Cooking Basics

Honey isn't only good stirred into tea; it's also wonderful for sweetening cocktails. In this drink, it adds a lovely floral quality as well as provides a subtle sweetness. With only four ingredients — honey, orange juice, lemon juice, and gin — this libation is fairly simple, but it's sophisticated and perfectly balanced. For those who dislike gin, I recommend trying a different spirit; vodka would be fine, but also a sweeter whiskey or bourbon would be delicious. Ready for the easy recipe? Keep reading.

In March this year, Jim Beam released a versatile, near-clear spirit, Jacob's Ghost White Whiskey ($22), in an attempt to appeal to tequila and vodka drinkers, claiming it's "a whiskey both old fashioned and cosmopolitan" that can be treated like bourbon or mixed in cocktails like a clear spirit. While the label is quick to dispel this white whiskey as a moonshine or an unaged white dog, we couldn't help but scratch our heads and wonder what we were in for. A neutral-tasting spirit? A clear bourbon? A mild whiskey? The label explains it's an aged, 80-proof whiskey that has rested at least a year in charred, white oak barrels, and so us food editors raised our glasses and cheered for the best but prepared for the worst.

See what we thought of the white whiskey.

While at the Marin farmers market this past weekend, I made friends with Jackie, an adorable farmer who sells eggs under the brand By Cracky It's Jackie's Farm Fresh Eggs. At the end of the market, a few stragglers stopped by her booth requesting chicken eggs. She responded, "Nope, sorry. The weather has been too hot for the chickens to lay eggs. But I have plenty of guinea fowl eggs. They're producing like crazy!" Most refused her offer and walked away disappointed.

While Jackie was gracious enough to give me a dozen guinea fowl eggs at the end of her farmers market run, I'll admit my initial response was not one of excitement: I'd recently encountered a slightly sulfuric-smelling batch of chicken eggs and hadn't quite recovered from the experience. I assumed the eggs from the guinea fowl, which sounded exotic and complicated, must have possessed an equally game taste to match.

"What should I do with them?" I asked Jackie uneasily. "Just cook them like chicken eggs. But remember, the shells are tougher than chicken eggs. So whack 'em to crack 'em, and I mean, really whack 'em," she replied. With that, I gathered my carton of eggs and got cracking. See what guinea fowl eggs look like inside when you read more.

Recently a friend gave me two dozen eggs from her homegrown chickens. Since farm fresh eggs are one of life's little pleasures, I didn't want to waste any part of these eggs. I also wanted to do more with the eggs than eat them fried.

I wound up preparing a pavlova, a dessert that requires egg whites to create a fluffy and marshmallowy meringue. However, I couldn't throw away the precious yolks, so I came up with five ways to use them. Find out what they are after the break.