Warning: Test Kitchen Tease snapshots may cause cravings, lip-smacking and an unshakeable desire to cook.

When it comes to focaccia, most people are familiar with savory versions like Pisaladiere, a version topped with anchovies, olives and caramelized onions. This week, the F&W Test Kitchen tested an unusual dessert variation—Blackberry Focaccia (left) from Nigel Slater’s forthcoming cookbook, Ripe: A Cook in the Orchard. This blackberry-studded, confectioners' sugar–dusted focaccia is substantial and just barely sweet. Slater recommends cutting it into thick wedges and eating it when warm, but we loved it just the same in smaller squares, which we served with steaming cups of tea. Slater's cookbook won't be out until April, but this savory focaccia from the F&W archives, topped with caramelized onions, pear and blue cheese, is a good variation to try for Super Bowl Sunday. 

 

 

Warning: Test Kitchen Tease snapshots may cause cravings, lip-smacking and an unshakeable desire to cook.

Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain in New York City features a rich special every Thursday: chicken cutlet, American triple cream cheese, Southern ham and arugula. The deconstructed version of classic chicken cordon bleu also stars in Clarkson Potter's fall release Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain Cookbook. Our test (left) came out golden brown and unbelievably juicy. But what elevated the dish were the toppings—lusciously creamy cheese (we used Camembert), salty country ham and a fresh peppery arugula salad. The recipe is in Bobby’s book, but if you don't have it yet, here’s a lovely riff on chicken cordon bleu from our own Test Kitchen Supervisor, Marcia Kiesel: Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Cutlets with Mustard Sauce.

Related: Super Bowl Recipes

Warning: Test Kitchen Tease snapshots may cause cravings, lip-smacking and an unshakeable desire to cook.

San Francisco’s modern and positively charming pastry shop Miette makes caramels that are perfectly chewy and firm. It’s a signature texture that Miette’s owner, Meg Ray, achieves by cooking the caramel mixture to the exact temperature of 246 degrees before pouring it into a baking pan to set. This week in the Food & Wine Test Kitchen, we couldn’t resist making the Fleur de Sel Caramels (left) from the shop’s very first cookbook. As promised, the caramels had just enough bite to keep them from being too sticky to savor. With a generous sprinkling of super-fancy French sea salt, the candies were the perfect balance of salty and sweet. If you’d like to try making them for yourself, you will need to pick up a copy of Miette (published by Chronicle Books in June), but until then, surprise your holiday guests with these buttery-good Chocolate-Dipped Vanilla Caramels from our own Senior Recipe Developer, Grace Parisi.

Related: Homemade Christmas Gifts
Christmas Dinner Ideas
Christmas Desserts

Celebrity restaurateurs such as Danny Meyer and Daniel Boulud have tried—without success—to supply their restaurants with the stellar baguettes baked by students at The French Culinary Institute in NYC. According to FCI’s founder, Dorothy Cann Hamilton, Air France pilots on layover have been spotted at the school's restaurant, L'Ecole, trying to stock up on the crunchy baguettes. Evidently, these cult 23-inch batons are a chore to procure.

As an alum of FCI's classic culinary program, I’ve had the pleasure of sampling bread from the baking courses. Then last week, an event previewing FCI’s third book, The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Bread Baking, included some hands-on experience. We kneaded and shaped buttery brioche, sliced fanciful patterns in stretched fougasse (an olive-studded French bread similar to focaccia) and heard stories of 14-year-old starters—captured wild-yeast spores, which lend the distinct sour taste and aroma to sourdough. Most importantly, the evening ended with advance copies of the only bread-baking cookbook anyone may ever need.

Released by Stewart, Tabori & Chang this week, the comprehensive guide covers the FCI’s intensive 8-week bread-baking course in more than 350 pages. With dozens of recipes—including the famed baguette—the tome will appeal to anyone seeking total immersion in the art of bread baking.

Chicken Dance spotlights a fantastic Food & Wine chicken recipe every day.

Americans may have embraced farro and quinoa as alternative grains, but barley and oats have been left behind. NPR reports that while grain growers have pushed for an oats and barley resurgence, demand remains disappointingly low. We love the heart-healthy benefits of these grains along with their underappreciated versatility: See legendary French chef Michel Bras’s recipe for pan-seared chicken breasts topped with a rich, creamy barley foam.

Warning: Test Kitchen Tease snapshots may cause cravings, lip-smacking and an unshakeable desire to cook.

This week in the F&W Test Kitchen, we whipped up recipes from Asian Tofu by respected cooking teacher and food blogger Andrea Nguyen. Her Cellophane Noodle and Tofu Rolls (left) are a clever vegetarian version of the classic Vietnamese pork-skin rolls called bi cuon. Strips of tofu are shallow-fried until crisp and tossed with soy-infused glass noodles, and together, they mimic the chewy texture and saltiness of traditional pork fillings. The tofu-noodle combo is then sprinkled with nutty toasted rice powder and wrapped in delicate rice paper with lettuce and mint. Nguyen serves the rolls alongside a drizzling sauce of lime juice, brown sugar, chiles, garlic and soy. Ten Speed Press will release the book early next year, but in the meantime, here are some phenomenal tofu recipes for the weekend, including Joe Kim’s playful Crunchy Tofu Tacos.

Chicken Dance spotlights a fantastic Food & Wine chicken recipe every day.

Cookbook author and New York Times columnist, Melissa Clark, will answer all your fall cooking questions live from our Facebook page tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. ET, as part of our Kitchen Insider chat series. Clark’s new book, Cook This Now—on shelves as of yesterday—was featured in the October issue of F&W, along with her favorite recipes for fast and easy weeknight stews, such as these beautifully browned Chicken Dijon drumsticks.

Chicken Dance spotlights a fantastic Food & Wine chicken recipe every day.

Master cookbook author Paula Wolfert's latest tome, The Food of Morocco, drops on Tuesday. The October issue of Food & Wine gives a sneak peek into the new book, which expands on her groundbreaking 1973 work, Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco. Wolfert’s talents in the kitchen, however, go beyond Moroccan cuisine, as seen in her rustic recipe for Lyonnais chicken in red wine vinegar.

Related: More Recipes by Paula Wolfert
Moroccan Recipes

Warning: Test Kitchen Tease snapshots may cause cravings, lip-smacking and an unshakeable desire to cook.

This week, the F&W Test Kitchen excitedly tested recipes from Stephanie Izard's forthcoming cookbook, Girl in the Kitchen. An F&W Best New Chef 2011 and champion of Bravo’s Top Chef Season 4, Izard serves this popular Artichoke and Strawberry Panzanella at her Chicago restaurant, Girl & The Goat. The seemingly wild combination of braised artichokes, thinly sliced strawberries, crispy ciabatta cubes and basil happens to be extremely delicious—especially when tossed with a garlicky-lemon dressing and served on a hefty slice of fresh mozzarella. Chronicle Books will release the book in November, but F&W has lots of bread salad recipes for a fall supper like an Artichoke Panzanella with Tangy Roasted Chicken Thighs.

Chicken Dance spotlights a fantastic Food & Wine chicken recipe every day.

ABC’s new food-centric chat show, The Chew, premiered this afternoon. Highlights included Michael Symon showing off his “Got Pork” tattoo, Carla Hall’s 40-year-old Betty Crocker pancake recipe and Daphne Oz’s budget-friendly smoothie recipes (plus a visit from her famous Dr. dad). Noticeably absent from the studio was Mario Batali, who appeared later telecast from a charity golf tournament. Off-site location aside, Batali still managed to whip up a pizza. Here’s hoping the clog-clad chef will be more present in future episodes since we love his affordable recipes, like this one for grilled chicken thighs coated in a crispy, garlicky crumb topping.