This soft and sweet cornbread tastes cakey, but you probably wouldn’t mistake it for dessert. Its tiny cornmeal crunch and golden crust make it the perfect all-American side to soups, stews, chili and barbecue. And instead of going all crumbly, it stays moist and fluffy for breakfast or snacking the next day—in the unlikely event you have any left over. So where does this cornbread fit in geographically? Northern or Southern? We first snarfed down cakey and sweet cornbread at the Hangin 8 BBQ restaurant in Eufaula, Oklahoma. So we’d say it comes from right smack in the middle of the country. Our version, adapted from Allrecipes, hits the same cakey chords. The…
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Braided Bread with Pesto (Treccia al Pesto)
Got basil? Whirr it into pesto and swirl it into an elegant braid of Italian bread. You won’t believe how easily this Braided Bread with Pesto (Treccia al Pesto) comes together into a fragrant, flavorful appetizer. And as a side bread, it can spruce up an everyday meal. The twisted braid idea comes from our son-in-law Gordy. His “crown bread” filled with tapenade and blue cheese (from Nadiya Hussain of the Great British Baking Show) blew us away. With its dark filling and gorgeous layers, it got mistaken for dessert when he took it to a party. We simplified the bread recipe and substituted pesto because our garden basil has gone berserk. And…
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“Milano” Cookies (Cats’ Tongues with Chocolate Ganache)
A classic union of vanilla and chocolate, crispy Milano™ cookies remind us of cookie trays at Italian weddings. Everybody loves ‘em. So why not whip up a fresh batch at home? It just takes just a few standard ingredients and some simple piping. And with a deliciously vanilla-forward, buttery flavor, these actually beat the originals. Turns out that making them yourself may be the only alternative to buying from Pepperidge Farm. Litigiously protective of its Milano brand, the company won’t tolerate copycats. They sued Trader Joe’s in 2015 over their somewhat similar “Crispy Cookies Filled with Belgian Chocolate.” They settled, and apparently Trader Joe’s caved. Copycats?And yet Pepperidge Farm could call themselves copycats…literally. Milano…
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Montreal Slaw with Fresh Herbs
You’ve heard of Montreal bagels and the Montreal Express, but what about Montreal Slaw? That’s the style of no-mayonnaise coleslaw our friend Joanne has been making for years, and to everyone’s delight. Lightly pickled, sweet and crunchy, it makes you wonder why mayo ever intruded in the first place. I recently stumbled upon the name “Montreal Slaw” in Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven’s marvelous book, The Way We Cook: Recipes from the New American Kitchen. Coleslaw recipes date back to the 1700s in the Netherlands (koolsla, or “cabbage salad”), before the Era of Mayonnaise. And while Americans gleefully embraced mayo in slaw, Europeans—and apparently our Northern Neighbors as well—chose to stick with a simple, tangy vinaigrette.…
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Thick, Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
We thought Allen’s Prize-Winning Whoopie Pie bordered on monstrous. But this baby tops it. Weighing in at almost a half-pound, this thick, bakery-style chocolate chip cookie barely contains all that gooey chocolate. Before you bite in, think about saving some for later. Or better yet, slice it up to share. Our daughter and son-in-law introduced us to this mega cookie from their favorite local bakery. More than its big size, we like its big flavor. Heaps of molten bittersweet and semisweet chocolate flood your taste buds, while finely chopped nuts, oats and surprise bits of apricot add extra oomph. Levain-like? More than just “bakery-style,” this recipe indeed comes from a bakery. Posted on their…
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Simit, Turkish Bagels
Our friends Ruth and Joe vacationed in Turkey many years ago and fell for twisty rings of sesame-encrusted bread called simit. Nothing like it, they say. A beloved street food, these “Turkish bagels” entice passers-by to grab them from little trolleys, or from vendors carrying them on wooden sticks or on trays balanced on top of their heads. Out of the blue, Ruth surprised us with a simit (the word is both singular and plural) from a local bakery. While simit looks rather bagel-ish, it has little of the heft of a bagel. It nearly levitates off your plate. Its chewy crust, which tickles your tongue with subtle sweetness, encases a fluffy interior. Hooked,…
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Lemon Bundt Cake, Amalfi-Style
When we hiked mountain trails along the Amalfi Coast several years ago, we marveled at the fist-sized lemons hanging off the cliffside trees. We didn’t know at the time, but they were begging to get zested and squeezed into this ultramoist and puckery lemon cake. While this lemon-lover’s dessert comes from the region, it doesn’t require Italian lemons. The supermarket variety will do just fine. Who knows the real heritage of this cake. It has relatives all over the world. The English call it a “lemon drizzle cake.” It starts out as a classic butter cake—rich, fluffy, golden, and fairly easy to make. The jolt of flavor comes from the lemon syrup that gets…
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Paul Hollywood’s Crumpets
On a recent trip to England, we fell hard for the hot, buttery crumpets served on the 10:03 train from London’s King’s Cross Station to Leeds. We’d splurged on first class with meal service—well worth it just to experience these soft, griddled treats that soaked up butter like sponges. Make these beauties for breakfast, brunch or tea, and you too will understand why Brits love their crumpets. Not English Muffins While crumpets are English and muffins, they are not English muffins. If you crossed English muffins with pancakes, you’d get something like crumpets. Crumpets start with a bubbly yeasted batter, not a dough like English muffins. The batter cooks in rings on a griddle…
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Chocolate Hermits
Dick’s Hermits, my mother-in-law’s classic chewy molasses-spice cookies, pack a flavor blast of epic proportions. (See original and gluten-free versions.) In our original post, we call her hermit “the spice equivalent of a decadent chocolate cookie.” But wait…could that “decadent chocolate cookie” also be a hermit—a chocolate hermit? Could there be a deeply flavorful, chewy chocolate cookie with the same signature cracks on top? A chocolate cookie made the same, easy way? We got a glimmer of that possibility when we received an email from Recipephany follower Frieda from Texas. The photo of Dick’s Hermits reminded her of the chocolate hermits she’d loved decades ago. So she reached out for help in finding—or creating—a…
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Pressure-Cooker Chicken Minestrone
Minestrone—that famous medley of veggies, beans and macaroni in tomato broth—means “thick soup” in Italian. But don’t stop with veggies—switch it up with tender bites of chicken. Chicken pumps up the flavor, mellows out the tomatoes, and turns a chunky soup into even more of a meal. Pressure-Cooker Chicken Minestrone falls somewhere between stew and soup—”stoup,” if you will. We got our classic minestrone from longtime pal Elinor Lipman. Most people know her for her novels, but she’s also a clever cook and baker. Her latest success, Ms. Demeanor, is a finalist for this year’s prestigious Thurber Prize for American Humor. In it, to our delight, she spices up her usual witty dialog and…
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Chapati, Indian Whole-Wheat Flatbread
The people of India usually enjoy their dishes with either bread or rice—not both. We all can make rice, but how about one of those fabulous Indian flatbreads? Simple whole-wheat chapati, AKA roti, makes a nice holiday from basmati. It puffs up when griddled, then flattens into something like a tortilla. Soft and pliable, it’s perfect for scooping up curries and spreading with chutney. A staple in Indian homes for thousands of years, chapati goes from zero to the table in minutes and fits anybody’s budget. A couple things make this recipe a keeper. First, you don’t need to buy whole-wheat atta flour, the kind they use in India. You’ll get a wonderfully toasty…
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Classic Indian Curry with Meat or Chicken
Call it “Curry 101.” This recipe taught us how to blend aromatics and spices into a savory paste—the secret to a classic Indian curry. This paste can flavor meat or chicken, and makes a bright sauce with chopped tomatoes or a smooth and tangy sauce with yogurt. No matter which variation—whether red or golden brown—this curry rivals authentic Indian take-away. We say “take-away” because that’s what they do in the UK, the source of this recipe. Brits love Indian food (some say chicken tikka masala outsells fish ‘n chips) and this recipe comes from Cooking the Indian Way published in London in 1962. And as much as we idolize Madhur Jaffrey, the Godmother of…
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Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes
Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes perform a marvelous trick. Dig into a moist, rich cake and out flows warm dark chocolate. Restaurants serve these elegant little desserts to oohs and aahs. And with our recipe, you can bring the same chocolate drama right to your table in almost no time and with no fuss. The secret is what you do ahead of time, behind the scenes. Whisk up the batter before dinner, or even a day or more ahead. It only takes a few minutes. Then pour the batter into silicone molds or ramekins and store them in the fridge or the freezer. All that’s left is the baking—or should we say, the underbaking. And…
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Elvis’s Favorite Pound Cake
When I told my brother Mitchell that I’d baked Elvis’s Presley’s Favorite Pound Cake, he sang, “You ate nothin’ but a pound cake.” Not just any pound cake, but the King of Pound Cakes. Moist and tender, this golden cake owes its richness and height to heavy cream, butter and lots of eggs. Cake flour makes it light and silky. Of course, you would guess that Elvis’s cake would be over-the-top luxurious. You can’t help falling in love with it. This hint-of-lemon adaptation comes from Leah Greenwald, Recipephany’s Celebrity Cake Consultant and baking inspiration. She compared this to Sara Lee’s packaged pound cake—a favorite in my household when I was growing up. “It has…
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Cake Goop for Worry-Free Nonstick Baking
Your baking pan may say “nonstick,” but don’t believe it. When it comes to bundt pans, intricate cake pans, and cookie molds with nooks and crannies, even nonstick coatings need a little help. And cooking oil sprays won’t do it. Use our easy and cheap homemade Cake Goop and your lovely cake will slide easily out of the pan, keeping a showstopper from turning into a heartbreaker. Recipephany’s Cake Release Technology Consultant, Leah Greenwald, recommends Baker’s Joy spray to keep bundt cakes beautifully whole when turned out of the pan. But wouldn’t you know, our Stop and Shop stopped carrying it. Apparently, their target market no longer includes joyful bakers. Fortunately, baking friend Kathy…
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Curried Butternut Squash Soup
Nothing celebrates the fall harvest like Curried Butternut Squash Soup. Its velvety blend of sweet squash and orchard-fresh apples makes us feel so cozy. And the bright Indian spice adds just a touch of extra warmth. Serve it as a show-stopper opener for your holiday event, or just curl up with a bowl and some crusty bread for a comfy weeknight dinner. And all that rich, complex flavor comes from an easy-to-prepare vegetarian (or vegan) soup. Roasting the squash adds a syrupy caramelization—and simplifies prep. Cook the squash ahead, then store it in the fridge until you’re ready to make the soup. We based this Curried Butternut Squash Soup on a recipe by Sheila…
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Homemade Playdough Supreme
You can’t make Legos at home, but you can mix up a batch of soft, colorful playdough in just a few minutes with ingredients you have on hand. Homemade Playdough Supreme feels silky smooth and comes out bright and vibrant. It costs little to make and brings hours of squishy fun. Homemade playdough goes back to the Pleistocene—or is it Plasticine?—Age. We have carbon-dated the handwritten index card to back when our kids were actual kids. So we don’t remember which clever parent gave it to us. Or where it got the name “Supreme.” But we’re grateful it still works like a dream. So we’re always ready to roll out a little fun with…
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Chocolate Shell for Ice Cream
What would a Klondike bar, a Dove bar, or any self-respecting ice-cream-bar-on-a-stick be without a chocolate coating? Just everyday ice cream. In fact, it’s those little melt-in-your-mouth shards of chocolate that turn it into a treat. So why not punch up your favorite ice cream with a crisp, ready-to-crack chocolate shell? This chocolate sauce mimics Smucker’s popular “Magic Shell,” hardening seconds after it hits the ice cream. And yet—not surprisingly—this homemade shell has a deeper, richer flavor than the commercial squeeze-on topping. It comes together in no time with only two ingredients: chocolate and coconut oil. Virgin coconut oil (which solidifies at room temperature, so it looks more like shortening than oil) makes the…
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16 Bean Soup in the Pressure Cooker
Creamy chickpeas. Glistening black beans. Buttery limas, nutty black-eyed peas, earthy lentils, and plenty more. They all swirl together into one big pot of delicious, hearty 16 bean soup. And it’s easy and lightning-fast in your pressure cooker or Instant Pot. Just start with a bag of colorful 16 bean soup mix from the dried bean aisle at the supermarket. And what a bargain—it costs little more than any bag of dried beans. Then dress it up with a few extras to make a spectacular multibean soup. Yes, a bag of 16 bean soup mix contains at least 16 different varieties of dried beans. The bean types can vary from brand to brand, bag…
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Pecan Praline Cookies
Pecan Praline Cookies have become an instant favorite here. Chewy inside, crispy around the edges. Buttery caramel flavor. Toasty, tasty pecans. Complex in taste, yet simple to prep. I asked Dan why, with all the cookie cookbooks I’ve obsessed over, I’d never run into this irresistible cookie until now. “You travel in the wrong circles,” he replied. Well, maybe in the past. But luckily now I travel in the same baking circle as Joanne Hofmann Sexeny. She really knows her cookies. So when she recently recommended this winner, I knew enough to stop everything and try it. She called it “one of the best cookies to bake.” Yes, and to eat. But before you…
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Soho Globs
Testing out these Soho Globs warm from the oven, Dan called the first one “more of an event than a cookie,” and his second “a challenge.” These fudgy cookies may look like brownies, with their deep color and crinkly shiny crust. But watch out. They pack an intense, bittersweet triple-chocolate punch that can send you spinning if you don’t brace yourself. If you’re from around Boston, you may recognize these objects of desire from the display case at the iconic Rosie’s Bakery. With its happy pink sign outside and sweet indulgences inside, Rosie’s spread the joys of butter, sugar and especially chocolate from its Cambridge, Boston and Chestnut Hill stores. After a run of…
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Butter-Bran Bread from Uncle John’s Original Bread Book
Braué’s Butter-Bran Bread. Say that three times fast. A bit tough to say, but easy—and rewarding—to make. Tender-crusted and fluffy, this no-knead loaf dates back to Prussia in the 1800s, according to the late actor/baker/author John Rahn Braué, AKA Uncle John. Bread-Bakers’ Gold Braué came from a long line of German master bread bakers. He wrote Uncle John’s Original Bread Book (published in 1961) to pass on “priceless recipes…handed down family to family, baker to baker, friend to friend, tested and retested by my father and thousands of unknowns.” I stumbled upon Uncle John’s book in the cookbook room of the legendary New England Mobile Book Fair discount bookstore, a now-closed Boston institution. What…
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Classic Apple Pie with Screwdriver Crust
Here it is…the perfect “as-American-as,” best-in-its-class dessert. Years ago we posted our favorite apple pie filling (Pi Day 2015: 10 Digits of Pi) to celebrate the rarest Pi Day we’ll ever see. More recently we raved about our crisp, flaky, never-fail Screwdriver Pie Crust. And now here they are, joined in this lightly spiced, sweet-tart Classic Apple Pie. Two recipes for one great pie. Together at last. One-stop baking. Do you love apple picking, but then wonder what you’ll do with that half-bushel? Make ready-to-use apple pie fillings. Peel and slice apples and toss them in a bowl with seasonings, just as you would for a fresh pie. (But hold off on the cornstarch,…
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Steamed Chinese Buns (Bao) with Chicken or Char Shu Pork
Our friends Joanne and David made these pillowy Steamed Chinese Buns long before the term “bao” (short for “baozi”) became fashionable. Fluffy and full of flavor, these buns rival those you’d get at any restaurant. The secret is the soft, enriched dough which puffs up high and airy in the steamer. Stuff it with Char Shu Pork or David’s Garlic-Ginger Chicken and you’ll be in bao heaven. Joanne started making this lighter-than-air dough using a recipe she found in the 1986 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. David, who knows his way around a wok, created this luscious Garlic-Ginger Chicken filling to go with it. We’ve also tacked on a sweet and salty Char…
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Anchovy Bread (Sfogliata)
A tiny grenade of umami, the humble anchovy gives chefs a secret weapon for deepening the flavor and richness of sauces and stews. It melts away as it cooks, leaving only salt and a savory meatiness. But Italians take anchovies out from behind the curtain, celebrating them in the dish bagna càuda, in robust pasta sauces, and as a classic pizza topping. And this Italian Anchovy Bread (aka Sfogliata), sliced into colorful little pinwheels with luscious paprika-spiced filling, further proves how anchovies can command center stage. We first learned about this easy and elegant bread from Ruth Reichl’s book, My Kitchen Year. Ruth, the longtime Editor-in-Chief of Gourmet and acclaimed food critic at the…
