Alice Waters consistently find ways to improve uncomplicated recipes without losing their spirit of simplicity; here the garlic-vinegar mixture plays the role of acid in this tomato "vinaigrette" and helps complement the same acidity in the tomatoes—part of what makes them taste so excellent. More

These butter sables are accented with rosemary and pine nuts. They're an interesting mix between sweet and savory, and just perfect with a cup of tea. More

[Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt] Note: For the four weeks between January 14th and February 11th, I'm adopting a completely vegan lifestyle. Every weekday I'll be updating my progress with a diary entry and a recipe. For past posts, check here!... More

I first had pasta with slow-cooked broccoli at Jamie Bissonette and Ken Oringer's Coppa in Boston's South End and was blown away by its intense flavor. When cooked down in a rich tomato sauce, broccoli takes on an entirely different character with a deep, mildly sulfurous aroma that borders on meaty in its savoriness. More

When I think of polenta, I think soft and creamy cornmeal served warm from the pot, a delicious northern Italian staple. But polenta also comes in another form, where it's allowed to cool and firm up to be cut into shapes and re-cooked. Polenta in its soft form has always been my go-to—mostly because a grilled piece of cornmeal never much enticed me—until I came across this recipe in Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, where it's breaded and shallow-fried. More

Pork loin, lean, tender, and juicy, is doused in a honey-butter-thyme glaze, and then roasted until the honey bubbles up and sticks in a sweet-savory layer on the outside of the pork. Served with an earthy and easy pan sauce, this is the easiest and best way to cook pork. More

This creamy cheese cake tastes of honey and cinnamon. More

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Santa and Milanos have equally substantiated merits. Santa supposedly rewards children for their behavior and Milanos ostensibly taste good. Both claims remain scientifically impossible to prove, but even so, people continue to believe in them because both point to something beautiful. More

Pumpkin pie and chocolate chip cookies are pretty much baked good soulmates. They're both considered all-American desserts, both are the result of bakers making do with ingredients available at the time, and both seem to inspire a primal instinct in bakers who are constantly seeking out the best recipe. More

This homemade version of a chocolate cookie crumb crust blows the kind made with packaged cookies away! It's a perfect crust for cheesecakes, crumb crust pies, and tarts. It's a little extra work, but I promise, the pure chocolaty flavor and sweet/salty balance is worth it! More

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If you've only ever known mayonnaise in the form of the quivering jellyish stuff that comes in the jars with the blue lid, you're doing yourself a disservice. Like switching from briefs to boxers or walking to Mordor, trying homemade mayonnaise is the kind of thing that will forever change your life (or at the very least, your sandwiches). Today, we do it in 2 minutes or less, with a 100% success rate. More

Just like chicken thighs, turkey legs are an economical cut that's often overlooked. By braising instead of roasting, these legs emerge juicy and nearly falling off the bone with sweetness and warmth from the sherry, raisins and prunes. Served up with something starchy like a Saffron Risotto with Mushrooms (recipe to come later this week) and you've got a lovely fall family meal. More

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Now that it's become de rigueur to cover and decorate celebration cakes with fondant, the flexible sugar dough that's become exceedingly popular thanks to cake TV shows, Swiss buttercream has become an afterthought. For me, a cook who believes that it's never worth it to sacrifice flavor for appearance, the demise of buttercream cakes is a travesty. More

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I wanted full-flavored American cheese that not only behaves like American cheese once it's melted on a burger, but I wanted cheese that behaves just like American in every other way. American cheese that you can double stack inside a grilled cheese sandwich that oozes out into gooey puddles when you bite into it. American cheese that you can melt on the stovetop with a can or Ro*Tel for the ultimate upscale-trashy cheese dip. American cheese that you can pick up cold from the fridge, stack with a pile of bologna, and roll up into the best-ever midnight snack (don't other people do this?). More

If you read the previous post, you'll know that this week's Cook the Book entry, How to Pick a Peach, by Russ Parsons, is all about where the foods in the produce aisle come from, when they're at their best,... More

Slow braising cabbage with apples is hardly a revolutionary concept, but adding spoonfuls of spicy grainy mustard to the mix transforms this side into something that's about as close to thrilling as you can get when talking about cabbage. More

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This is a great autumn pie with a mellow sweet squash flavor, and creamy, dense texture. While other squash pie recipes often tend to lean heavily on the spices, this recipe is more subtle, taking the less-is-more approach with a nice hit of ginger and just a hint of cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg. It gets its buttery, creamy flavor from the addition of butter and sweetened condensed milk. More

On its own terms, a grilled portobello is a wonderful sandwich mainstay, especially when paired with an incredibly ripe grilled peach. In addition to the mushroom—which is marinated in garlicky, herb-flecked olive oil—a mashed avocado spread adds the crucial creamy element, and peppery arugula provides a fresh counterpoint. More

Baking just about anything in a cast iron skillet is bound to be pretty great and this Tomato Cobbler from Lisa Fain's The Homesick Texan Cookbook is no exception. Taking inspiration from those great summer fruit cobblers, Fain wondered why she couldn't apply the same technique to a savory side—and so this fantastic summer cobbler was born. More

Tapioca maltodextrin is a slightly sweet modified starch that will thicken and stabilize liquids high in fat. Since it can absorb more than its weight in liquid, it can transform fat into a powdery substance that melts on the tongue. Use olive oil powder in dishes for an extremely rich feel in the mouth, such as on lobster. You can replace the olive oil in this recipe with any flavored oil; nut oils like hazelnut and pistachio come to mind. More

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Personally, I find nothing more frustrating in the kitchen than a dull knife. Not only does it make prep work a chore and your finished product less attractive, it's also downright dangerous. A dull blade requires more pressure to cut into a food, and can easily slip off of a tough onion skin and into your finger. Ouch. Here's a slideshow on how to sharpen a knife with a sharpening stone, with recommendations on what stones to buy. More

Complete chocolate tempering instructions are beyond the scope of this recipe, however, you can find a great tempering tutorial from Liddabit chocolatier Liz Gutman here.. Also, take heart: you don't have to actually temper the chocolate. If you skip tempering, you'll have to store the peanut butter cups in the refrigerator, but who ever turned their nose up at a cool Reese's Cup? More

Growing up, Fudgsicles were always my favorite ice cream truck treat. Sure, Rocket Pops were fun because they dyed your tongue blue, and Creamsicles were cool because they were almost like two desserts in one, but nothing was quite as... More

Oleo-saccharum is an ingredient in cocktails and punches that was relatively commonly used in 19th-century bartending as a way to provide an elegantly citrusy flavor and aroma to alcoholic beverages. It's also an excellent addition to lemonade, iced tea, and even vinaigrettes. More

Normally, when I get my hands on a nice fillet of salmon I tend to treat it like a steak, keeping it whole and cooking it over moderately high heat. So I was completely off balance when I began to cook this recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's At Home with Madhur Jaffrey. The fillet is cut into pieces, covered in a spicy rub, and then cooked gently in a mustard-loaded sauce. I mean, there's ground mustard and mustard seeds in this one! But I didn't worry too much; Jaffrey has never failed me before. More