Grilling is a great way to feed a crowd. It’s done outdoors, so it’s easy to be social while you work, and you can fit a lot more food onto a barbecue than you can fit into a frying pan on the stove. The hardest part about grilling is getting the timing down. This isn’t a big deal for chicken, which really needs to be well-done no matter what, or for long-cooking items like ribs, but it can be a big deal for burgers when people want their meat cooked to different levels of “doneness.” Hand-shaped burgers are different sizes, different thicknesses, and need vastly different cooking times. It’s frustrating for the griller and the diner when the burgers are under or over cooked.

The only way to minimize the problem is to standardize the burger patty sizes so that you will know exactly how long they need to cook. There are lots of cookie cutter-like gadgets that do this, but the Kitchenart Adjust-A-Burger lets you control the size and weight of your burger a little more easily. It works just like the Adjust-A-Cup measuring cups, where you press your meat into the cup after setting it at the size you want, then push up on the plunger to eject the burger. The meat shouldn’t be packed in too tightly, as that can have a negative impact on the texture of the burger, but it’s pretty easy to avoid this issue with this gadget, since you really don’t have to handle the meat all that much. The Adjust-a-Burger makes 1/4, 1/3 and 1/2-lb burgers. There is a mini version that makes 1, 2 and 3-oz sliders, as well.

Arrowroot, or arrowroot starch, is a powdery product made from the arrowroot plant, a starchy tropical root. The plant is dried and ground up to make the powder, which is primarily used as a thickener in the kitchen, much like cornstarch. Much like cornstarch, it is an excellent thickening agent. It has about twice the thickening power of regular flour. Unlike cornstarch, however, arrowroot is completely flavorless and will not impart a starchy taste into puddings or other dishes that it is used to thicken.

Another reason that arrowroot is called for in recipes is that it is extremely digestible, moreso than regular wheat flour. It can be used in cookies and crackers as a substitute for part of the flour, and you can find “arrowroot biscuits” in stores that are often said to sooth the stomach. It is also a very popular ingredient in gluten-free baking. Still, it’s primary use is as a thickener. To use it, it must be mixed with some cold water before being added to a hot liquid to prevent clumping. Arrowroot can be found at some specialty grocers and can also be ordered online.

I often get asked questions about what buttermilk is and how to substitute for it because people don’t keep it “on hand.” The best answer to this is to say that buttermilk is a wonderful dairy product that makes for some delicious baked goods, and it should always be kept on hand if you like to bake more than just the occasional batch of chocolate chip cookies. Buttermilk is thick and has a tangy, buttery flavor - sort of like a cross between melted butter and sour cream. Despite its thickness, it is low in fat. Some people like to drink it plain, but it is usually best utilized in cakes, pancakes, breads and other dishes where it lends a lot of butter flavor without the extra fat of more butter or full-fat sour cream.

Buttermilk is so named because it was originally the liquid left over after the butter-churning process was complete. These days, buttermilk is cultured, made by adding lactic acid bacteria to [pasturized] nonfat or lowfat milk to thicken it and give it a tangy flavor. The easiest substitute is to add 1 tbsp of vinegar to 1 cup of regular milk to curdle it and give it a sharper flavor. This also provides a similar level of acidity to buttermilk, so it will work in recipes in the same way (it doesn’t have the buttery flavor of buttermilk, however).

Buttermilk is usually sold in smaller containers than regular milk and it is usually quite inexpensive (usually around a dollar, in my next of the woods). It has a longer shelf life than regular milk, so you have more time to use it up. With cakes, pancakes, breads, salad dressings to choose from, there are plenty of options to choose from.

• Buttermilk Lemon Bars
• Buttermilk Pancakes with Nectarines
• Buttermilk Pie
• Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes
• Strawberry Buttermilk Shortcakes

Sometimes, when a recipe does not include eggs, it will call for “egg replacer” instead. This is most often found in vegan recipes, since vegan recipes don’t include animal products and never use eggs, although a search for egg-free bloggers will find you plenty of people who also don’t want to include eggs in their cooking. Egg replacer is a packaged product that is a dry mixture of starches and/or binding ingredients that is meant to replace some of the function of an egg in a recipe. They include ingredients like cornstarch, potato starch, soy powder and flax seed, just to name a few. Some mixtures will contain a small amount of leavening or xanthan gum, as a binder.

Egg replacer doesn’t replace eggs in all circumstances, so you wouldn’t want to make an omelette out of it, but the replacers do work well in baked goods. In baked goods, eggs usually add some moisture and some thickening and binding power to a recipe, particularly in recipes were only one or two eggs is called for. Egg replacers that are a combination of starch and water - starch for thickening and water for moisture - can mimic the function well enough that your chocolate chip cookies will still taste very good when they come out of the oven.

Some do-it-yourself egg replacer recipes, for one egg, include:

• 2 tbsp cornstarch + 1 tbsp water (what I generally use)
• 2 tbsp potato starch + 1 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed + 1 tbsp water

I’ve seen suggestions to use 1/4 cup applesauce, mashed banana or other fruit purees, but these don’t have the same effect as the starch and flaxseed mixtures and can potentially make your batter a little bit too thick or heavy.

Crème anglaise is a very rich custard that is often used as a sauce with other desserts. It is sometimes described as a “pouring custard” because it is thin enough to be poured and is not, unlike some pudding-like custards, thick enough to be scooped for serving. The custard sauce is made with cream and egg yolks, lightly sweetened with sugar and lightly flavored with vanilla. If you’ve never had it before, it is somewhat similar to the taste and texture of melted vanilla ice cream, but maybe a bit less sweet. It goes very well with cakes, souffles and all kinds of fruit desserts, from tarts to a simple bowl of strawberries. I often make it to go with angel food cake, as it is a great use for all those extra egg yolks.Crème anglaise is made by heating cream with a vanilla bean until the mixture just comes to a simmer. Several egg yolks are then tempered with the hot cream mixture, which is added very slowly so it does not cook the eggs. The sauce base is then returned to the stove and cooked just until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. It can then either be served hot or stored in the fridge until you’re ready for it. You can find a recipe for crème anglaise here.

The two most common problems with crème anglaise are (1) adding the cream to the egg yolks too quickly and (2) overcooking the custard. In both cases you end up with a “broken” sauce that is not smooth and has a relatively eggy flavor. The best thing to keep in mind is that, for all its richness, the sauce is a very delicate one and it is best to take it very slowly. It’s always better to take a few extra minutes than to have to throw out the whole batch and start again.

Microplanes are great tools to have around the kitchen because they really simplify a number of different tasks. They are ideal for zesting citrus fruits, make it easy to grate whole spices like nutmeg and cinnamon, and are great for doing a quick shred of hard cheeses, like parmesan. If you really want to get your money’s worth out, you can even use them to mince garlic by rubbing a clove over the fine, sharp grates. Microplanes are touted as being easy to clean, and while they’re not difficult, it can take a little experimentation to figure out the best way to get all the food out of those tiny little holes.

Most microplanes are dishwasher safe, but loading them into the dishwasher isn’t enough to get those bits of zest off; you end up with stuck-on zest more often than a clean microplane after putting a dirty one in the dishwasher. I find that the best way to clean it is to take a soapy sponge or kitchen brush (one of the bristly scrubbers) and run it down the front of the microplane in the same direction as the blades go, loosening food without shredding your brush or sponge. Then, flip the microplane over and do the same thing on the backside, hopefully removing most of the bits you already loosened. I find that a couple of wipes and my microplane is very clean. I will put mine in the dishwasher at this point if I’ve used it for garlic or something smelly and feel like it needs a second cleaning so as not to contaminate my next batch of lemon zest with garlic.