Simple Cooking

Worth It If you're anything like us, the first thing you think of when you hear "Turkish delight" is Edmund, the jerky younger brother from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe who's plied with Turkish delight by the evil White Queen. We never really had this candy growing up, and so it has a bit of a magical association. How could something be so good that it would cause you to betray your family? Well, to be fair, the queen's Turkish delight was actually magical—we can't promise the same for this. But we can promise a delightfully soft and chewy sweet that's better than any store-bought version you've encountered. Rosewater is the traditional flavoring, and is available at many specialty and gourmet stores, but feel free to replace it with the same amount of whatever pure extract you like, such as orange or vanilla. Do note that this recipe requires expert timing (don't worry: that doesn't mean you have to be fast as lightning)—read it through a couple of times before you start! It's not a difficult recipe, but if you don't have a good idea of how everything gets put together before you begin, it's easy to bamboozle yourself in the middle. Be a good Scout and be prepared!

Moderate This is one of those candies we'll forget about for a while, and then when we eat one, we say to ourselves, "Hot dang! That's really good." It can be easy to forget sometimes, in this crazy mixed-up world, how pleasurable a simple combination like caramel, chocolate, and salt can be. If you've never had a real chocolate caramel, we'll spare you the attempt at describing the experience of eating one—just go ahead, make this, and find out for yourself. (Hint: it starts with a D and ends with an Elightful.) When we're feeling extra fancy, we like to reduce butter to 2 1/4 tablespoons and add 1 teaspoon black truffle oil. Yum!

Get the measuring out of the way when you have time: Keep homemade mix on hand for these shortcakes , plus a stack of pancakes .

The smoky-tart flavors of this sauce pair well with the inherent sweetness of seared scallops or roasted pork tenderloin.

Always make more salad dressing than you'll need. It takes no longer to mix a big batch, and it means tomorrow night's salad will be ready in minutes. This recipe makes enough vinaigrette for three large salads.

Both bright from the fresh limes and buttery from the diced avocados, this sauce adds color and flavor to broiled fish, roast chicken, or huevos rancheros.

As a rule, every dough you make should contain salt—it complements the sweetness in your filling—and this buttery shortbread is no exception. Using salt in the crust and the filling helps create balance among the sweet, the bitter (from the lemon peel), and the acidic notes (from the fresh lemon juice).

A dollop of this romesco sauce improves everything from steak to roasted cauliflower.

Here, a coarse sea salt like fleur de sel or sel gris plays a few important roles: It tempers and cuts the richness of the nuts and butter, it adds a concentrated crunch— and it makes the brittle look divine. Break this vibrant green pistachio brittle on top of ice cream or crumble it over rice pudding. Or, do what we do, and eat it straight off the baking sheet.

Chicken wings are great for stock. They're flavor-making powerhouses of bones, meat, and skin and are easy to find. Some supermarkets sell backbones and carcasses; feel free to use them toward (or instead of) the four-pound total.