Coming up with 50 of anything for Food Network Magazine’s monthly 50-recipe booklet can be daunting — in the past, the booklet has featured 50 salads, 50 pizzas and 50 cookies — but this month, Food Network Kitchens tackled a single ingredient: bacon.
To dream up dishes such as Bacon Guacamole (No. 1), Bacon-Beer Mussels (No. 22) and Bacon Muffins (No. 32), testers went through hundreds of ideas. “We don’t put things in for shock value,” tester Leah Brickley says. “The recipes always taste good and have appeal.”
The chefs developed their own version of the trendy Bacon Explosion (see the original here), but in the end, decided it was a little too over-the-top to make the cut.
Get the recipe for the Barbecue Bacon Bake »
You’ve likely seen the name Food Network Kitchens featured in many our most popular recipes, such as Oven Fried Chicken, Baked Ziti and Creamy Tomato Soup. But have you ever wondered who the chefs are or what exactly goes on inside Food Network Kitchens? Food Network Test Kitchen Manager Claudia Sidoti recently offered some fun facts about the expansive and well-stocked kitchen of Food Network headquarters in New York City to Grub Street.
Split between two separate working kitchens, one for testing and the other for camera-worthy plates, the space features a rustic table large enough to seat a crowd, several stove stations and a whopping 18 refrigerators, including one walk-in and three freezers.
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Microwaveable snack pockets are one of those foods people love to hate on. They’re often thought of as a last-resort after school snack or a guilt-laden solution to the midnight munchies. The comedian Jim Gaffigan even has a pretty hilarious skit about them (watch it here). But the truth is a lot of people secretly love them. It’s not hard to understand why. I mean, they’re hearty, easy to eat and convenient.
Here in the Food Network Kitchens, we wanted to capitalize on all the great things about snack pockets and fix all the bad things — like the processed, overly salty, not-so-good for you fillings and often soggy crust.
Find your favorite filling »
For recent story on old-school fruit leather roll-ups in Food Network Magazine’s September issue, chefs in Food Network Kitchens tried all sorts of combos, but apple-ginger, spicy mango and raspberry-vanilla were clear favorites. Don’t ask for pineapple, “No matter how many times recipe developers tried it, it just wouldn’t set.”
Get the recipes and check out behind-the-scenes photos »
Last month, fans of Food Network Star had the chance to get up close and personal with Susie Jimenez, Mary Beth Albright, Whitney Chen, Vic “Vegas” Moea and the Sandwich King, Jeff Mauro, during the Food Network Star: The Official Insider’s Guide Book Tour.
We were there to snap memorable moments, including an unforgettable autographed sandwich signed by the Sandwich King himself.
Browse the behind-the-scenes photos »
With any half-hour episode of Crave, there are hundreds of facts and thoughts I don’t get to share. If you watched this past Monday, thank you. If you missed it, well, suffice to say, your chicken knowledge is in serious decline.
Fried Chicken Facts and Thoughts
FACT: Chickens are the closest living relative to T. rex. They got the short end of that evolutionary stick.
THOUGHT: I realized that my ultimate fried chicken would be crossbred with a spider so that it would have eight drumsticks.
FACT: In China, KFC sells Irish Fried Chicken dipped in Bailey’s liqueur. Next time you’re at a local watering hole, ask for a drumstick in your snifter.
The average American eats about 80 lbs. of chicken a year »
Each month, Food Network Kitchen chefs put more than 100 recipes to the test for Food Network Magazine. Every recipe goes through at least two to three rounds of testing, plus a round of cross-testing, where the recipe goes through one final run-through to make sure it works as it is written in final form.
“We make sure language, timing and visual cues are correct,” says Andrea Albin, a Food Network Kitchens recipe tester.
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It’s state fair season, so for the September issue of Food Network Magazine, chefs in Food Network Kitchens raided the fridge and pantry and deep-fried for days, looking for hits and misses for the story, “Can You Fry It?”. There were a few explosions — marshmallows melted, gumdrops sank to the bottom of the fryer, and the iceberg lettuce came out looking like a sea creature.
Fried Snickers, muffins, bananas and more (with photos) »
To come up with Food Network Magazine’s perfect iced tea recipe, Food Network Kitchens recipe testers compared hot- and cold-brewed black, herbal and green teas, testing each with both tea bags and loose tea to ensure accurate results.
“Although the cold brew did have a nice, pristine flavor, you ended up having to use so much more tea,” recipe tester Andrea Albin, recipe tester, says.
Get the perfect iced tea recipe »
We started with 15 finalists in Los Angeles. Six moved on to New York City. And last Sunday night, a winner was crowned: Jeff Mauro is our new Sandwich King!
To put this exciting and exhausting journey in perspective, take a look back through the f...
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