Recipe Sifter

Root vegetable soup simmers leeks, carrots, turnips, parsnips, and potatoes in a butter roux-thickened chicken broth. Finished with cream, wilted spinach, and chives for a rustic European bowl.

Rosemary-scented bacon over creamy Parmesan grits. A Southern brunch upgrade that pairs crispy oven-roasted bacon with silky stone-ground grits in under 30 minutes.

Grilled salmon en papillote with homemade basil-garlic butter, tomato slices, lemon, and bay leaf. Sealed in foil packets on the barbecue for a no-mess dinner.

Salmon mousse with brandy-flambeed mushrooms and shallots, set with gelatin and folded with whipped cream, served sliced with a fresh watercress-mayonnaise sauce.

Salzburger Nockerln: Austrian meringue souffle baked into three fluffy peaks over a pool of butter and jelly. A centuries-old Salzburg dessert meant to be eaten the moment it leaves the oven.

Sauteed shrimp and rice with fresh corn, white wine, basil, and thyme cooked in one pan. Summer weeknight seafood dinner ready in 40 minutes, equally good cold the next day.

Seared bay scallops in a reduced grapefruit-butter sauce, plated in the center of a vegetable fried rice ring with snow peas and red pepper. Restaurant-style citrus-seafood dinner.

Shrimp de Jonghe, a classic Chicago dish of parboiled shrimp baked under a buttery herb and sherry bread crumb crust with tarragon, chervil, and garlic. Bubbly and golden.

Butterscotch brownies (blondies) with just five ingredients: melted butter, brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and flour. Chewy, caramel-flavored bars in 40 minutes.

Pan-fried soft-shell crabs with a lemon-caper butter sauce, white wine, and shallots. Crispy, briny, and bright with fresh lemon segments in every spoonful of sauce.

Classic Grand Marnier souffle with a pillowy orange-scented custard base and stiff-peaked egg whites that rises golden and dramatic straight from the oven.

Classic spaghetti primavera with seven blanched vegetables, sauteed mushrooms and tomatoes, a white wine cream sauce, pine nuts, and Parmesan. A springtime showstopper.

Sweet potato sticks glazed with honey, butter, ginger, and cardamom in a quick skillet toss. A warmly spiced side dish that pairs with holiday roasts or weeknight dinners.

Spinach with pine nuts and raisins sauteed in garlic butter, topped with Parmesan and broiled until golden. A classic Italian-style side dish.

Baby artichokes, asparagus, and sweet peas toss with ear-shaped pasta in this vibrant spring dish. Garlic, oil-cured olives, and Parmesan bring it all together.

Stuffed French toast sandwiches filled with cottage cheese, dipped in a fluffy vanilla-nutmeg egg batter, and browned in butter. A protein-packed brunch that's part French toast, part cheese blintz.