Kitchen Techniques

Even some seasoned cooks shy away from using unfamiliar spices, but there's nothing to fear about fresh, high-quality spices, which are nothing like the stale, powdery stuff on supermarket shelves. Spice expert Lior Lev Sercarz, owner of La Boîte, a spice shop in New York City, has dedicated his life to reintroducing home cooks to spice blends and the infinite ways they can amplify the flavor of foods.

Beyond his duties at the store, Lior is part of the Lean Cuisine Culinary Roundtable, a group of chefs who gather quarterly to inspire new flavors for Lean Cuisine products. The team recently met at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone to discuss their expertise with food writers, and Lior showcased tips and tricks on developing unforgettable spice blends at home.

Unlike the La Boîte product line, which features carefully crafted blends of the highest quality spices from around the world, Lior's demo at the CIA kitchen was a casual affair. It was less about the spices origin and the exact measurements of each spice and more about learning the basics of whole spices and the method of creating a flavorful, homemade blend. If you're interested in becoming a mad spice scientist, Lior offers helpful tips for making a successful, spice-blending experiment.

There is something wonderfully ceremonial about making tea, especially matcha, or finely ground Japanese green tea. Making matcha is a little more complicated than dipping a tea bag into hot water; the emerald-green powder is quickly whisked into a frothy, thick brew. Much like whipping cream, the trick requires a little bit of practice, but we've rounded up a few methods with pictures to help you develop matcha with a beautiful layer of foam.

A traditional Japanese method for preparing matcha calls for a bamboo whisk with superfine tines; however, home cooks can also hack the process using a mini immersion blender or whisk. And while the Japanese take their matcha "green," some drinkers may find the unadulterated mixture too bitter and grassy for their liking. That's why we've included a quick latte recipe for easy matcha drinking. Take a look at three ways to make matcha.

We could wax rhapsodic about the wide world of cake for hours (and likely have), but whether we're indulging in a fudgey chocolate-almond stunner or a classic yellow cake, one crucial step in cake prep holds constant. In our less-informed days, we occasionally skipped taking the care and time to prep a cake pan properly, writing it off as a fussy, time consuming step. Let's just say we learned our lesson the hard way . . . and when it comes down to it, this step is a necessity — and actually quite simple. So learn from our mistakes, and do it right.

When cooking with butter straight from the fridge, it has a higher chance of burning, because the butter contains milk solids that lower its smoke point. One simple way to prevent a burnt, oily mess? Remove the milk solids and create clarified butter; in just 10 to 20 minutes, you'll be able to add a dab of the warm-flavored cooking oil to everything from pancakes and grilled cheese to eggs and sautéed meat. Take a look at our method of clarifying butter, in pictures.

Have a hankering for sweet-tart cherry pie, but find yourself intimidated by the process of making pie crust from scratch? Look no further! Not only do we have a near-foolproof pie crust recipe to share, but we've broken the procedure down into a few simple steps sure to elucidate the process for visual learners. So stop fretting (it's easy, we swear) and start baking.

I adore jalapeño poppers so much that they'd be a guaranteed part of my last meal — but up until recently, I'd never made them at home. This was in large part due to past misadventures in hot pepper handling (key takeaway: no matter what happens, don't touch your face when working with chiles). But this weekend, I finally overcame my fear of prepping poppers, and guess what? It wasn't nearly as scary as I'd thought. Follow a few careful steps, and you're sure to find success with these, not only in the kitchen, but also at the Super Bowl party table.

Whether you're a rookie or an expert with sauces, one staple you won't be able to go without is the bouquet garni, a small bunch of classic French herbs used to infuse many European sauces, stews, and soups — as well as important holiday roasts. I know that they can be bought ready-made, but in my opinion, the notion goes against common sense. Why would you buy them when they are cheaper, easier, and most importantly, more flavorful when you make them on your own? If you haven't made a bouquet garni before, it only takes a few minutes. Keep reading to learn how to create your own.