cooking

A greener nonstick option

I'm gradually making my family more eco-friendly, one reusable bag at a time. We've switched from paper to cloth napkins, and we no longer buy paper towels at all. I'm looking for new cookware right now to replace some of my aging pieces, and I wanted to find out about eco-friendlier options. One name I came across is Ecolution, featuring Hydrolon nonstick coating.

Like Teflon, Hydrolon is a multilayer nonstick material. But here's how the two materials are different: Teflon is applied using PFOA, or pertfluorooctanoic acid, a surfactant used to make certain fluoropolymer dispersions. What … Read more

Apple COO gets $5 million thank-you

Steve Jobs salary is $1. The cost of a six-month replacement for him? $5 million.

That's what Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook was granted Wednesday as a reward for taking over while Jobs was on medical leave from January to June 2009, according to an SEC filing made by the company Friday.

The Apple board's compensation committee "unanimously approved a recommendation by Steve Jobs" to award Cook a one-time $5 million bonus as well as 75,000 restricted stock units as a thank you for "his outstanding performance," the filing reads.

Cook's … Read more

New iPhone games of the week (February 10, 2010)

Each week brings a slew of new iPhone games to our doorstep (digitally speaking), but time doesn't permit us to write individual posts about each one. Therefore, here's a roundup of some new and interesting titles you might want to check out:

Daisy Mae's Alien Buffet Unapologetically sexist and gloriously campy, Daisy Mae (top) has the look of a '50s drive-in movie and a plot to match: the gun-toting titular heroine must blast wave after wave of aliens that have invaded her trailer park. Boy, howdy! Giana Sisters If you like Mario-style platform games, you're sure … Read more

Judge: Craigslist not liable for prostitution ads

The question of whether Craigslist is liable for the prostitution ads that can be found on the site appears to have been answered.

U.S. District Judge John Grady on Tuesday tossed out a civil complaint, filed in March by the sheriff of Illinois' Cook County, which accused Craigslist of being a public nuisance and of violating federal, state and local prostitution laws. Sheriff Tom Dart even alleged in his lawsuit that Craigslist "solicits for a prostitute...by arranging meetings of persons for purposes of prostitution."

If calling Craigslist a pimp seems a stretch, well, that's how … Read more

An eye-opening can opener

My 10-year-old is spending more time in the kitchen as an actual helper these days. Last week, she made brownies from a mix all by herself. It was a proud moment.

This week, she wanted to make baked beans, which, of course, entails (1) opening the can, (2) dumping the contents into a bowl, and (3) heating the bowl in the microwave. But we got stuck on Step 1, because I wasn't thrilled with the idea of my daughter's fingers being snagged by a sharp can lid.

The Orbi Safe Cut can opener claims to "revolutionize" … Read more

Google's gourmet embarrassed on 'Top Chef'

September 11, 2001, gave many people pause for thought. But how many can say that such a dark day made them want to cook?

That was the interesting claim made by Preeti Mistry, the 33-year-old executive chef with Google's Bon Appetit management company. She made her declaration on the latest episode of Bravo TV's "Top Chef," in which she was a contestant.

Was.

For Mistry was removed by the judges after serving a paltry pasta salad to the brave and hungry airmen and women at Nellis Air Force Base.

You see, the judges, led by the … Read more

25,000 recipes on your iPhone

Epicurious Recipes and Shopping List is a free app that gives you quick and easy access to more than 25,000 tested recipes from Epicurious.com--originally from sources such as Bon Appetit, Cookie, and Gourmet magazines--along with the ability to save your favorites and create shopping lists for specific recipes.

The app's primary interface divides recipes into broad categories like "Weeknight Dinner" and "Party Snacks," but far more useful and easy to navigate is the app's search function, which lets you search for keywords and select a particular ingredient, course, cuisine, "dietary consideration&… Read more

A spinner for dinner

Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner is a free, ad-supported app that gives you fun and easy access to the user-generated recipes on this popular cooking Web site. The Dinner Spinner gives you a slot-machine-style interface that helps you search for--or just stumble upon--new meal possibilities: you can rotate horizontal spinners to choose a recipe by meal type, ingredient, and cook time, or you can shake your iPhone or iPod Touch (or press a touch-screen button) to randomize any or all of the criteria.

This interface gimmick works surprisingly well, especially with some fixed criteria (like, say, you know you have lamb … Read more

Teppanyaki-style grill gets a face-lift

If you've been a reader for a while, you may remember the Cook-N-Dine teppanyaki-style cooking table, whose patented design allowed you to sear and saute meats and veggies on the same surface from which your guests eat. The trick to the Cook-N-Dine was in its reaction to being heated: the center of the table turns slightly concave when it's heated, trapping all of the juices in the center as the food cooks.

CDS, inventors of the Cook-N-Dine, have redesigned its patented line in this new family of indoor cook tops. The features that made hoards of customers fall … Read more