Recipe Sifter

Silky smooth cream soup with tender chicken in a buttery roux base. Ready in 25 minutes and rich enough to serve as a main course. Bonus: swap chicken for cheese to make it vegetarian.

Old-fashioned peach shortcake with tender butter biscuits split and filled with sugared peaches and fresh whipped cream. Served warm for a classic summer dessert.

Vichyssoise is the chilled French leek and potato soup, enriched with heavy cream and half-and-half, finished with snipped chives. Silky, cold, and the original elegant summer first course.

Clam and shrimp chowder: a creamy New England-style seafood chowder with potatoes, corn, red pepper, and fennel seed. The anise note from fennel lifts it out of the ordinary.

A rich chocolate coconut layer cake made from scratch with unsweetened baking chocolate, brown sugar, and light cream, topped with a pink cinnamon candy boiled frosting. Retro baking with serious wow factor.

Crab quiche with sweet crabmeat, sharp cheddar, half-and-half custard, and scallions baked in a flaky pie shell. Brunch dish that doubles as a light dinner.

Cream of peanut soup with 2 cups of smooth peanut butter stirred into a velvety chicken broth base finished with half-and-half. A rich Southern classic garnished with chopped peanuts.

Creamy mustard chicken sears strips of chicken breast, then simmers them in a coarse mustard cream sauce. A 30-minute French bistro-style dinner that pairs with rice, pasta, or crusty bread.

From-scratch devil's food cake with boiling water for intense chocolate depth, topped with a fudge frosting made from melted semi-sweet chocolate and butter.

Fresh mushroom bisque with a full pound of mushrooms, half-and-half, egg yolk, and lemon juice. A rich, velvety cream soup ready in 25 minutes with no stock needed.

Swedish spice cake (Mjuk Pepparkaka) with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and cardamom, studded with raisins and nuts. A soft, aromatic Scandinavian holiday classic.

Melomacarona, traditional Greek honey cookies made with oil instead of butter, dipped in warm honey syrup and topped with chopped walnuts. Egg-free and butter-free.

Creamy mushroom potato chowder with a butter-flour roux base, fresh mushrooms, carrots, celery, half-and-half, and Parmesan. A thick, hearty vegetarian chowder from scratch.

Mushroom turnovers in a cream cheese pastry with a sauteed mushroom-cream filling and optional sherry. An elegant make-ahead appetizer that freezes well before baking.

Peach cream pie: halved fresh peaches baked under a cinnamon-cream custard in a flaky crust. Simple summer dessert from peak-season stone fruit.

Mini pumpkin pie cookie cups with a cream cheese pastry shell, spiced pumpkin filling with rum and vanilla, and a crunchy pecan-brown sugar topping.