10,000 dried recipes

Saffron-infused rice tossed with smoky chorizo, sweet peppers, and fresh coriander. This crowd-sized paella salad feeds 12 and travels beautifully to potlucks and cookouts.

Italian-style picnic pie with diced ham, ricotta, cottage cheese, and Parmesan baked in a double crust with egg yolk glaze. Serve at room temperature for picnics.

Lamb carnitas braised in milk with coriander, savory, and bay leaves until fall-apart tender. Served in tortillas with broiled onions, tomatoes, sour cream, and salsa.

A rich Italian meat sauce with Italian sausage, ground beef, pancetta, porcini mushrooms, and red wine simmered with tomatoes and a hint of nutmeg. Worthy of your Christmas Eve pasta course.

Spanish-inspired shrimp baked in a brandy and white wine tomato sauce with thyme, chili flakes, and a golden Parmesan crust. A stunning make-ahead gratin that's ready when your guests arrive.

A new but scrumptious side dish that can be served with baked fish or a pot roast.

Filet farcis a la creme: flounder fillets rolled around a shrimp, crab, and mushroom stuffing, baked in a cognac cream sauce under melted Swiss. Vintage French bistro elegance.

Wake-Ewa is a hearty Nigerian black-eyed pea stew simmered in a spiced tomato and onion sauce with chili, coriander, and thyme. Serve over rice or with fufu for a filling plant-based meal.

It's not that hard to make your own sushi, California roll style at home. Cook some rice, season and wrap up your favorite mix of textures.

Wine-poached chicken tossed with rigatoni, fresh basil, sweet red peppers, and olives in a bright garlic-lemon dressing. A chilled Italian pasta salad built for hot summer nights.

Good, inexpensive hearty meal although I would spice it up a little more probably with garlic and more onion.

Georgian lobio tkemali: tender red beans tossed warm with tangy plum jam, red wine vinegar, garlic, and fresh cilantro. Served at room temperature. A taste of the Caucasus.

Stale bread simmers with Roma tomatoes, garlic, white wine, and marjoram in this hearty Italian peasant stew. Tiny pastina added at the end gives it body. Ready in 45 minutes.

Banana cream brownie squares layer a peanut-studded brownie base with sliced bananas, vanilla pudding whipped cream, and grated chocolate. A potluck-friendly dessert built on a brownie mix shortcut.

Wine fruit cup with sliced plums, nectarines, and golden raisins soaked in a spiced white wine syrup infused with anise, cinnamon, and lemon. A chilled starter that doubles as a light summer dessert.

So to start off with the first post, I decided to make a meal that screams of comfort food. Whilst it does take a bit of a while to get the meal done, once you take that first bite, heaven couldn’t seem closer if you were Adam trying to touch God’s finger in the “Creation of Adam” fresco created by Michaelangelo. The meal I speak of is Cottage Pie. There is much debate as to what exactly a cottage pie is and how it is different to a Shepherd’s pie...I don’t know. The dominant theory is that Sheperds pie uses lamb mince, whilst a cottage pie uses beef mince. I don’t know about you, but the term “Sheperds Pie” does not get my tastebuds going quite as well, so I prefer the term cottage pie. Besides, comparing the price of ground (mince) beef to ground lamb, a student would pick up the beef mince in a heartbeat without even so much as glancing at the lamb in the meat section. This cottage pie that I made is full of flavour, and just makes you want to cuddle up next to a fire and watch TCM movies all day either by yourself, or with a significant other. Here is the recipe: