Photo: Thinkstock

Broccoli usually lags far behind corn and tomatoes when people think of sides to accompany burgers and sausage on the grill. If the cabbagey vegetable does show up at barbecues, it's usually coated in mayonnaise and tossed with Cheddar cheese and bacon—a delicious treatment, no doubt, but not the lightest option (or the safest one, if it's sitting out in the hot sun). Grilling broccoli, then, makes perfect sense.

Turns out it's delicious too—smoky, earthy and, if you cook it right, just a little crunchy—and a fresh alternative to the usual grilled portobello mushrooms, zucchini, peppers and eggplant.

[Next, the one thing you need to know before you slice it, plus marinade ideas]

I know the issue of bleach splotches on your once brightly colored kitchen rags is not exactly at the top of your list of problems to solve, but sometimes checking tasks off that imaginary to-do memo is just so satisfying. The list just got a little shorter, thanks to BleachSafe towels. Wash them in hot water or with chlorine bleach, and their color—whether it's navy, deep burgundy or a black-and-white mix—stays the same. Check!

Photo: Chicken Charlie's

"Chicken" Charlie Boghosian, an aficionado of all things deep-fried who brought us the deep-fried Oreo, the deep-fried avocado and other wonders, has now combined Kool-Aid and deep-fried dough to rave reviews at the San Diego County Fair. These fried treats—made from a batter of flour, water and Kool-Aid—look like hot pink doughnut holes (and apparently they taste like them too) and have become the talk of the fair. Last weekend, Boghosian sold in the neighborhood of 500 five-ball orders per day. He's gone through 150 pounds of Kool-Aid powder and 1,500 pounds of flour to make about 9,000 Kool-Aid balls.

State and county fairs seem to serve as laboratories for fried foods. Remember Oprah and Gayle's trip to the State Fair of Texas? Take a trip down a crispy, powdered sugar–dusted memory lane with this slide show of some of the fair's most bizarre fried foods.

Although Kung Pao Chicken is known foremost for its spice, it has a vinegary edge too, thanks to the inclusion of something called "zhenjiang xiang cu." I'd love to try making it—if only I knew how to ask for this important ingredient at the Asian grocery store.

Coming to my rescue is the Asian Market Shopper app I just loaded onto my iPhone. The new $3.99 app, created by Asian culinary expert and cookbook author Andrea Nguyen, categorizes 100 of the most commonly used ingredients, from miso to curry pastes to dried kelp, by region: Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia. Although many Asian ingredients are available in regular supermarkets these days, Asian markets still carry a wider variety of produce, grains, spices, noodles and condiments—and they're a fun place to explore (where else would you find chestnut rice cake mochi balls?).

Each ingredient in the Asian Market Shopper app, from annatto (the heart-shaped seeds of the evergreen annatto tree, used in Filipino and Vietnamese cooking) to yellow split peas, has a photo, its English name and its Asian name—and with the tap of an icon, Nguyen speaks the ingredient's name in both languages.

You can "favorite" certain ingredients, email them to yourself or a friend, even post them to Facebook or Twitter. The app has 25 recipes (and as you'd expect, any Asian ingredients have links to their specific pages on the app). There are instructional videos too, covering how to rig a steamer, how to clean and break down a crab and other tasks that are easier to grasp when demonstrated.

And zhenjiang xiang cu, in case you're wondering, is an inky, smoky, slightly bitter vinegar made mostly of sticky rice and malt. Besides kung pao dishes, it's also used for dipping northern Chinese dumplings. Thanks to my app, I know that Golden Plum brand is the standard bearer—and I even know to watch out for imposters.

Photo: Thinkstock

It's hard to top the drama of a flaming dessert. But an elegant flambé can quickly turn into a fiery blaze. It happened at a Florida restaurant a week ago, when an accident involving bananas Foster injured four people, including a woman whose dress caught fire and resulted in first- and second-degree burns. Home cooks shouldn't shy away from setting food on fire, though—so long as they understand what they're doing. I talked to Sabrina Sexton, a chef instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York, to find out how to safely add a little excitement to fajitas or plum pudding.

Pay attention to what kind of alcohol you use. It should be 80 proof (things below that won't usually ignite).
Most brandy, cognac and rum fit the bill, but not Bacardi 151.

Don't heat the alcohol first. Doing so could make the liquid burst into flames before you want it to. Stick to room temperature.

Next: The importance of using a measuring cup

Photo: Thinkstock

Stanley Lobel, president of the legendary New York City butcher shop M. Lobel & Sons, describes the most delicious steak this way: "After you eat it, you say, 'Oh my God—I gotta have another one of those!' It's like seeing a great show. You want to see it again." In his more than 50 years in business, Lobel has figured out how to make the steak that keeps people coming back for more.

Yes, buying a quality cut of meat is critical, as is letting it come to room temperature before cooking. Aside from the usual recommendations, though, Lobel has one more crucial step for cooking a juicy, tender steak with an outside that's crusty and crackling, and an inside that melts in your mouth. Most cookbooks and grilling experts suggest rubbing both sides of the steak with kosher salt and pepper, and then searing it over high heat for about three minutes on each side. Lobel concurs, with one important addition.

[Next, the key to steak nirvana]

What is it about seeing expenses drift across a screen that is so hypnotizing? Take a look at these numbers from users of the personal finance-tracking site Mint.com:

$8.43: How much money they spend every time they go to the coffee shop
5.2: How many times they eat Chipotle, In-N-Out and other fast food every month
$41.95: The average amount of a transaction at Whole Foods
$28.47: How much a meal at a restaurant costs
$42.27: The average transaction at a bar

A recent video, Eat, Drink and Be Thrifty, documents how much cash Mint.com users spend on food and dining. As the numbers tumble across the monitor to fast electronic beats, they all mash together before ending with one final number—$581.46: the total monthly spending for food and drink.



Seeing the actual dollar amounts of what you spend every month is always sobering, and this video prompted us to do our own back-of-the-envelope number crunching. The figure that jumps out isn't the usual "I spend how much on coffee every month?" rather something we call the Lunch Reckoning. The recognition that, yes, you should be bringing your lunch to work. That you wind up buying lunch more times than you'd care to admit. That you blew $11 on the cafeteria's arctic char platter just the other day. And when you do the math, you realize you could probably have a weekly housekeeper if only you could get a grip on...the Lunch Reckoning.

As we work on this, one lunch at a time, tell us, what's your reckoning? What's the one food- or drink-related expenditure you regularly make, budgeted or not?

Feta cheese has long been the darling of the Greek food world, and for good reason: Its tangy flavor is key to such classics as spanakopita and Greek salads. But a new book on the country's cuisine, Food from Many Greek Kitchens by Tessa Kiros, introduces items that are just as versatile.

Kiros, the daughter of Finnish and Greek parents, begins her cookbook with a glossary of Greek staples.

On the list, amid such familiar items as feta, Greek yogurt, and phyllo, are three that we've become taken with:

Photo: Thinkstock

Putting a few scoops of ice cream in a bowl with a cherry on top sounds simple enough. But there are people in this world who have given the construction of an ice cream sundae a much harder look. They're considering everything from the interplay of textures and flavors to the size of the vessel holding the dessert. It turns out that aside from personal taste (I've yet to find anyone aside from my uncle who actually likes "wet walnuts"), there are some crucial elements to consider when assembling the perfect bowl.

To learn what they are, I talked to Jason Wulf, co-owner of Lake Effect Ice Cream in Buffalo, New York. His shop serves specialty sundaes like the Morning Commute (mocha cappuccino ice cream, chunks of doughnut bites, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and chopped nuts) and the Chocolate Smore-cupine (frozen hot-chocolate ice cream, toasted mini marshmallows, chocolate sauce, whipped cream and honey graham crackers that are baked in stick shapes).

Wulf says a good sundae has four crucial elements: ice cream, a liquid topping (such as hot fudge, hot caramel or maple syrup), whipped cream and something sprinkled or crunchy on top. Although a cherry is optional, it's good to have them handy. "For some people, it just isn't an ice cream sundae without that topper," Wulf says.

Next: Wulf's version of sundae school

Photo: Catherine McEver

Food as art isn't a totally new concept. Yet I can't help but be amazed by the work of three creators who are using everyday ingredients in totally new ways. Oakland, Calif., artist Catherine McEver has made art of out everything from bologna to swiss cheese. Her latest obsession? Wonder Bread. So far, McEver has designed Barbie clothes using the bag that holds the iconic loaf, sculpted people and animals out of balled up bread and embroidered flowers and other designs onto slices. And although McEver figured her works would eventually go moldy or decompose, the bread has actually demonstrated a wonder-ful longevity. She's had some slices five years.


[Next, photos of potatoes that have ...antlers?.]