"ThePioneerWoman" news and stories

A few of the best links on the Web this week:

• Back-of-the-box recipes used to be basic -- but not anymore.
• Gwyneth Paltrow discovers the delights of fried Southern food and shares her "Quest for the Best Fried Chicken."
• The food bus is the latest take on the food truck even offers patrons a place to sit and eat.
• Unemployed? There's no law against using food stamps for gourmet provisions.

Many of vegetables, that they are at their very best when they're fresh, new, young and crisp. But oftentimes, we can't get to our veggies before they've lost some of the glowing exuberance that comes from being just off the vine or plant. And so we look for ways to make those bunches of broccoli and heads of cabbage delicious, despite their imperfections.

In the last few days, bloggers all across the internet have been posting recipes for ways to take these fall and winter veggies and make them heart-stoppingly delicious.

The Amateur Gourmet tries out Ina Garten's recipe for roasted broccoli and announces that it's the Best Broccoli of his life. Over at Grub Street, they're featuring the Broccoli and Cheetos dish that Chef Craig Koketsu makes at his New York restaurant, Park Avenue Autumn. Molly of Orangette is making a gratin out of Savoy cabbage and Ree the Pioneer Woman is using her trusty cast iron skillet to prepare a turnip gratin that would be perfect for Thanksgiving. I can't remember the last time vegetables have been quite so tasty!

Last weekend, I used dried pinto beans for the first time. And actually, other than a brief flirtation with cannellini beans during college and the occasional lentil soup or salad, my experience with dried beans is nil. When I was growing up, we were more of a canned bean family and so the idea of cooking with dried beans just never really crossed my mind.

However, over the last few months (or so) I've been seeing lots of people write about using dried beans. The Pioneer Woman did it (and paired them with cornbread). The Gluten-Free Girl described beans in delicious detail. And Luisa, the Wednesday Chef, did amazing things with giant white lima beans.

Our cookie today is not one of my recipes. It doesn't even belong to anyone I know. But I feel confident, judging from the Pioneer Woman's past recipes, that it is a winner. She uses a technique I've never encountered to color her cookies, creating a glaze with egg yolk, water and food coloring in order to get that really lovely, glassy finish on her cookies (I'm sort of sad to only be learning about that method now, but rest assured, I'm adopting it from here on out). I especially love the effect it brings to the Santa cut-outs, because it accentuates his pack and boots. I almost want to bust out the cookie cutters right now. What are you waiting for? Go visit her food site to get the recipe and see all her terrific pictures. And let me know how the cookies turn out.

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