Recipes & Menus

This makes a simple and hearty one-pot meal. The meat becomes fork tender and the stock simmers down to a rich sauce. Leftovers are terrific served over corn cakes.

Without the savory crunch of fried garlic, my kitchen wouldn’t be the same. I use it on rice, noodles, soups, salads, vegetables, and anything else that benefits from a sprinkle of these magical golden flavor nuggets. For the Fried Garlic Noodles, I showed you how to make a quick version of fried garlic in the microwave. If you want to take your fried garlic game to the next level, though, you can fry it in large batches like we do at Tin Roof, since it will keep for several weeks. Though more labor-intensive, this cooking method produces a crispier, evenly browned fried garlic that packs a ridiculous amount of roasted garlickiness.

This cake has the fluffy, so-light-it-could-float texture of angel food cake, with a touch of egg yolk for richness. Tahini brings pure sesame flavor and a lining of sesame seeds adds a bonus level of crunch.

Eggs, cream, peppery greens. This is a low-fuss, highly satisfying brunch made in a skillet on your stovetop. It's a brunch recipe that'll impress with no fuss.

With a simple sweet onion dressing, roasted peanuts, and crunchy potato chips, this salad is an easy favorite. As the salad sits, it becomes even more flavorful.

In this riff on Singapore-style curry noodles, shawarma spice takes the place of curry powder. Cauliflower, corn, and peas add pops of texture and sweetness.

There is a way to have your macaroni fix in the freezer: a custard-style baked mac ’n’ cheese. Instead of a cream-based sauce, this one uses eggs and béchamel to help bind a very cheesy filling with the noodles. The pimentos help to cut the richness with a little bit of acidity.

Béchamel, a cream sauce bound by a roux of flour and butter, holds up well in the freezer, maintaining the same gooey, melty texture that the freezer too often destroys in other dairy. It’s pivotal for casseroles, such as lasagna (page 126) or the green bean dish (page 125) that falls on so many Thanksgiving menus. It’s the halfway point to sausage gravy (page 122) or cheese sauce. Long story short, béchamel helps bridge the gap when thinking about foods that freeze well. Just like duct tape, you should never be without it.

Carrot cake, but with beets—and the dreamiest frosting of all.

Once you master a basic aioli, you’ll find yourself adding different flavors (you can mix in herbs, spices, chilies, etc.) to suit the needs of so many savory dishes.

This classic yeasted recipe produces waffles that are wonderfully crisp outside, and creamy on the inside.

These mini cakes are dressed in a variety of glazes for a simple—yet sophisticated—springtime snack. Including sweet rice flour and rich sour cream means they’re plush, tender, and wonderfully moist.

Doubling down on proteins in recipes shows sophistication and speaks to a hallmark of Soul cuisine—utilizing the entire animal. Chicken hearts are an underutilized part of the chicken. They provide an earthiness to dishes that allows fattier, delectable morsels of food to stand tall. You can find this same quality in mushrooms, but I think hearts are a fun way to explore new techniques.