In my humble opinion, good cooking (and eating) is all about taste-good, look-good, smell-good food. Doesn’t matter if its some noveau flavored foam food, or a hearty down-to-earth classic. And though we love our classics, sometimes we do want something new. Something that will make us pause after a first bite and wonder – that’s good, but what is it? Then there are the foods we dub obnoxiously good. And these are obnoxiously good donuts. Really, feast your eyes on these…

Nope, your eyes have not failed you – it’s a coffee cupcake, topped with coffee creme, and then topped with a sprinkled and frosted cake donut.

This Mexican Hot Chocolate Donut outdoes itself with a roasted marshmallow topping. It’s like someone said, “Forget glaze, we’ll just slather marshmallows on and torch it.” We say, good call.

Ever wonder what a donut would look like after 20 seconds in a waffle iron?

Did you know that donuts could be made from potatoes? Well, they can – and they’re topped with Rosewater icing too. Not all obnoxious donuts are a hot-mess, as these shmancy varietals prove.

And, don’t forget the potato donut’s close relative – the Purple Yam Donut.

Its a Donut! Its a cupcake! Its a jelly donut cupcake!

A Mini-Doughnut Macaron? Sacré bleu!

The bagel look-a-like donut… stuffed with cream cheese frosting.

S’mores Donut – respect.

This one makes the count because this isn’t just a sugary donut hole, it is sugary donut hole soaked in sugar syrup. Donuts, meet Gulab Jamun

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What is molecular gastronomy and how does it work? Molecular gastronomy refers to culinary techniques and cooking principles used to create an edible product by chemical reaction. While Celebrity chefs like El Bulli’s Ferran Adria are credited with bringing molecular gastronomy to the mainstream, its origins can be traced back to physicists Nicholas Kurti and Herve This in 1988 when the two coined the term. What started in a lab moved on to professional chefs’ kitchens, and has now found popularity among home cooks.

Want to create modernist cuisine of your own? These are the need to know basics:

Spherification - This technique is used to turn a liquid into a semi-solid sphere, by chemical reaction. The resulting sphere is essentially a thin membrane encasing the original liquid (similar to an egg yolk).

By adding sodium alginate to a liquid ingredient, then submerging the liquid into a water bath with calcium chloride, you can achieve spherification. Watch this step by step video on how to spherify, then try these recipes:

Agar Agar –  Extracted from algae, this substance has properties similar to gelatin. This is an ingredient used for jellification of a liquid, turning any liquid ingredient into a variety of solid state shapes. For example, this video shows how agar agar can be used to turn a puree of arugula into a spaghetti-like structure.

Flash Freezing – Another trick of turning a liquid to a solid state, this technique brings to mind Dippin’ Dots flash frozen ice cream. The most often used method of flash freezing is the application of liquid nitrogen. At a temperature of -321 degrees, liquid nitrogen will freeze any food. Naturally, this technique has been used again and again to create unique ice cream flavors (This site, Cooking with Chemistry, claims to be “the First Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream page on the internet“).

This Nitro Ice Cream food science video from Scoopalicious is not only geeky, but pretty how-to helpful.

Foams -Another technique is creating an edible foam from a liquid ingredient. As in this video that whips up a foam with beet juice by using an immersion blender. Commonly, Soy Lecithin is used to amplify the foaming reaction of the liquid like this recipe demonstrates:

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In the spirit of a meatless movement that many homecooks have welcomed into their kitchens, here is a collection of the most appetizing vegan recipes around. Eating more vegetables can be a tasty departure from the norm, but this whole campaign started with health benefits in mind. Plus, you’re also cutting down on cooking time when you cut meat out of Monday night dinner. If that’s not enough to convince you to try vegan cuisine, this eggless, dairy-free Creme Brulee might. Happy Meatless Monday!

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Nature’s garden of eat’n offers up an array of edible flowers! Many such flowers can be found at a local farmers’ market or even your big-box grocer. Just as you would experiment with spices, flowers can add just a bit of flavor to take a dish in a different direction. Like a Paella without saffron – which comes from a flower -  is just a rice by another name. Edible flowers can be incorporated into just about any dish, like Lavender Icecream or Pandan Bread, as long as you’re up to the task of invention. Here are a few flower power recipes to get your wheels turning:

Chamomile – An edible flower from the daisy family. This flower is most recognizable dried and used in herbal tea. Chamomile’s wild varietal, known as wild chamomile or pineapple weed, is also edible.

Elderflower – This flower is commonly used to treat flu and colds, and the heads of the flower can be deep-fried, made into cordials and summer drinks, and used to flavor jams.

Hibiscus – This flower is native to many warm-temperate and tropical regions. Hibiscus is versatile – used in cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks, as well as savory and sweet dishes.

Nasturtium – This flower, as well as its seeds, can be eaten in a variety preparations. Often, nasturtium seeds are pickled (the taste of which is likened to pickled capers).

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Consider this a disclaimer for the Merlot-hue your kitchen counters are about to come in contact with: The mark of a good cherry is one that will stain your tea towels.

I once pitted about five pounds of cherries by hand (don’t ask why) and the undersides of my fingertips were a shade of deep-red that put up a good fight against an indefinite amount of soap. Yet although a mess to work with, I think this sweet stone fruit could make even the most obsessive of clean-o-phobes put aside their eccentricities. Those who would rather keep their hands clean can enjoy what the orchards have to offer from the convenience of a farmers’ market.

Try this recipe from Can It You Nit! with the last of the season’s harvest:  Cherry Preserves

Ingredients:

• 4 cups pitted cherries (about 2.5 pounds cherries at the market)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (or substitute 1 cup raw sugar, whichever your preference)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Brown bag lunches never really had a good reputation. Seen as a lunch wanting of something to make it “more appealing” – less appalling.  Maybe it’s the secrecy of what is concealed in such un-ornamental paper. Maybe it is the utilitarian feel of it all, a luxurious lunch just can’t be packed inside such modest baggage. Whatever the pre-concieved notion, there is still that rare exception with the potential to blow your mind and your palate away.

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In an attempt to be innovative in our cooking, we are always searching for ways to transform one ingredient into something new. Bread has been a staple since way back when - heck, the pyramids were even built on a bread diet. So naturally we would want go-to recipes when the ends go stale, from bread soup to pudding and beyond. Home cooks and seasoned chefs alike are taking day old bread to task (check out chef Charlie Palmer’s take on a quite shmancy french toast).

Here are a few recipes for an old loaf – make it new!

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Consider this a friendly reminder to enjoy the summer which too quickly comes to an end, and don’t forget to re-hydrate! Forget the Minute Maid from concentrate and make some fresh and fruity lemonade. Hey, you could even have a lemonade stand for old times sake! Frappes and ice cream shakes are a tempting option, but these iced tea, punch, and spritzer recipes are equally as refreshing.

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Lobster season is approaching off the coast of Florida, but I’ll bet seafood is on people’s minds across the country. Wouldn’t a crab Louie salad  be the perfectly crisp, briny match for the Summer of Riesling? As it turns out, Americans are quite proud of the seafood that’s caught and cooked in their part of the states. Not all of us in the states have a coastside advantage, but don’t dare let that stop you from trying these recipes. Consider this your own personal tour of the nation’s best.

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