techniques

Bon Appétit's Blog Envy Slideshow

Image may contain Label and Text
  • Image may contain Plant Food Lettuce Vegetable Lunch Meal Salad and Dish
    1/10

    Ginger Jeweled Salad

    "When you own over 100 cookbooks, it is time to stop buying, and start cooking," writes Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks. She began her blog to chronicle her attempt to cook through her cookbook collection; now she draws her recipes from a wider range of sources (and often includes original creations), but they are always focused on natural, whole foods and ingredients. This Gingered Jeweled Salad is a perfect example of a refreshing course that will lighten up any holiday feast or buffet.

  • Image may contain Food Creme Dessert Cream and Ice Cream
    2/10

    Milk Chocolate and Black Pepper Ice Cream

    Since moving to Paris in 2002, pastry chef and cookbook author David Lebovitz has been writing about "living the sweet life in Paris" on his blog, davidlebovitz.com. He describes his Milk Chocolate and Black Pepper Ice Cream, adapted from his ice cream book, The Perfect Scoop, as "a truly fantastic flavor combination: The spicy zip of the black pepper was a great foil to the creamy-smooth milk chocolate." Served alongside gingerbread or pumpkin pie, he adds, this ice cream is a great way to sneak a little extra chocolate onto your holiday table.

  • Image may contain Food Custard Hot Dog and Bread
    3/10

    Big Pancake

    "This is a site for people who like to get their hands dirty while they cook," announces The Kitchn's mission statement. Run by Apartment Therapy, the Kitchn blog brings recipes, kitchen tours, and shopping guides straight to your inbox. Editor and writer Sara Kate's Big Pancake is easy to prepare, but with a "high wow-factor presentation"—perfect for brunch on Christmas Day.

  • Image may contain Food Fried Chicken and Nuggets
    4/10

    Tempura Fritto Misto with Lemon Aioli and Japanese Dipping Sauce

    The word junta—from the Spanish juntar ("to join")—refers to a community of revolutionaries. Ten months ago, Kevin and Claire—two Yale grads fresh out of college—launched their own community with their blog, Food Junta. We love the range of post topics: from a call-to-arms passage of William Shakespeare to "Boot Camp," a back-to-basics series focusing on post-college staples like quesadillas.

    Recipe: Tempura Fritto Misto with Lemon Aioli and Japanese Dipping Sauce

  • Image may contain Food Cutlery and Fork
    5/10

    Capirotada Bread Pudding

    Self-described as "a man obsessed with food, drink, and everything in between," Matt of Matt Bites writes with humility and charm about everything from Vietnamese cinnamon to "Matt's Anything Inside a Tortilla Test." His capirotada—Mexican bread pudding—combines sharp cheddar cheese with piloncillos (cone-shaped sugar available at Latin markets) for a tasty sweet-savory result.

  • Image may contain Food Plant and Pasta
    6/10

    Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Gratin with Manchego Cheese

    Nicole from Pinch My Salt spent four years stationed in Sicily at a U.S. Navy base with her husband—an experience she says inspired her to start her blog. "I have always loved to cook, but the sights, sounds, and tastes of Sicily inspired me in ways I never could have imagined." We love Pinch My Salt's clean, step-by-step recipe photos, which make the blog ultra-user-friendly.

    Recipe: Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Gratin with Manchego Cheese

  • Image may contain Food and Pork
    7/10

    GG's Coffee Cake

    The Paupered Chef could also be called "Adventures in Crazy-Ambitious Food Googling." True food fantatics, Nick and Blake endeavor to track down the perfect version of every craving. We love their epic hunts—like the search for lamb intestines to make sausage from scratch or a mission to find Rome's best slice of pizza bianca.

    Recipe: GG's Coffee Cake

  • Image may contain Food Cake Dessert Pie Bread and Apple Pie
    8/10

    Red Pepper Cheese Crostini

    We love YumSugar—1 of 16 distinct lifestyle sites in the Sugar Network—for its witty voice and conversational tone. And we love seeing YumSugar's take on one of our very own recipes: Piquillo Pepper Cheese Crostini from December 2008.

    Recipe: Red Pepper Cheese Crostini

  • Image may contain Food and Pork
    9/10

    Cranberry Thai Curry Duck Breast with Coconut Mashed Potatoes

    We wish we had as much restraint as Cathy of Not Eating Out in New York, who—as the blog's name implies—didn't eat out for two years, despite living in one of the major food capitals of the world. Instead she explored the world of home cooking, and shared her experience on her blog. She's back to dining out, but she's still cooking great food at home, like this Asian-influenced dish, part of her Not-So-Strange Birds series.

    Recipe: Cranberry Thai Curry Duck Breast with Coconut Mashed Potatoes

  • Image may contain Plant Food Cauliflower and Vegetable
    10/10

    Saffron Roasted Cauliflower

    Twenty-nine-year-old Clotilde Dusoulier launched Chocolate & Zucchini from her home in Paris in September 2003 as "an outlet for someone who feared her friends might tire of hearing about what she cooked/ate/baked/bought, though they didn't seem to have a problem with being fed dinner." For our part, we will never tire of Clotilde's musings on Parisian food culture, French idioms, and inventive recipes like this Saffron Roasted Cauliflower.