​The mint julep is simple, refreshing, and perfect for bourbon cocktail lovers. Fresh mint and crushed ice combine with the spirit in a drink that radiates spring. This version tweaks the formula with an optional strip of lemon zest; muddled with the mint, it adds a bright balance to the often quite cloying cocktail.. Though the mint julep is strongly associated with the Kentucky Derby—it’s been the event’s official drink since the 1930s—its roots go back further. According to The Athletic, Black bartenders in 1820s Virginia (including Jasper Crouch, Jim Cook, and John Dabney) were renowned for their juleps using gin, brandy, or even Champagne. Today, bourbon is the dominant choice. This mint julep recipe nods to that tradition while adding a subtle citrus lift.. What bourbon is best for a mint julep?. Any good Kentucky bourbon works beautifully: Maker’s Mark, Bulleit, or Woodford Reserve. Michter’s US1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon is a crowd-pleaser with rich brown sugar notes, while Basil Hayden’s adds a subtle spicy kick. Your bourbon choice sets the tone—pick one you’d happily sip neat.. Which Bourbon Is Best? A Taste Test of Knob Creek, Michter’s, Bulleit and more. Is lemon traditional in a mint julep?. Nope—that’s why we made it optional. We found that a small strip of muddled lemon zest balanced the drink’s signature sweetness. Each sip is livelier with a subtle spark of bright flavor and welcome bitterness. It’s inspired by a bartender technique known as the “regal shake,” where citrus peel is used to extract aromatic oils before straining.. What difference does raw sugar make?. Many classic julep recipes call for powdered sugar because it dissolves quickly, but the added starches can affect texture. Granulated sugar, however, works fine, delivering a clean, classic flavor. Our real preference, though, is raw sugar (such as turbinado), which adds a subtle depth that complements bourbon’s caramel notes and hints of complexity.. Do I have to use a metal cup?. Classic metal julep cups are iconic for the frosted look they take on when filled with an icy drink, but they aren’t essential. A footed rocks glass or even a standard old-fashioned glass works just fine.. The Ultimate Cocktail Glass Buying Guide. How long should a mint julep steep?. Steeping is optional, but letting the bourbon mingle with mint (and lemon zest, if using) for 15–60 minutes intensifies flavor. Short on time? Just muddle and serve—it will still be delicious. Don’t skip the final mint sprig—it lets you take in the aroma before each sip.. Can I make a batch of mint juleps ahead of time?. Yes, you can prep the bourbon and mint mixture up to 2 hours in advance. For 8 servings, muddle the zest of one whole lemon (peeled in wide strips), 2 cups (packed) mint leaves, 5 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. raw or granulated sugar in a mixing glass or cocktail shaker until mint is lightly bruised. Add ½ cup water and 2 cups bourbon, then stir to combine.. Ch  

​This recipe has fans. “This has been my go-to recipe for short ribs for as long as I can remember,” says one commenter, “it never fails.” It’s the kind of special occasion dish you make once and return to forever: deeply savory, fall-off-the-bone tender, and built on a simple, reliable method that delivers every time.. Flavor builds in layers: bone-in beef short ribs are browned, then slowly braised in a dry, full-bodied red wine with onions, carrots, celery, and tomato paste until meltingly tender. The aromatics do the heavy lifting here, infusing the sauce with personality before getting strained out to create a silky restaurant-style gravy.. Even better: Red-wine-braised short ribs taste more delicious when made ahead. The flavors deepen overnight, making it an ideal low-stress, high-impact main for entertaining. Serve over mashed potatoes, polenta, risotto, or egg noodles to soak up every drop of the rich, glossy sauce.. Do I have to strain the vegetables?. Straining results in a smooth, glossy sauce. For a thicker, more rustic finish, pluck out the herbs, then purée the vegetables into the braising liquid.. What’s the best way to reheat short ribs?. Short ribs are even better the next day. If making ahead, let them cool in the sauce, refrigerate overnight, then skim the fat and reheat gently (covered) in a 325°–350°F oven until warmed through.. What’s the best wine for braised short ribs?. Any dry red wine works. Cabernet Sauvignon adds structure; Pinot Noir or Rhône-style reds are softer and fruitier—choose one you’d enjoy drinking. You’ll need a full bottle for the braise, so pick up a second to pair with dinner.. Find the perfect bottle to pair with this dish at our expert-curated Bon Appétit Wine Shop.. Can I use boneless short ribs?. You can, but bone-in short ribs are more flavorful. If using boneless, check for doneness a bit earlier and expect a slightly less bodied sauce.. How do I know when short ribs are done?. They’re ready when fork-tender and nearly falling off the bone. Start checking around 2 hours, but don’t be surprised if they need closer to 3—cook until tender, not strictly by time.  

​You may recognize Diaspora Spice Co. by its tins, each one more colorful than the last: neon pink, glowing orange, bright turquoise. Beyond the labels are single-origin, hyper-fragrant spices: floral saffron threads from Kashmir, sticky vanilla pods from Kerala, and sharp fennel from Gujarat. The brand recently published its first cookbook. Its aim, writes founder and CEO Sana Javeri Kadri, “is to reveal the depth and complexity of South Asian cuisine, and perhaps for the first time in recent history, to center South Asia in our understanding of how to cook with spices.”. To develop The Diaspora Spice Co. Cookbook, Kadri, coauthor Asha Loupy, and photographer Melati Citrawireja traveled across India and Sri Lanka, visiting the brand’s 22 farm partners and the home kitchens of 35 women. Since professional cooking across the subcontinent is a male-dominated industry, it was vital to Kadri to highlight the women who feed their families. The result is something “deeply feminist,” preserving heirloom South Asian recipes and techniques through the authors’ California-ish lens.. We caught up with Kadri and Loupy to hear about their travels, the culinary techniques they learned along the way, and what makes their spices stand out.. The Diaspora Spice Co. Cookbook: Seasonal Home Cooking from South Asia’s Best Spice Farms. $35 $25 (29% off). Amazon. $40 $33 (18% off). Bookshop. Bon Appétit: You’ve published recipes online using Diaspora Co. spices for years. Why is now the time for a cookbook?. Sana Javeri Kadri: We sell spices, but the spices are merely a vessel for culture, community, storytelling, and politics. When I was eating at our farm partners’ homes during harvest season, the recipes were so fresh, simple, and seasonal. That’s not the version of South Asian food that most people know.. You both traveled for months to research and document this project. Can you share a particularly memorable part of that experience?. Asha Loupy: The moments we had in the kitchen with women made everything worth it. It was something I never thought I was going to be able to do. And a lot of times, it was comical trying to get anyone to measure anything.. Kadri: Asha was bribing people to use a scale!. What was the best thing you ate on the way that couldn’t be replicated in the book?. Kadri: Definitely hyun, a Pahadi specialty. In the Himalayas, when the first snow comes, kids collect the snow into steel plates or bowls. They’ll take it to their moms, who combine sun-dried apricots, cumin, chiles, and sea buckthorn juice, a sour regional ingredient. This yellowy-green syrup gets mixed with the snow to make a tangy, spicy snow cone. Lucky us, when we went up to farm partner Gyan Singh’s house, there was a little patch of snow and we were able to make hyun.  

​Greek yogurt is beloved for its custardy texture, high protein content, and staggering versatility. It can anchor breakfast, marinate chicken, or become a tangy, creamy dip. But which brand is actually the best? In our latest taste test, we revisited the dairy staple, sampling past favorites alongside brands we hadn’t included in earlier versions of this story. We also sampled a few non-Greek strained yogurts, like skyr, to see if any could outshine the popular staple. The best Greek yogurt (or its alternative) had to balance puckery tang with velvety richness. It should be thick and creamy—never chalky, watery, or overly sour.. Jump ahead. Our methodology. The best mild Greek yogurt. The creamiest Greek yogurt. The best Greek yogurt, overall. We also tasted. What is Greek yogurt?. Greek yogurt is part of a broader tradition with roots in Southwest Asia and the eastern Mediterranean. Today in the US, it’s a multibillion-dollar industry. Products like Icelandic skyr, Turkish süzme yoğurt, and Levantine labneh—long staples in their regions and increasingly available in American markets—are made the same way: by straining whey from plain yogurt to create a thicker, more concentrated, and often tangier product. Though each style has subtle differences, they’re essentially interchangeable in the kitchen. Read more: What is Greek yogurt?. How we picked the products. Since we’d previously tested Greek yogurts, we started with brands we already knew and expanded the field to include more widely available supermarket options, like Target’s Good & Gather, as well as brands absent from our initial lineup, such as Greek Gods. We also included products labeled as skyr, a closely related style of yogurt that’s often used interchangeably with Greek yogurt.. To keep the comparison focused, we excluded low- and reduced-fat varieties, flavored yogurts, and any products fortified with extra protein or made from plant-based milks.. How we tested Greek yogurt. Our editors have strong opinions about Greek yogurt, so to keep things fair, we ditched the labels and portioned each sample into identical bowls for a brand-concealed tasting.. To tease out subtle differences in flavor and texture, we tasted each yogurt on its own, spooning portions onto our plates and giving them a swoosh to assess thickness before diving in.. How we evaluated each brand of Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt has a lot to live up to. First and foremost, it must be luxuriously creamy, not chalky. It needs tang, but not an aggressively sour bite. The best versions are rich and silky, never watery or grainy, with just a hint of natural sweetness—nothing artificial or overwhelming.. Texture was another sticking point for our panel. Certainly, it shouldn’t be gelatinous. Our tasters tend to prefer yogurts on the thicker end of the spectrum—thicker than sour cream, but not as dense as mascarpone. Ultimately, they wanted a yogurt that was smooth, creamy, and eminently swoopable. The  

​As people who write about food and kitchen gadgets for a living, Bon Appétit editors are constantly surrounded by a wide range of products. Between our own purchases and the endless stream of samples sent our way, it means there’s always something new coming across our desks and into our homes. Every month, we’re rounding up the standouts we’ve tested or bought ourselves that changed the way we cook and eat.. This month, a Test Kitchen-approved pepper grinder (excuse us, pepper cannon), a new favorite piece of cookware, and a spring dinner-party-worthy serving set.. Read on for all of the products we’ve been obsessing over this March.. Veark Magnetic Knife Rack. Veark. Magnetic Knife Rack. $79. Veark. $89. Gessato. I recently purchased the Veark Magnetic Rack for my partner after it took over his Instagram feed. It’s a master class in minimalistic design. I bought two, and they basically Lego together, with no hardware required aside from the screw that fastens them to the wall. You can also purchase containers and shelves that attach to the rack to store your wooden spoons, spatulas, tongs, tweezers, and more.. We use the rack to store anything magnetic in our kitchen, including knives, scissors, a Microplane, and our kitchen thermometer, and we hang our pots and pans off the hooks. It’s a huge space saver in our small NYC apartment. —Emma Jacobson, contributing social media editor. Männkitchen Pepper Cannon. Männkitchen. Pepper Cannon. $200. Amazon. $200. Mannkitchen. When the Männkitchen Pepper Cannon came to my attention, I sat up and looked closely. The all-metal body and burrs (the wheely thing that grinds the pepper) sounded promising. We go through immense quantities of black pepper in the BA Test Kitchen. Whatever amount you use at home, multiply that by 6, maybe even 10, and you’ll start to understand. Three of our previous pepper mills all died an untimely death, each lasting only a few months. Let’s just say we put the stress in stress test. I am pleased to report the Männkitchen has held up exceptionally well, blowing past its one-year mark with barely a scratch, its grinding mechanism still as smooth as the day it arrived. It is sleek and beautiful, easy to fill, and pleasing in the hand. It is also unignorably expensive. On its website, the company admits as such, saying, “Yes, it is. And a Ferrari is expensive compared to a Volkswagen.” Period.. I, for one, think it’s absolutely worth it. Amortized over even just one year, it’s literally pennies per use—and basically free after that (girl math!). —Shilpa Uskokovic, senior Test Kitchen editor