Exciting news: We recently launched the Cook Well Instagram. We’re posting weekly reels about food science and lifestyle cooking tips — go give it a follow!

COOKING PROTOCOL🍳

Using broth/stock everywhere

One of the reasons restaurant food tastes better than homemade is the use of stock. Almost everything gets cooked with some broth or stock, which adds umami, mouthfeel, and complexity to dishes:

• You might steam carrots, but a restaurant might sauté and glaze them in vegetable broth. Which one do you think will take better?

• You may add pasta water to thin out your sauce, they might be adding stock.

• You might use water to blend up a salsa or enchilada sauce, but Mexican restaurants are using chicken stock or powder.

• You might cook your yellow rice in water, but it will come out more unctuous with broth.

• A ragu or chili gets diluted by water but enriched by broth.

• Instead of poaching or blanching ingredients in water, broth adds extra flavor.

• A splash of broth can deglaze a pan and capture browning flavors instead of leaving them in the pan.

Why does this matter?

If you’re using water in your cooking, it takes the same effort and time to just use a stock to enrich the recipe instead.

• The added umami and gelatin level up both the savory qualities and the texture of any saucy dish.

How do I do it?

Whenever a recipe calls for using water, think if you can replace it with broth instead. (especially when deglazing, boiling, braising, blending, & forming a sauce).

While you might not have continual stockpots simmering like restaurants do, you can think like one at home:

• Keep boxes of stock or broth around, or make your own and portion into deli containers.

• Don’t have the space or time for that? Just use a spoonful of bouillon powder or paste along with water. (We do that more often than not).

RECIPE RECOMMENDATIONS ✅

Enrich these recipes with broth

Practice using broth in place of water in these recipes:

FOOD TRENDS 🚀

Cooking eggs in water

Why do I see everyone cooking eggs in water?

Eggs are so versatile, it seems every cuisine, chef, and influencer (and celebrity, as we covered last week) has a different way of cooking them. Most recently, cooking eggs in water has gone viral.

And we’re not talking about poaching or hard boiling eggs, unfortunately. The new water-related cooking methods we’re seeing are:

• Scrambling eggs in a pot of boiling water, then straining them.

• Steaming eggs in a nonstick pan to make oil free “fried eggs.”

• Scrambling eggs with an espresso steam wand.

The tradeoff is texture and flavor, but the upside is a lower calorie breakfast since you can avoid any use of fat. Not to mention the extra cleanup and effort for the espresso wand and water “scrambling.”

We’re probably sticking to traditional egg cooking methods and thinking about our entire diet to balance fat, protein, and carbs. But you tell us —

READER Q&A 🧠

Liquid separating from yogurt

Answer: You should stir it back in.

The liquid is mostly whey — basically proteins and water.

• Yogurt is made by fermenting milk with probiotic bacterial cultures. These feed on the lactose sugars in the milk, producing lactic acid, which makes yogurt taste sour and thicken the yogurt into a gel-like state of water, milk proteins (casein & whey), fat (except for in skim yogurts).

The problem is that yogurt isn’t a completely stable emulsion — it’s more of a suspension — so over time, the casein curd structures leak out some of the trapped liquid and whey proteins, and that gathers at the top of your yogurt.

You’ll find this more in thicker or nonfat yogurts — their grainier structures want to separate more than thinner, smoother yogurts.

But don’t dump the liquid — if you toss it, you’re losing protein content and wasting money — and you’ll actually make the yogurt thicker, grainer — more prone to separating the next time.

Just stir it back in and the yogurt will become creamy again.

Pro-tip to reduce separating in the first place — just level out the top of the yogurt in the container when you’re done. This will minimize leakage points and keep the yogurt intact.

Have a culinary question? Reply to send it in for a chance to be featured and get your question answered.

WINNING READER SUBMISSION 🏆

Steak & risotto

This week’s dinner winner is Richard L., who made NY strip with roasted broccoli and asparagus on top of broccoli stem risotto.

Reply with your best home-cooked food photos for a chance to win & be featured!

EXTRA HELPINGS 🍽️

A read: The Real Difference Between European and American Butter

In a minute or less: Stanley Tucci Martini

What we’re watching: Blind Taste Test Mac n Cheese

Food science: Marinating 101

_{Was this forwarded to you? Subscribe here.}

_{Not reaching your inbox? Try this.}

_{Need more inspiration? View the newsletter backlog.}