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Forget French pressing or the pour-over method: there's a different type of coffee brewing that's sparking the attention of java lovers. It's called cold-brewing, and it's a lengthy (but easy) process.

Cold-brewing involves saturating ground coffee beans in cold, filtered water, covering the container and letting it sit out at room temperature for 12 hours, then straining out the coffee grounds. The efforts are by no means immediate, but the end result might win you over: cold brews are lighter and thinner, and their flavors won't be weakened by ice. In contrast to brewing a hot cup of coffee, which draws out the acidity and bitterness of beans, a cold brew slowly extracts the bean's flavorful oils.

Food Network chef Jeff Mauro has a penchant for blended iced coffee drinks, and a cold brew is his preferred method. He adds, "I just think, as far as for the iced coffee application, there is no better way, because you are not brewing it over ice and diluting it. It takes time to do it, but the payoff is great."

Twelve hours may seem like a lifetime, but this method really just involves remembering to combine the two ingredients while prepping dinner so you can wake up to refreshing, invigorating cold-brewed coffee in the morning. The brew is concentrated, so dilute it with filtered water to your liking, and then serve over ice. Stay tuned for Jeff's recipe for cold-brewed coffee, which he uses for his signature Peanut Butter and Jelly Blended Coffee.

When looking to round out a meal come brunch, lunch, or dinnertime, I stick to a simple motto: put an egg on it (not to be confused with "put a bird on it" . . . ). While fried and scrambled are nice, I hold a special place in my heart for the oozing yolks of a perfectly poached egg, but until now I hadn't thought of them as portable. It turns out, with an ingenious kitchen hack, these luscious eggs can become a protein-packed part of the brown-bag lunch rotation. Keep reading to find out the simple secret.

If you follow the cooking instructions scribed across the box or bag of quinoa, then chances are you're doing it wrong. Though nutty, toothsome, and all-around lovely when steamed properly, cooked quinoa can often fall short, resulting in a mushy, mealy, or even unpalatably bitter mess. Avoid these problems with a few easy steps.

1. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, thoroughly rinse the quinoa. Most quinoa sold is "prerinsed" but could use some extra help to ensure that all of the naturally occurring, bitter, soapy-tasting coating present on all unprocessed quinoa is washed away. Add the uncooked quinoa to a fine mesh strainer, and rinse it under cool water until all the kernels are dampened.
3. Add the rinsed quinoa to the boiling water and cook for 6-8 minutes, or until the quinoa is just barely al dente. Strain it using a fine-mesh strainer.
4. Add an inch of water to the quinoa pot, set the fine-mesh strainer (with the cooked quinoa still in it) inside the pot; make sure the quinoa doesn't touch the water. Cover with a dish towel and the pot's lid, turn the heat up to high, and steam for 3-5 minutes, or until the quinoa is tender and no longer waterlogged.
5. Turn the quinoa out into a bowl, fluff it up with a fork, and use as desired in any recipe.