooking oil in my home. Replacing the traditional butter with extra-virgin olive oil took my brain to a place of whole-new French toast possibilities. I just had to try it for myself. Here’s how it went.
I’m a fan! While I was immediately intrigued by this little innovation, I must admit I was also skeptical. Butter is a pretty key ingredient in French toast. It brings richness and fat, and besides, what’s breakfast without butter? But olive oil is also pretty rich tasting, and though it doesn’t have the creamy flavor that dairy brings, a good quality olive oil brings its own robust, floral flavor to the party.
I am a noted savory breakfast person who will take an egg over a pancake (or French toast) any day. Which is why this take on French toast worked so well for me. I associate olive oil with savory flavors, so while this French toast wasn’t specifically a savory version ( I used a traditional sweetened custard and challah bread, which is lightly sweet), it did walk the line between sweet and savory in a great way.
Using the olive oil as a replacement for maple syrup as the “finishing syrup” solidified the whole dish for me. You get the hit of sugar from the custard and the berries, but not the super sticky sweetness of maple syrup. Maple syrup and butter make great bedfellows, but my new breakfast flavor combo is berries and EVOO. Maybe I’ll try it on pancakes next …
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Andrea Rivera Wawrzyn
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I am a New Yorker, born and raised in Queens, NY. I was a high school mathematics teacher who went to culinary school with the love of both savory and pastry. I had an opportunity to transition to the pastry world and worked up to pastry sous chef. I’m currently a food stylist for food competition shows and a recipe developer for Food Network and other publications.
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Andy Liang
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As long as it has a healthy amount of sugar and milk in it, I love coffee in all of its forms, but there’s something about cold coffee that’s particularly appealing. Even during the winter months, you’ll likely find me carrying around an icy brew over a hot one, and now that warmer weather has arrived, it’s basically glued to my hand. Up until recently, I’ll admit that I was sourcing my iced coffee and frappuccinos from a shop rather than at home, but now that I’ve swapped my classic Keurig for a Mr. Coffee machine, everything has changed.
First, I tried the brand’s budget-friendly, 4-in-1 Latte Lux Maker, which totally blew me away. I didn’t think that it could get any better, but I found another model that proved me wrong. They have a 3-in-1 machine that includes a built-in blender, which whips up barista-quality frappuccinos in minutes (along with hot and iced coffee, too). Read on to find out why I’m going to use it every day this summer — actually, every day this year.
As you might’ve already guessed from my frequent coffee shop visits, I’m no barista or coffee snob. I’m all about convenience and ease, at least right now, and this Mr. Coffee machine offers that in spades. It only has four buttons — hot brew, over ice, blend, and pulse — and the water reservoir and single-serve reusable filter (no wasteful pods here!) are accessible at the top. There’s virtually no chance of messing anything up, since every piece is marked with the correct measurements along the way, including the blender, the scoops, and the tumblers. The guided ratios ensure optimal taste, though you can definitely adjust a little bit depending on how strong you like your brew. The same goes for when it comes time to actually do the blending, because once you press the button, it’ll give your frappe the perfect consistency. It’ll create iced and hot coffee and frappes anywhere from six to 16 ounces.
After following the instructions to the letter every time, I have virtually no complaints about this affordable coffee maker. Of course, I’ve been using the frappe mode way more often than the other two, simply because I love an icy drink. As great as the iced and hot functions are, it’s almost as easy and fast to make a frappuccino, so I’ll opt for that nearly every time. All of Mr. Coffee’s measurements and ratios have delivered perfect results thus far, and the pre-programmed blending option replicates a similar consistency to Starbucks’ frappes. (I don’t trust myself to achieve the same with my regular blender.) The blender is more powerful than I expected, too; so far, I haven’t had any uncrushed ice cubes in my drink. From beginning to end, it typically takes me a little over five minutes to make a frappe. The brewing is complete in about three or four minutes, while the blending takes a minute or so.
If you don’t have an ice maker, it does require a little more time and effort to get the cubes out of your mold and into the blender, but I’ve been ice maker-less for so long that I’m used to it at this point. Another important thing to note is that the blender is definitely not quiet. Be warned that if you make your coffee early in the morning and share your space with others, they’ll probably wake up from the noise (I’m speaking from experience here).
You should grab this budget-friendly brewer if you’re looking to:
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Morgan Pryor
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Fried eggs are a quintessential breakfast classic. They’re just as comfortable on a fancy brunch menu as they are in a greasy spoon diner. And while it’s pretty easy to make at home, it’s also one of the more difficult things to get exactly right. That’s because you can fry an egg a number of ways, and people have strong preferences about how they’re prepared. Some people like their eggs over-medium, or with browned lacy edges; others prefer a more gentle cook.
But, for me, the “best” fried egg is really the easiest fried egg. It doesn’t stick to the pan, it doesn’t make a mess, and cooking it doesn’t smoke out the kitchen. And, of course, the whites are properly cooked through (which can be one of the trickiest parts!) To nail down the best way to fry an egg, I researched and tested eight popular cooking methods at home.
For something that seems so simple, frying an egg can be a finicky task. There are a surprising number of factors to consider — heat level, cooking vessel, whether or not to flip, and the list goes on, but suffice it to say I had to establish some parameters before I got started.
About this method: This cooking method is as simple as it gets. The egg is poured into a cold, empty nonstick skillet — no oil or butter at all — and then cooked over medium heat until the whites are just set.
Results: The upside to the cold start is that the eggs cooked pretty gently and had almost no browned edges. There’s no extra fat in the pan to spatter out, which is nice for clean up and safety. The downside is that without any fat in the pan, the egg tasted noticeably less rich and delicious than other fried eggs in the lineup. It also took just about 6 minutes to cook, which is much longer than other methods (boo).
About this method: For this tried-and-true method, I cooked one egg in 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil in an uncovered pan that had been preheated for 2 minutes over medium heat.
Results: This method produced what I would consider a good, standard fried egg. There was a bit of oil splatter while it was cooking, but not too much. Cooking the egg uncovered meant it needed longer in the pan for the whites to fully cook, clocking in at about 3 1/2 minutes. The finished egg was browned around the edges because of that extra cooking time, which was not what I was after. Vegetable oil didn’t add much in the way of flavor, so while the egg itself was cooked fine, it was nothing to write home about.
About this method: I preheated the pan for 2 minutes with 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil, then added 1 teaspoon of butter to the hot pan just before slipping in the egg. I covered the pan with a lid and cooked the egg for 1 minute, then turned the heat off and let it finish cooking, covered for an additional 30 seconds.
Results: This is a bit of a maximalist method for frying eggs. The idea is that the addition of two fats makes for a richer, fuller flavor than just using one alone. As promised, the egg did have a richer flavor than ones cooked in just one type of fat. White it yielded a perfect runny yolk and well-set whites, the egg had a harder cook on the bottom with a crispier texture. In the end, the extra bit of richness wasn’t worth the effort.
About this method: This is a simple twist on a classic preparation. It’s the same as the vegetable oil test above: The eggs are cooked uncovered in a pan that has been preheated for 2 minutes with 1 teaspoon of olive oil instead.
Results: Compared with methods that use butter or vegetable oil, this one fared the best in terms of browning. I was specifically aiming for eggs without browned bottoms and edges, and the olive oil delivered the egg with the least of those. In terms of flavor it landed right in the middle, having more flavor than the vegetable oil — which didn’t add much at all — but less than butter.
About this method: I preheated a pan with 1 teaspoon of butter for 2 minutes, then added the egg and fried it, uncovered, until the whites were just set.
Results: While this method gets high marks for flavor (browned butter, yum), it loses points for excessive browning. Two things were working against my goal of a gently cooked egg: the lack of a lid, and the butter itself. Without a cover to trap the heat, I had to fry the egg for slightly longer to set the whites, which in turn led to the bottom and edges of the egg getting much crispier than I wanted. As the egg cooked, the butter in the pan browned, which while delicious, contributed to the overall brown appearance of the finished egg. Tasty, but not what I wanted.
About this method: This method was identical to the butter test, but with a lid. I put 1 teaspoon of butter into the pan and preheated it for 2 minutes over medium heat, then added the egg and immediately covered the pan with a lid. I then cooked the egg until the whites were just set.
Results: This was pretty close to my ideal fried egg. It had the best of both worlds: the flavor of butter, and the gentler cook that comes from covering the pan. The browning on the bottom and around the edges was minimal. A covered pan traps heat all around the egg, so it cooks faster and more evenly than if it were uncovered.
About this method: This method is a bit more hands on than the others. I added 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan and preheated it for 2 minutes over medium heat. I then added an egg to the pan, let it fry for about 1 minute, then tilted the pan and used a spoon to baste the top of the egg with melted butter until the whites were set.
The egg spent over half of its cooking time tilted away from the direct heat of the flame, so it actually cooked more gently than most of the other methods I tested. Additionally, cooking it this way allowed me the greatest amount of control. I could push the egg around in the pan, in and out of its butter bath, as well as specifically directing where on the egg’s surface to add more hot butter, thereby eliminating any spots being under or overcooked. The bottom of the egg was cooked, but not browned; there was nary a crispy edge to be seen; and since it was positively drowning in butter, it was delicious, if a bit rich. I wound up with the gently cooked butter-drenched fried egg of my dreams, but at what cost?
While this produced the best egg, it was also by far the most high-maintenance one. Basting an egg is much more active than simply frying it, on top of which, you’re tilting a pan full of very hot fat toward yourself, which is not exactly the height of safety. Since I opted for a nonstick pan, I also had to use a nonmetal spoon for basting, since you should never use metal utensils on nonstick cookware. Luckily, I had a favorite silicone spoon handy, but not everyone does. All in all, while this was a top-notch fried egg, this method would never be my go-to for making an easy fried egg.
About this method: This method is identical to the covered method above, but with the addition of 1 teaspoon of water. I added the water just after adding the egg to the preheated pan and quickly covered it with a lid. I then fried the egg over medium heat for about 1 minute, until the whites were just set.
Results: Nailed it! This method delivers the best fried egg. Covering the pan leads to more even cooking, and coupling it with water takes it to the next level. The steam created by adding just 1 teaspoon of water is enough to create the perfect environment for gentle, even egg cooking.
Butter adds great flavor without becoming overly rich like the basted egg. The whites were well set, and the yolk was jammy, not overly runny, but cooked just enough for a toast dunk. There was a bit of browning on the edges, but very little and the bottom of the egg remained silky with no crisping up. Mission accomplished.
For the record, there were no bad eggs here. A fried egg is pretty hard to totally screw up, and I would have happily put every egg I cooked on top of a bowl of fried rice. I did learn a few lessons though that may help you the next time you’re frying an egg at home.
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Andrea Rivera Wawrzyn
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I don’t know about you, but I definitely have the spring shopping bug. Something about the seasonal transition is making me want to revamp my entire space, from my living room rug to the drinking glasses in my kitchen cabinets. If you feel the same, the best advice I have is to look out for sales. Although you wouldn’t typically think of April as a major sale month, you’d be surprised by what you could find right now for a good discount. Le Creuset, for example, is currently offering such good markdowns on its Olive Branch collection that many of the cookware and decor pieces have already sold out. But if you act fast, you could still snag a new cast-iron Dutch oven or saucier with the gorgeous design for way below its retail price. Although the colors are delightfully spring-y, they’ll look stunning in your kitchen year-round. Without further ado, these are the pieces that are on sale and still in stock — but probably not for long!
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Nikol Slatinska
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Before now, I was skeptical about keeping a stockpot in my kitchen. I’ve been working with miniscule kitchens in New York City for the past half-decade, after all. When your kitchen only offers two cabinets, it’s hard to justify purchasing any “extra” piece of cookware beyond a fry pan and a saucepan. Not to mention, a roomy stockpot seems to be a little overkill for someone who is usually just making food for themselves.
That, however, was before I decided to start making large batches of food at a time so I’d have ready-to-go meals for the rest of the week. I had a chance to try out Quince’s — the affordable brand known for their high-quality cashmere clothing and bedding — new cookware collection, and it has been performing as great as it looks. Their stunning stainless steel stockpot sits on my stovetop permanently now, and it’s less than half the price of All-Clad’s similar version. Let me tell you why it’s a must-have for everyone, whether you’re meal prepping for yourself or whipping up large amounts for a crowd.
PFA-, PFOA-, PTFE-, BPA-, lead-, and cadmium-free, Quince’s professional-grade, Italian-made cookware is fit for every kitchen. It features 5-ply construction, and the greater number of layers (which alternate between stainless steel and aluminum) means that it holds heat more efficiently. The stainless steel exterior also has a more subtle satin finish, as opposed to most shinier options. The design is simple and timeless, just like the classic brands, and is built to last. The stockpot has an 8-quart capacity, which is one of the most common sizes. If you decide to take advantage of its whole capacity, you can feed roughly eight people.
Quince’s cookware will instantly level up your daily meals without making an enormous dent in your wallet, like most other stainless steel options. After whipping up soups, chili, and pasta in this workhorse, I can say that confidently. Its sides are just high enough to prevent splatter, but not so tall that I couldn’t peek inside and stir easily. Despite its many layers, I haven’t found myself waiting impatiently for it to heat up. I tossed in a pound of ground beef for my chili, and it cooked all the way through impressively fast, and there was no sticking after preheating it for a minute or two. After letting the whole mixture simmer on low heat and even after letting it sit for half an hour, everything was still steamy. I saw the same results with chicken noodle soup.
The most significant things that might be holding you back from using stainless steel are the weight and maintenance. Its heftiness means that it’ll last — you won’t see any warping happening here — but when moving it between locations, it can get a little tricky. However, in the case of this stockpot, I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it’s lightweight, but I will say that it was less cumbersome than I expected. Mind you, I’m not a gal with a ton of upper body strength. The ergonomic handles on either side helped that along (and I didn’t find that they were too hot to touch after sitting on the stove for a while, either). Washing it in the sink (which is the cleaning method you should use to keep it in good shape) took a little more effort, but I could handle it.
All in all, that’s a drop in the bucket compared to how much this piece has to offer. It’s a small price to pay for how well it performs every single time — and, not to mention, how beautiful it looks on my stovetop. If you’ve been holding off on buying a pricier brand’s stockpot, I recommend checking out this one instead, which will save you money and likely last just as long. It’s backed by a warranty, after all. While you’re at it, take a look at the rest of the collection here!
Buy: Quince 5-Ply Stainless Steel 8 Quart Stockpot, $149.90
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Morgan Pryor
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