2,642 cook cook recipes

Thick, creamy cheesy chicken chowder packed with tender potatoes, carrots, and celery in a rich cheddar-laced broth. This from-scratch soup warms you from the inside out on chilly evenings.

Santa Maria beans made with pinto beans, bacon, ham, tomato puree, and red chile sauce. The classic California Central Coast side dish for tri-tip barbecue, slow-simmered until rich and tender.

Ham and potato skillet with green beans, celery, and thyme simmered in one pan and topped with Parmesan. A low-calorie, no-fuss dinner using leftover ham in about an hour.

Fish in a fish: a fish-shaped pastry wrapped around flaked salmon and parsley-rice filling, served with creamy shrimp-dill sauce. An impressive Russian-inspired kulebiaka style showpiece for special occasions.

Creamy pinto bean soup pureed smooth with chile, onion, and light cream, garnished with toasted pine nuts, cilantro, and chives. From-scratch beans cooked until velvety.

Santa Maria salsa is the no-cook California barbecue staple: chopped canned tomatoes, celery, onion, and green pepper sharpened with horseradish, vinegar, and Worcestershire. Pour, chill, serve.

Freezer pickles preserve cucumbers, celery, bell peppers, cauliflower, and carrots in a sweet vinegar brine. No-cook, no-can pickling method that yields ready-to-eat sweet pickled vegetables. Makes 8 quarts.

Four-ingredient peanut butter and orange sandwich filling sweetened with honey. A no-cook lunchbox spread with bright citrus chunks that brings something fresh to the PB&J game.

A classic béchamel sauce enriched with Parmesan and a hint of nutmeg becomes this lightened Alfredo where low-fat milk and minimal butter create creamy pasta indulgence you can actually feel good about.

Old-fashioned chicken chowder starting with a leftover carcass simmered into broth, then thickened with egg yolks and scalded milk and finished with sherry. Thrifty and hearty in every bowl.

Penne in tomato sauce with crabmeat is a simple Italian pasta where plum tomatoes, white wine, and soft onion cook down into a light sauce, then get tossed with flaked crab for sweet briny richness.

Pesto carbonara combining fresh basil and garlic with a classic egg-cream-Parmesan carbonara sauce over vermicelli. Crispy bacon and the heat of the pasta gently cook the egg mixture.

Fitascetta is an Italian bread ring topped with red onions slow-cooked for 40 minutes until silky and sweet. A yeasted olive oil dough shaped into a ring and baked golden.

Oma Pantke's gruene bohnen-eintopf: a traditional German one-pot stew of simmered stewing beef, green beans, and mashed potatoes thickened right in the pot. Grandmother's comfort cooking for six.

Peachy yogurt breakfast sundae layered with sliced peaches, low-fat vanilla yogurt, wheat germ, and fresh berries. A no-cook, high-protein morning bowl ready in under 5 minutes.

Minnesota-style clam chowder loaded with wild rice, potatoes, mushrooms, and cream. A Northwoods twist on New England chowder, finished with a splash of sherry before serving.