Easy Hummus

Welcome to Kitchen Essentials, a video series showcasing the favorite tools of renowned chefs. In this episode, we visit Top Chef finalist Shirley Chung at her restaurant Ms. Chi Cafe in Culver City, California. Shirley specializes in Chinese-American cuisine and shares the five kitchen tools that are essential in her kitchen: a cast iron pan, medical-grade tweezers, her favorite spoon, a rolling pin, and an immersion circulator. Shop Shirley Chung's Kitchen Essential Picks

Chef Jansen Chan's pumpkin pie hack lets you make one from scratch in less then 30 minutes. Who wants to spend time making pie crust, when you can be enjoying Friendsgiving? With The International Culinary Center

When you're cooking turkey, but also doing Friendsgiving - it's worth learning a butchering technique that will save you hours of work in the kitchen. Jocelyn Guest (whole animal butcher) teaches us how to perfectly spatchcock (or butterfly) the bird. Special thanks to The International Culinary Center

Anna Francese Gass joins our Table Talk series. In this interview with our Executive Editor Hana Asbrink, Anna, a native of Rhode Island living in New York City and alumni of the French Culinary Institute, talks about her passion for authentic immigrant cooking and the surrounding stories. She has spent much of her time traveling the country cooking with grandmothers and learning the true and complicated fabric of this country, one kitchen at a time. Her hope is that by transcribing these cherished recipes, they will continue to be shared and loved for generations to come.

Offal is having a big moment in the food world, which prompted Guillermo (a self proclaimed offal lover) to visit chef Jeremy Salamon (one of NYC's youngest LGBTQ+ rising star chefs) at The Eddy, right on time to celebrate Pride month. Jeremy's critically-appraised, mostly Hungarian menu, was inspired by his grandmother’s recipes. Offal is a staple of Eastern European cuisines, so it made sense to make delicious pastrami beef tongue. Let's tongue for Pride! PS: The Eddy will be closing its doors this Monday 6/17 after dinner service - New Yorkers: the restaurant will be offering all guests a 25% discount on their check (no minimums, no maximums, no questions asked).

Café Gratitude, a small vegan chain from California, has an interesting concept to improve the future of our planet. Meatless Monday deals and offerings across the country show no signs of slowing down. Growing concern over both the quality of mass-processed meats along with climate change and the humane treatment of animals, is inspiring folks to adopt vegan habits, at least part-time anyways. The café took a step ahead by offering 50% off on their most popular dishes every Monday for a limited time, as an incentive for diners, while trying to motivate other restaurants to follow the model. Café Gratitude’s motto “Be plant rich” means they want you to live a rich life mostly on plants.