Simple Cooking

Creamy chocolate ganache, sweetened with earthy molasses, and crunchy candied pecans add texture and richness to this eminently shareable dessert.

Zhoug is a spicy herb sauce of Yemenite origin that you find in Syria and Israel. It’s often the go-to condiment for falafel and is eaten with bread for those who want heat with every bite. It’s a must with Shakshuka, and you’ll probably find yourself stirring it into scrambled eggs, spreading it on a sandwich, mixing it with Greek yogurt to make a dip, or just eating it by the spoonful.

Shakshuka means “all mixed up” in Hebrew and is one of the most popular breakfast dishes in Israel and at Sofra. Many countries in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean claim a version of their own, like Tunisian chakchouka, made with peppers and harissa, and a Moroccan version made with lamb sausage and harissa. The eggs are poached directly in the spicy tomato sauce, so it’s important that the sauce is well seasoned and warmed before you add the eggs.

This fresh new take on classic horseradish sauce makes a lot, but you’re going to want extra. It’s the perfect companion for both our Porcini-Rubbed Beef Rib Roast and our Crispy Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes.

Takes the fear out of frying with a foolproof explanation and a universally loved snack as your reward.

I like spreading Quark on my morning slice of bread and topping it with jam, but you can also mix it with salt and herbs and dollop it next to boiled potatoes for a light meal. Using buttermilk will result in skim Quark, which is best for baking recipes. If you want a creamier Quark to eat as is, simply stir a little heavy cream into the Quark to loosen and enrich it. (Mixed with high-quality fruit preserves, this makes for a luxurious little snack.)

While you can make a very nice vanilla sugar by simply plunging a vanilla bean into a jar of sugar and leaving it there (for a really, really long time), I actually like to make a slightly fancier version by processing vanilla and sugar together until the bean is all broken down and the sugar is speckled with countless tiny beans and specks of pod. The sugar is more intensely flavored than regular vanilla sugar. Packaged in a pretty glass jar, it also makes for a great gift.

Also known as advieh, this aromatic blend comes from Persian cuisine. It’s fragrant, a little sweet, and gently warming. It is delicious mixed with sugar and sprinkled over baked goods, donuts, and rice pudding or added to dried fruits that are cooking into jam. It straddles the sweet and savory world because it’s also great for flavoring rice pilaf with toasted nuts, lentil soup, lamb meatballs, braised chicken, or vegetable stew. It’s a blend that is shared by chefs and pastry chefs. Use it to make Persian-Style Carrots and Black-Eyed Peas.

Resting yeast-raised waffle batter overnight enhances their flavor and makes their texture wonderfully crisp and fluffy.

One of my favorite crops from my husband’s farm are his fall carrots. I prefer the fall carrots because as the weather gets colder the vegetable sugars concentrate, yielding the sweetest carrots of the year. We use lots of carrots in this recipe, so that it’s more about the carrots than anything else. For the best flavor, serve it cold the day after you make it. You can substitute chickpeas for the black-eyed peas, if you prefer to use another type of bean.

Who doesn’t love banana bread? This one is just sweet enough, with fabulous crunch if you add walnuts and coconut, as I always do. There’s no better solution for over-the-hill bananas, and the batter comes together in less than 10 minutes. I’ve been making this recipe — created by my late dear friend Sherry — for almost fifty years; it’s incredibly reliable.

Attention pecan pie lovers! Here's a classic recipe using a classic American brand.

This simple, four-ingredient pie has a bright and tangy yet sweet and creamy filling.

This easy slurry method takes polenta into weekday fare. And this recipe shows how to make a deeply flavored mushroom sauce with the simple addition of dried porcini. Both techniques are in my go-to repertoire.

The most iconic chocolate chip cookie is crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and loaded with melty morsels of chocolate chips throughout.

Probably the biggest, most versatile recipe I've ever written and it's become a model for my master-recipe formula. Here six basic components are completely transformed with simple substitutions into 18 totally different dishes.

Deconstructed with fresh tomatoes and by quickly hand-pounding chicken into cutlets then broiling, this becomes a fresh, modern alternative to a time-consuming classic.

Set out a plate of these sweetly spiced cookies and watch them vanish fast.

I’m sort of a snob when it comes to trying new recipes. I just seem to like my old tried and true ones best, and it takes a lot for something new to grab my attention. I had to have the recipe for this dip after I tried it on Super Bowl Sunday 2006. Garth is a die-hard Steelers fan, so it was an exciting day. Everybody always brings something for the party, and this was my friend Kim’s contribution. Being a good southern girl, I love anything with black-eyed peas in it, but for you folks who are right now turning up your noses at the idea of eating black-eyed peas, all I can say is just try it. In fact, maybe I should name it something else for those skeptics. How about Pea Dippy?

From here grow all other vinaigrettes. Use your instincts to vary the basic recipe. My everyday dressing almost always includes a bit of mustard which helps emulsify the dressing while adding tang.