Food science guru Harold McGee has a fascinating article on bread in today’s NY Times. Inspired by the results of Jim Lahey’s innovative no-knead method, he tests out a number of doughs by experimenting with different kneading times and moisture levels. A must-read for anyone who bakes bread.

Huffington Post has a great round-up of kitchen-related iPhone apps for their “Week of Eating In” series. Whether it’s the huge recipe database, local farmer’s market finder, guide to fresh herbs, or shopping list generator, there are quite a few useful apps for the home cook to be found here.

Whatisfresh.com is an incredibly helpful new online guide to Brooklyn & Manhattan Greenmarkets. Stymied by the lack of information on what markets carried which products and when, Michael Horn decided to bring some organization to the previously hit-or-miss activity of market shopping. He set-up a database of the Greenmarkets, their days and times of operation, their vendors, and the products they carry. You can search by location, vendor or product to find what you’re looking for on any given day. It’s the perfect tool for navigating the Greenmarkets, and the scope of markets it covers is set to expand in the near future…

Looks like the folks at British kitchenware outfit üutensil decided the traditional whisk was due for a redesign. They call their updated gadget The Squisk, and claim it gets the job done faster than regular whisks, by incorporating 40% more air into your mix. They also make a reimagined potato masher called The Spudnik and say it yields fluffier mashed potatoes more quickly and easily than a standard masher. Their mortar and pestle looks the most promising: as someone driven mad by the shrapnel inevitably unleashed when pounding spices, I think their clever ball-and-socket design looks like a brilliant solution to the problem of flyaway peppercorns. Anyone out there ever use or own one of these gizmos? Curious to hear if they live up to the claims. For anyone interested in buying one of these, they’re available at chefsplanet.com.

Some tech-head kitchen geek in New Zealand has created this incredible iPhone-inspired kitchen computer. At the request of his wife, who wanted an unobtrusive, touch screen computer that was internet-connected so she could search and manage recipes and ingredients, he built this amazing wall-mounted device. Based on his instructions, it actually seems doable for anyone tech savvy enough to handle hardware assembly, HTML programming, and a bit of light carpentry. Check it out for yourself, and if anyone gives this a go – let us know what happens!

Ever wished you could search through the cookbooks on your shelf the same way you can scan the web for recipes? Now you can, with the help of newly launched website EatYourBooks.com. They’ve indexed over 15,000 cookbooks on their site – you select the ones you own and add them to your virtual bookshelf. From that point on, you can search for recipes and information contained in your cookbooks through your EYB account. The site doesn’t reproduce the text, recipes or images from the books – it directs you to the exact pages in the book you already own. If you search for “beef,” it will show you all the recipes in all of your cookbooks that use beef and where to find them. Click on a recipe, and it gives you a list of the ingredients you’ll need for that particular dish, so shopping lists are a snap. You can search your cookbooks from the office, pick a recipe, generate a shopping list of ingredients, then follow the recipe in the actual book once you’re in your kitchen. The cost is pretty reasonable – $25 a month or $50 for lifetime membership. The only downside is any disparity between the books you own and the ones they’ve indexed. A lot of cooks I know (myself included) pride themselves on unique, second-hand, out-of-print books, so chances are you’ll find some annoying omissions in the EYB index. However, they do offer a free trial, so you can check the index yourself to see how well it matches up with your own collection.

Interest in cooking as a profession has shot through the roof, and culinary schools have seen big surges in enrollment as a result. But in uncertain economic times, and for a field where few go on to earn huge salaries, the $100,000 price tag for tuition is a massive commitment. A culinary degree may seem like a necessity for aspiring cooks, but can you really afford to be saddled with that much debt while slaving your way up the ranks of low-paying restaurant work? Many can’t or won’t take on that burden. But skipping school isn’t a dream-killer. For every famous school-trained chef, there’s a Mario Batali or a Ferran Adria who did just fine without a degree. If you’ve ever considered enrolling in a pricey program, I recommend you first take a look at this report by Atlantic Food Channel writer Paul Wachter.

Looks like the first big cooking competition of 2010 is going to be the 2nd Annual Greenmarket Cassoulet Cook-Off at Jimmy’s No. 43 on Saturday, January 16th. Traditionally made of pork, beans, and duck confit, the mighty French melange of cassoulet is also one of those classic dishes open to endless interpretations, so it’s a great springboard for creative cooking. Judging from this post, the competition already looks fierce (the seafood cassoulet with sardine stock and poached salt cod sounds brilliant). All entries must include some Greenmarket ingredients, and all proceeds from ticket sales go to the NYC Greenmarket. Go here for all the details.

The rondeau is an interesting piece of cookware – a hybrid dutch oven and straight-sided skillet that’s great for a number of cooking techniques. It’s a popular tool in restaurant kitchens, and given its ability to sear, simmer, poach, shallow-fry, pan-roast, and oven-braise, it’s clear why. With so many uses, the rondeau also looks like a great choice for space-deprived city cooks. Why have a cabinet full of single-purpose pots and pans when one rondeau can do it all? I recommend checking out Portland chef Kelly Meyer’s detailed post on this great piece of gear.

Here’s a link to help improve your kitchen skills for the new year! Six different techniques are covered in detail: skillet seasoning, knife use and care, pizza dough making and tossing, basic recipe ratios, no-knead bread, and cooking the perfect egg. It’s great basic information that every cook should master. So dig in – there’s plenty to digest here until the next post (which I have resolved to make a more regular thing in the new year).