Old-fashioned creamy asparagus soup with milk, butter, and a flour roux. Tender tips reserved for garnish, stalks grated into a silky base. Six ingredients, full pantry territory.
Chocolate cherry pie with a rum-spiked chocolate custard filling, quartered maraschino cherries, and whipped cream folded in. Topped with sweetened cream and grated chocolate.
Chef-style emerald green basil pasta with a rich reduction tomato sauce built on veal stock, mirepoix, and white wine. An elegant handmade Italian plate worthy of a tasting menu.
Giant oatmeal chocolate chip cookies loaded with a full 24 ounces of chips, grated Hershey bar, and optional nuts. A massive batch recipe rolled golf ball-sized for thick, chewy cookies.
Chocolate chip pecan cookies made with golden shortening and brown sugar for a chewy center and crispy edge. Big, bakery-style drop cookies that spread wide and stay soft inside.
Traditional Pizza Rustica with Italian Meats and Mint recipe
Whole grilled speckled trout brushed with seasoned flour-oil paste and hot sauce. Quick 10-minute fisherman's-camp dinner straight off the grill.
Gingerbread house dough built for construction: a firm, spiced molasses dough that bakes up sturdy and snappy, not soft, so your walls and roof hold their shape. Spiced with ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.
Lighter cheese blintzes made with skim milk crepes and low-fat cottage cheese filling, pan-fried golden and topped with a quick homemade raspberry sauce. A diet-friendly brunch classic.
A traditional British steamed pudding filled with beef shin, sausage meat balls, and onion rings in a Marmite-enriched gravy, all wrapped in a suet pastry crust. Proper comfort food, steamed low and slow.
Green enchiladas with Monterey Jack cheese and onion rolled in corn tortillas, smothered in a creamy sour cream and jalapeno sauce. A rich, cheesy Tex-Mex dinner baked until bubbly.
Loaded granola cookies with toasted walnuts, chocolate chips, raisins, oats, and granola in a buttery brown sugar dough. Chewy, chunky, and they keep for weeks.
Chocolate fruitcake: cocoa-cream cheese batter studded with candied cherries, golden raisins, pecans and a hint of brandy and rum. The fruitcake for people who don't think they like fruitcake.
Crustless apple crunch pie with a brown sugar crumble and homemade cinnamon ice cream. Juicy, sour apples baked until tender and served warm with a quick no-churn cinnamon ice cream.
Homemade calzones with mozzarella, creamy goat cheese, prosciutto, chives, and garlic in a from-scratch yeast dough. Baked golden and brushed with oil and Parmesan.
Baked bananas and pancakes with quartered bananas, beer-batter pancakes, Calvados or Grand Marnier, orange juice, and molasses. A British-style pudding-dessert that's part crepe, part bananas Foster.