Simple Cooking

While brandy is the traditional partner for fruit cake, you could also try using a dessert sherry such as Pedro Ximénez. It’s an intensely sweet, dark sherry made from the Spanish grape variety of the same name. Perfect in festive cakes, puddings and custards, you can find it in liquor stores.

This velvety Vietnamese rice porridge gets a deep flavor from soaking overnight in chicken or vegetable broth before simmering with fragrant ginger and scallions.

These bite-size mashed potato croquettes are filled with smoked trout, mozzarella, Parmesan, and chives.

If you love beef tartare but don’t love the idea of leaving a bowl of raw beef out at a cocktail party, this recipe is for you. 

Anchovy lovers: This one’s for you. The combination of vanilla butter and anchovies is the perfect combination of sweet and salty.

Like many long-simmered sauces, this one, perhaps the most delicious of all the Italian meat sauces, is more flavorful and balanced the following day.

Use this rich, creamy Italian white sauce for lasagna, gratins, and mac and cheese.

Use the best balsamic you can afford for this simple yet refined appetizer. 

For this vegetarian dinner, we roast thick wedges of cabbage, carrots, and tofu in a spiced coconut milk sauce until they're wonderfully softened and caramelized.

A make-ahead gravy that doesn’t rely on turkey drippings or a roux. The gravy’s depth of flavor comes from roasted poultry bones and—surprise!—a sprinkle of MSG, which has an umami-to-the-max effect.

It’s ideal to serve these leeks warm (the smell just out of the oven is amazing), but they can also be made a few hours ahead and served at room temperature.

This steamed broccolini dressed with a salty-sweet sesame sauce is a perfect side for heavy winter dinners

This pesto variation is built on a combination of toasted nuts, creamy ricotta, salty Parm, and a little kick of raw garlic. You don’t need a food processor or a blender to make it; everything comes together in a single bowl.

Layers of bright citrus and gentle heat add flavor without weighing down this one-skillet dish finished with charred broccolini and endive.

This garlicky, gingery soup is a heartier take on classic chicken and rice, thanks to the addition of sweet potatoes.

We’ve never met a riff on larb that we didn’t like, including this version, which forgoes the typical meat or fish for crispy shiitake mushrooms.

Spreading mayonnaise on top of the salmon fillets helps the spiced panko stay put and keeps the fish moist while it roasts.

An outer coating of sumac-sugar gives these slice-and-bake cookies a bright pop of flavor that balances the rich, buttery shortbread.

Dijon mustard mixed with honey serves as a sweet-tart marinade for this chicken dinner, while the whole-grain mustard adds dynamic pops of flavor to the dressing.

With a sweet and tangy sauce, these rice noodles are a fast and fabulous dinner for any night of the week.