Chef's Best: A taste for tapas

By Nina M. Scott

Tapas, those delicious little snacks common throughout Spain, have become increasingly popular in the United States. But even though I have served tapas for years, I was unprepared when three seniors at Amherst College, where I teach, asked me to create a course about them.

Chef's Best: A Taste for Tapas

Tapas, those delicious little snacks common throughout Spain, have become increasingly popular in the United States. But even though I have served tapas for years, I was unprepared when three seniors at Amherst College, where I teach, asked me to create a course about them.

Chef's Best: It’s always time for a slow cooker

Home slow cookers have been around for more than 40 years, but today, they're almost trendy. They're perfect for braising, which means cooking food in a little liquid at a fairly low temperature. The technique has become a favorite of chefs who have been embracing less-expensive cuts of meat that become hearty and succulent when cooked low and slow.

Sunshine on a snowy day: Cooking with fresh winter citrus

How discontented would our winters be without the glorious summer promise of oranges, grapefruit, lemons and limes?

These fruits come ripe in the dead of winter and we crave their lively, sunny flavors during the dark, cold months. Limes, lemons and varieties of grapefruit and oranges, including the ruby-fleshed blood oranges, are abundant in stores now.

No dip. No party. Get the scoop on the celebratory staple

Have you ever been to a party where dips weren't served?

Me neither.

They're mainstays at gatherings, and they've come a long way from the days of sour cream mixed with packaged soup or salad dressing seasoning.

With parties for playoff football and an upcoming plethora of entertainment industry award shows, it's time to bust out the dip.

Chef's Best: Don’t forget the salsa

The kaleidoscope of tomatoes and peppers available allow for an almost unlimited color palette for making salsa.

And on the flavor side, the huge range of heirloom and standard tomatoes lets you go from expected to subtle to sweeter, with all kinds of tart or acidic or fruity notes to be found.

Chef's Best: When the weather gets cold, warm up with hot drinks

Hot pumpkin toddy. Hot buttered rum. Spiced latte. Mulled wine.

Are you feeling toasty already?

It's the season for warming up inside with hot drinks, and bars are already offering some fine ones on the menu. But they're just as easy to make at home - and that way you don't even have to de-ice the car.