Snack

Fried capers lend a light, salty crunch to these addictive little bites.

The perfect crunchy potato chips—at home.

This one's got it all: bright fall colors and sweet-savory appeal.

For the crispiest results, dry the chickpeas before frying.

Texas is proud of its peaches. They're soft, juicy, floral, and sweet, and the best I've ever tasted. During the season, when you travel through lush Hill Country Texas towns such as Fredericksburg, or Central Texas towns such as Fairfield, you won't be able to go a mile without seeing a roadside stand or pickup truck filled with baskets of this cherished summertime treat. We also have a peach tree at my grandma's North Texas farm, and every July it delivers a bounty of peaches that she'll put up for later in the year. Pickling fruit is a common method of fruit preservation in Texas. Yes, there's vinegar involved, as with other types of pickles. But you also add enough sugar and warm spices to give the fruit a balance of both acidity and sweetness. If you've never tried pickled fruit, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Pickled peaches are perhaps my favorite fruit to preserve, as I love how the peaches' sweet juice combines with the piquant brine. Of course, I've added a bit of heat to my peaches, which is decidedly not traditional, but I find that the habanero's flowery notes go very well with the peaches' floral tones. These go well with a bowl of ice cream, on top of your morning oatmeal, with a freshly baked biscuit, or yes, simply eaten straight out of the jar.

Make the decorations the day before baking This cupcake is inspired by a scene from the movie 28 Days Later, where a crow sits overhead with a piece of zombie corpse in his mouth. We've chosen a deathly pale skin color, but you can vary the color of the fondant to create different flesh tones. The jam and fondant topping contrasts with the subtle flavor of the white velvet cupcake. If you use toothpicks to secure the crows, remember to tell your guests.

Take a close look at the graveyard, and you might see a zombie rising from the dead—if you see a rotting hand reaching out from underground, you can be sure the rest of the zombie will soon follow. They're coming to get you… This delectable mud cupcake gives you a taste of the grave from the zombie's perspective. Remember to warn your guests that the hand is secured using a toothpick.

Gulkand ke biskut The all-American classic cookie has taken a detour to India in this recipe. The candied rose petals and dark, semi-sweet chocolate are divine together. Candied rose petals, known as Gulkand or rose spread, and are available in Indian grocery stores.

These skillet-fried biscuits are a little sturdier than many other biscuits in order to hold the fresh berries intact. The butter bumps up the flavor as well. When they are fried, they remind me of the blueberries we picked early one morning as Girl Scouts and made into pancakes—a culinary highlight of my childhood. But they are very special baked as well. Either way, they’re a winner.

THE GOODS Boasting 36 percent of your RDA for potassium, this fruity, chocolaty breakfast blend is a big-time bloat buster with only 276 calories per serving.

If pizza crust seems daunting and time-consuming to make, try this easy spelt dough, which is moistened with ricotta cheese and aromatic linseed oil. This rustic dinner is stunning to behold — thinly sliced apples and fennel sit on a tangy sour cream layer and are topped with lightly crisped prosciutto. The crust is inspired by classic German dough with Quark, a delicious fresh cheese, which keeps baked goods fresh. While your dough rests, preheat the oven and prepare the toppings — voilà, dinner! Great also as a party appetizer in the early fall with a glass of rosé or dry white wine, or with a chilled lager in the summer. Use a mandoline to slice apples and fennel about 1/8 inch thick. If you don't have one, try to slice them as thinly as possible to get flavorful brown edges. If you don't own a pizza stone, preheat an inverted baking sheet for 30 minutes as described in step 3. Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper, carefully slide the paper with the dough right onto the baking sheet, and bake. While the crust will not be as crisp, it will still be delicious.

Our lighter take on the Gilroy Garlic Fries at the San Francisco Giants' AT&T Park forgoes the deep fryer in favor of a hot oven.

The Seattle Mariners serve tuna "Ichirolls" in honor of all-star Ichiro Suzuki.

Let’s clear something up right away: New York City isn’t the only place in the world to get decent, authentic bagels. The truth is, you can make bagels that are just as good at home, no matter where you live. They’re one of the simplest breads to make, requiring only flour, water, salt, yeast, and malt—and one secret ingredient: time (in the form of long, slow, cold fermentation). Any decent bagel shop knows this and uses an overnight method to stretch out the fermentation process, releasing all sorts of subtle flavors trapped in the flour. While bagel shops often use a type of high-protein flour not available to home cooks to achieve that distinctively chewy texture, regular, unbleached bread flour can also do the trick. The real key is to use a much lower percentage of water than is used for baguettes and other European hearth breads, producing a stiff dough that can stand up to a dunking in boiling water before going into the oven. More than any ingredient or other aspect of the method, this boiling step is what defines the uniqueness of the bagel. That said, bagels do usually feature one other distinctive ingredient: barley malt. While this may seem like an exotic, hard-to-find product, it’s actually commonly available at most supermarkets, usually labeled “barley malt syrup.” If you can’t find it, simply substitute an equal amount of honey. Your bagels might not have that malty flavor, but they’ll still be better than almost any bagel you can buy. One final note: If you like bagels but don’t want to set up the boiling operation for just six of them, feel free to double the size of the batch and bake enough to freeze for future use.

How they fight fat Greek yogurt's combo of protein, fat and carbs helps burn belly fat; the creamy stuff delivers twice as much protein as other yogurts do, so you'll feel more satiated.

I have eaten several versions of these eggplant fritters, which are a specialty of Córdoba, and have loved them all. The combination of savory and sweet is sensational. In the town of Priego de Córdoba, which is in the mountains on the Ruta del Califato (the tourist route of old Muslim Spain), where there is an old Moorish quarter, the eggplant slices I ate were very thin and crisp and served with a dribble of honey. I learned from the chef at the restaurant Rio a new way to prevent the eggplant from absorbing too much oil, which is to soak the slices in milk, then drain them and cover them in flour.
These are best eaten as soon as they are done, but they are also very good reheated in the oven.