Hot Tips From Food Network Kitchens’ Katherine Alford: If you’re using raw garlic in a dish, grate the cloves on a fine grater. It’s much faster than mincing, and you’ll end up with a mix of garlic juice and tiny bits of the clove that distribute evenly in salsas, dressings and other uncooked dishes. BestRead more »

Try a new take on sangria this summer: sparkling red wine poured over fruit sorbet. You can prepare it in about 30 seconds — no fruit chopping required. For these, we paired lambrusco (sparkling Italian red wine) with scoops of lemon, peach and orange sorbets. Try your own flavor combo or just drink the lambruscoRead more »

Hot Tips From Food Network Kitchens’ Katherine Alford: Broiling is a great hands-off way to cook fish: You’ll get a nice caramelized crust on top, and you won’t need to flip the fillets. (Check out Food Network Magazine‘s Broiled Salmon With Tomato Cream Sauce, pictured above.) Be sure to preheat the broiler first, then cookRead more »

Food Network stars answer your burning questions from the May issue of Food Network Magazine. Guy, recipes often ask for different kinds of mustard — dry, ground, yellow. Does it really matter which I use? Anja Martin from Thrall, Texas Yes, it does matter. The reason has to do with intensity. It’s best to useRead more »

Hot Tips From Food Network Kitchens’ Katherine Alford: One of our favorite new supermarket finds is frozen brown rice. It’s fully cooked and ready to use: You can add it straight from the freezer to soups, stews and stir-fries and saving about 45 minutes of cooking time. (Photograph by Julia Cawley/Studio D)

Food Network Magazine compared some fiesta favorites — did your Mexican-food favorites come out on top?

Pick up some of Sunny’s finds for your own kitchen. Because she has several cats who like to paw at the curtains, Sunny made hers out of this extra-sturdy barkcloth fabric, in the Monstera Leaf Garden pattern. $17 per yard; islandshawaiianfabric.com

Hot Tips From Food Network Kitchens’ Katherine Alford: Don’t let extra burger buns go to waste: Use them as a binder for chicken or veggie burgers, meatloaf or meatballs. For Food Network Magazine‘s Pesto Chicken Burgers (pictured above), we tore up a bun and mixed it with water to make a panade, a mixture ofRead more »

We think this cookout idea is a stroke of genius. Serve condiments in new mini paint pails (foodsafe), with pastry brushes for spreading (pails, $4 each, containerstore.com; brushes, $3 each, norprowebstore.com). The brushes give you better coverage than a typical squeeze bottle — all the more reason to step up your condiments, too: Try ourRead more »

Each month, thousands of Food Network Magazine readers submit clever names for the back page’s Name This Dish contest. Previous dishes include cheese fries (winning name: “The Smotherload“), a stuffed cupcake (“Heart of the Batter“) and even a cheese puff tower (“Mount Chevrest“). In the April 2013 issue, we asked readers to dream up namesRead more »