February 2009

Features

• Simply Indian: Recipes from Royal Rajasthan

  While researching a new culinary tour, food guide extraordinaire Peggy Markel visits palaces and home kitchens to learn the traditions and techniques of northern Indian cooking— and comes away with a bunch of sensational recipes.

• F&W’s Top 10 Chocolates

  We love these candies—from a 43-year-old supermarket standby to new artisanal sweets—for all their crunchy, chewy, gooey goodness.

• Indian Ingredients 101

  Indian food depends on a stable of distinctive ingredients. Here’s the lowdown on four essentials.

• Kitchen Renovation Special: The New Appliance Essentials

  Broken oven? Hateful refrigerator? For any kitchen overdue for an upgrade, F&W’s Christine Quinlan identifies the best appliance advances of the past decade.

• Competing at the Bocuse d’Or: Team USA’s Unbeatable Recipes

  Before competing at the prestigious Bocuse d’Or, chefs Timothy Hollingsworth and Adina Guest stop to cook a simple, inspiring meal. Their MO? Channel Mom.

• Cooking at Home: Weeknight Dinner Deluxe

  Like Champagne, sparkling wines such as cava and Prosecco are great with all kinds of food, but they’re simpler, fruitier, more easygoing. F&W wine expert Ray Isle and test-kitchen pro Marcia Kiesel explore the pairing possibilities with half a dozen supremely delicious chicken recipes.

• Dinner with a Deity: Master Chef Michel Bras

  Reclusive Michel Bras, arguably France’s most venerated chef, traveled to Manhattan to cook at a dinner hosted by Stefan Boublil and Gina Alvarez of the design agency the Apartment. Writer Jane Sigal watched Bras prepare his painstakingly pure cuisine and tells why he spent two hours peeling onions.

• Editor’s Letter

• February Deals

  Every month, our editors pick a few amazing deals on some of our favorite things. This month, we feature bargains on top pantry essentials (like artisanal olive oil and balsamic vinegar), chocolate and travel packages.

• Taste-Test Winners: Top Milk-Chocolate Bars

  Fruity, balanced, creamy and smooth. These milk-chocolate bars rated among the best.

• Milk Chocolate Desserts

  Food snobs generally prefer dark chocolate, the more bitter the better. But some of America’s top pastry chefs are proclaiming their love for creamy milk chocolate—which contains milk in addition to sugar and cocoa butter. The recipes here are good enough to lure anyone from the dark side.