Buzz
The NYT Cooking tour of Melissa Clark’s kitchen offers a delightful and heartwarming journey. Her spice drawers are a marvel of modern organization, and her collection of salts, homemade vanilla extract, and two spaetzle makers are equally impressive. But this 11-minute and 14-second video isn’t just a display of her collection—it’s a true tour where Clark also treats the film crew to a snack and shares two excellent kitchen hacks.
The first tip is straightforward: Keep a paper bag in a drawer for leftover bread heels. This, dear friends, becomes your bread crumb bag. Clark shows how to use it by cutting a 'gorgeous heel' from a loaf of bread her husband baked, chopping it into smaller pieces, placing the pieces in the bag, and letting them dry out in the drawer. Once the bag is full, she processes the dried chunks into homemade breadcrumbs. Simple yet elegant.
Next, Clark shares her approach to cutting boards. Only three of her boards are designated for garlic and onion use. Initially, I thought this might be a bit particular, but after realizing how the smell of alliums can linger on everything they touch, it became clear. It's not just a quirk; it's brilliant. The idea of having a board dedicated to these pungent ingredients protects you from accidentally tasting or smelling garlic when enjoying something like fresh fruit—truly a genius move.
And then there’s the snack—anchovy toast, perfectly made with butter, tomatoes, and more of that bread her husband baked. She also goes into detail about how to choose the best anchovies for toast, which was quite an eye-opener. (I had no idea there were so many varieties!) Trust me, watch the video. You’ll come away knowing a lot more about anchovies.
