Do you really need another coffee app? Probably not, but I’m not talking practicality here, I’m talking about passion, flavor and the appreciation of the perfect espresso shot — I’m talking about the Great Coffee App. It’s a short introduction to 17 of the most popular espresso-based drinks, with attractive photos depicting the layers of coffee, milk, foam, etc. and demo videos outlining the process for making each drink.
This is an app for coffee lovers and those just learning to appreciate the beauty of the crema. Use it as a quick reference when you come across an unfamiliar espresso drink or just enjoy perusing the stories for interesting coffee trivia and watching the video demos. The thoughtful app design and artistic representation of each cup will leave you with a greater appreciation for the barista’s art. Great Coffee App does one thing many instructional coffee apps fail to do — it inspires!
Want to explore the world of espresso drinks? Keep reading to learn more about this unique coffee app. (more…)
Good knife skills are the foundation of preparing food. Without a sharp knife and the knowledge to use it, you won’t get very far in the kitchen. These roadblocks keep you from trying new recipes and limit your options at the grocery store. Kitchen Knife Skills is an instructional app that empowers users to master the knife and become more self-reliant, adventurous home cooks.
Using proper knife skills is not just about chopping ingredients; it’s about becoming more safe, thrifty and efficient in the kitchen. Learning the correct way to cut up an apple reduces waste. Once you’ve mastered basic knife skills you can throw out the gadgets clogging up your kitchen drawers — no need for a garlic press, apple corer or fancy mango and avocado slicers. You’ll be more adventurous, trying exotic ingredients you may have been intimidated to tackle in the past (ginger, pineapple, lobster, whole fish). Kitchen Knife Skills has everything you need to learn: knowledgeable instructors, step-by-step video demonstrations, clever tips and a knife-buying guide.
Don’t let lacking knife skills hold you back in the kitchen, keep reading to learn more about this useful resource for home cooks. (more…)
After 13 years writing “The Minimalist” column for the New York Times and hosting a PBS television series, Mark Bittman has established himself as a guru of the American food scene. Home cooks across the country keep a tattered copy of his ubiquitous big red book, How to Cook Everything, close to hand in the kitchen for daily reference. If you’re looking to understand a cooking technique or digging for inspiration to jazz up your weekly roast chicken, you’ll find it in this epic cookbook, containing 2,000 recipes and 400 technique illustrations.
The developers at Culinate have taken this classic cookbook and turned it into a must-have recipe app, How to Cook Everything for iPhone. It’s a companion to the book because it allows users to engage with the content using advanced search features, rate recipes and view the most popular ones, plus create customizable Favorites and Shopping Lists. Keep reading to learn more about the ultimate cook’s reference for recipes and techniques. (more…)
We’ve all been there: halfway through cooking a recipe and you realize you don’t have an ingredient on the list. You’ve got no time to go to the store and are kicking yourself for forgetting something so simple — like the eggs for your banana bread. Don’t let this happen to you. With the Substitutions app by Gormaya, you’ve always got an answer for kitchen conundrums like, “How can I make buttermilk in a pinch?” What would have been a disaster is now just a tiny bump on the road.
Gormaya is the creator of several handy apps for cooks, including a few different recipe timer apps and Conversions for Cooking. Their straightforward style and simple design is immediately recognizable and easy to use. I was surprised and delighted to find such a wide array of ingredients with practical suggestions for replacements in Substitutions. It’s as if you’ve got an authoritative chef at your side offering helpful tips, not a random computer generated answer.
To learn more about this handy pocket-guide to food substitutions, keep reading. (more…)
We’ve talked cheese apps before – remember my review of Fromage? This week I’ve got another recommendation, Ask The Cheesemonger. While Fromage is still an excellent cheese encyclopedia to which you can add your own cheese discoveries, Ask The Cheesemonger gets the gold for superior design as well as being a useful beverage and cheese-pairing tool.
Created by McIntosh & Bowman, an Australian company specializing in cheese tasting events and cheese-making workshops, this app features a database of over 320 cheeses and plenty of educational material to help demystify the vast world of curds and whey. The talented team at Protein One has taken the knowledge of McIntosh & Bowman and packaged it in an attractive, modern design that’s fun for users to explore. Whether you’re a cheese novice or an aficionado, this app has plenty of useful information to guide you in learning more about purchasing, serving and pairing cheeses from around the world.
Keep reading to learn more about this must-have cheese app. (more…)
Sara Moulton is a mainstay of food television. After years on the Food Network, she can now be seen on Public Television continuing to do what she does best: teach the craft of preparing a meal to home cooks. Sara has the training of a professional restaurant chef, and she uses this strong knowledge base to help home cooks prepare delicious meals for their families every day. With the Sara at your side there’s no need to feel intimidated by ingredients like duck, seafood or unfamiliar produce. Sara’s Kitchen provides simple recipes and instructional videos to guide you.
If you’re interested in transforming everyday meals from boring to gourmet, keep reading. (more…)
Chef and best-selling cookbook author, Yotam Ottolenghi is famous for bringing together Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavors, creating vibrant, colorful recipes that are modern and fresh. It all started with his wildly popular eponymous London food shops and expanded to a weekly column in The Guardian, a TV show and cookbooks like Plenty and Jerusalem. If you’re into food, you need to know about this chef.
Ottolenghi’s cuisine crosses borders and breaks down barriers. When his book was published in the U.S., the combination of sumptuous food photography, exotic seasonings and farm fresh produce fit in with the farm to table movement, becoming an instant hit. No wonder Ottolenghi Recipes was named the No. 1 Food & Drink App in the United Kingdom — like everything Ottolenghi, it’s modern, fresh and original. The creators put a lot of effort into developing an app that’s beautifully designed and highly functional. Ottolenghi Recipes stands head and shoulders above the rest in this respect.
If you’re interested in expanding your palate with a collection of flavorful recipes influenced by Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine, keep reading. (more…)
Are you a Giada de Laurentiis fan? I remember watching her in the early days of Food Network on her Emmy award winning show, Everyday Italian. She’s just as likeable today as she was then. Giada isn’t just a Food Network celebrity; she graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, owned her own catering company and has proven to be an entrepreneur with seemingly endless amounts of enthusiasm and energy. Several years and one child later she’s still going strong, making regular appearances on The Today Show, writing cookbooks and starring in another popular series, Giada at Home.
If you’re a Giada fan then you’ve got to check out the free Giada app featuring recipes from her latest cookbook, “Weeknights with Giada.” The theme is “Quick and simple recipes to revamp dinner.” Many moms out there may find it a comfort that even a famous chef meets challenges when it comes to getting dinner on the table every weeknight after work. Giada is here for you, with plenty of useful tips and encouragement in video “bites” throughout the app. Looking to revitalize your weeknight suppers? Keep reading to learn how Giada can help. (more…)
I love baking bread — the feel of kneading silky dough, the magic of watching it rise and the smell of it baking in a hot oven. If you love baking bread too, or if you’ve always wanted to learn, you’ve got to check out the Bread Baking Basics app by Michael Ruhlman. This clever app gives an overview of Bread Baking Basics and then lets you create custom recipes with the flours you’ve got on hand using ratios. Ruhlman, a writer, cook and renowned food authority, has co-authored cookbooks with famous chefs, including Thomas Keller and Eric Ripert. The man knows his stuff and his writing style keeps the process simple and approachable for novice bakers. If you’ve got experience with the peel, you’ll appreciate this handy app that enables you to be less reliant on recipes and more focused on technique.
Interested in getting your hands in some dough? Keep reading … (more…)
Cooking three meals a day every day can become monotonous, especially if you’re juggling kids and work. It’s easy to get in a rut where you’re making the same meals over and over again. If you’re looking for some fresh inspiration but need meals to be quick and simple, check out Martha’s Everyday Food. A branch of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Everyday Food is famous for pairing the aesthetic of Martha Stewart Living with practical recipes any home cook can execute, no matter how busy life is.
Keep reading to learn more about a recipe app that’s guaranteed to shake up your cooking routine. (more…)
