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by tvff

Wok Like a Man

They say that it takes a big person to admit when he’s wrong, especially after stubbornly holding out against all good reason. This is a fact that I came to terms with recently when I finally gave up on my seven year (futile) attempt to effectively use a wok.

It all started in the early days of post graduate school life, living by myself in an apartment for the first time. I was shopping for items to outfit the apartment in the place that many young individuals shop, IKEA (yes, they do sell something other than those meatballs). When it comes to the kitchen, IKEA is fantastic for storage containers, inexpensive wine glasses and two of my absolute favorite items, my hanging pot-rack and magnetic knife strip. I could have stopped there, but the lure of a $10 wok was just too much to overcome.

Mind you, this isn’t the one they are selling now (for $7.99…gotta love how prices go DOWN at that place!), which has a non-stick coating. This one was made of some sort of metal (still unidentified) that required seasoning. Still, I was so excited to break it out and cook an authentic Asian meal. I have a bit of a fetish for “authenticity.” I guess I just feel that it’s better somehow…more time-tested than the short-cut recipes optimized for today’s kitchen.

I suppose I had heard all the warnings about why a wok isn’t the best choice for the home chef, but why would I ever let that stand in the way of my authentic idealism? I bet you can see where this is going…

by BS

100 Ways to Use a Strip of Bacon

Long-time readers know that, like most of the western world, I’m obsessed with bacon. There’s just something about this salty, smoky, crispy, fatty, forbidden treat that elicits a drool factor no other food can equal. In recent years, food bloggers have taken bacon to new heights, helping us see how this beloved breakfast meat can be incorporated into nearly every dish imaginable. It’s been bacon for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks.

However, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend creeping up in the blogosphere: the bacon backlash. “Bacon has jumped the shark” opines Grub Street. “Bacon is Dead,” says J-Walk. “BLAME BACON,” yells So Good. I have four words for all you bacon haters: Bacon. Will. Never. Die. Fine, the bacon lube and bacon bras are a little creepy. Maybe we’ve gone too far when we’re literally trying to screw bacon. But I steadfastly refuse to stop eating it in every form imaginable.

So to celebrate the endless survival of bacon, I’ve compiled this handy chart of 100 Ways to Use a Strip of Bacon. From bacon apple pie to bacon guacamole, bacon pickles, bacon marshmallows, and yes, even bacon-wrapped tofu, here are the 100 most glorious ways to enjoy god’s greatest gift to tastebuds. But please, folks — try not to hump the computer screen. The bacon haters are watching.

Click on the photos for full recipes.

PS – What did we miss? Have a recipe that does right by bacon? Drop your link in the comments. If your photo makes us drool, we’ll add it to the list.

Also on ES: 100 Ways to Cook an Egg
100 Ways to Cook with Guinness
100 Ways to Cook with Sriracha

More Bacon: Recipes, raves and other bacon bits in Endless Bacon.

Update! Thanks for all your tips – even more ways to love your bacon:

by ML

The Best Birthday Present a Girl Could Ask For

Amidst the farm/Amish/cow shit stereotypes, I’ve come to realize that Pennsylvania really does love food. Bon Appetit recently featured Philadelphia as being a “scrumptious” city. I’m not sure what happened to the “fat” label, I’m thinking maybe they meant Philadelphians are scrumptious rather than the food itself. But now really isn’t the time for technicalities.

Now that we’ve moved from “fat” to “scrumptious,” imagine my shock, surprise, and delight when I stumbled upon the news of the Reading Phillies’ Gluttony Night. The first Gluttony Night was May 19th, 2009, when the Reading Phillies served more food in one night than at any game in the team’s history.

On this night, 2,576 fans participating in the feast set a stadium record by consuming:

in Personal 6 comments

by BS

ES Has a Face

Well, not really. But you can connect with your fellow foodies via the Endless Simmer facebook group. Everybody’s doing it.

Join ES on facebook here.

in Personal 0 comments

by Bliz

Top Chef Masters: Finale Round 2

I’m sorry to report that I will be calling off my pre-pre engagement to Zooey Deschanel. She’s handling the news very well actually, thanks largely to the fact she has no idea who I am. But if she did, and maybe, just maybe one day she will, I’d like to think she would at least be mildly disappointed.

The thing is, we’ve just been struggling with these imaginary problems for a while now and it’s really taken a toll on our long term future. The final straw was the realization that the only source of nutrients Zooey is allowed to consume is grass. I was crushed when I found out. All these years you think you know someone and then a bomb like this drops on your head and shakes your imaginary relationship to the core.

Find out how the remaining Top Chef Masters handle cooking for a group of people that hate choose not to enjoy everything on this planet worth eating, after the jump.

in Celebs / Personal / TV 7 comments

by Russell Warnick

Best Food iPhone Apps

The first thing all of my friends would tell you about me is that I’m pseudo-addicted to my iPhone. My better half refers to the gadget as my other boyfriend; in which order he and the device are placed I am yet to figure out. Whether I’m checking my email, tweeting or reading the news, I will always find a reason to play with it.

But one of the more surprising and perhaps most purposeful tools I have found for my iPhone is its usefulness in the kitchen and in the grocery store. There are an unbelievable array of food-related apps on the market, enabling me to plan dinner, make restaurant reservations, research menus for my diet-conscious friends, create a grocery list and even expand my enviro-conscious.

Having downloaded and deleted many, many applications, I thought I would share my favorites so you don’t have to waste your bandwidth. Check out the best after the jump.

in Featured / Personal / Trends 10 comments

by gansie

Drinkin’ Beers and Shootin’ Guns

I thought my iPhone was the best thing that ever happened to me. And it almost was. Actually, maybe I just need to pay $1.99 to WordPress and it will be the creature of my desire.

So I was at this kick as event at Whipple Farms over the weekend. I ate fresh from the farm, actually, here’s the menu.

So 80P, Britannia and his boy Deej, and I ate and drank (well, they downed Peronis and I sucked on water due to the bachelorette party I helped throw the night before). The farm was lovely. As much as I love the sense of drama from living in a city, I truly appreciated the freshness of green all around me. It was sunny and breezy and the reggae band kicked ass.

I also shot a gun. First time. It was heavy. Remarkably heavy. And awkward. I didn’t like the feel of the metal brushing my cheek and I surely didn’t like the bruise the gun left on my bicep. But now I can say I shot a gun and still wish for the strictest gun control laws. And, fine, maybe it was cool for a second.

Actually, here, this is me shooting a gun.

in Personal / Photos / Rants & Raves / Trends / Veggie 8 comments