Recipe Sifter

Classic Cobb salad with homemade French dressing: finely chopped greens arranged in tidy rows of chicken, bacon, avocado, egg, tomato, and Roquefort. The original composed salad, tossed tableside.

Sour cream coffee cake mixed the night before, chilled overnight, and baked in the morning. Tender buttermilk crumb with a swirl of cinnamon-pecan-brown sugar streusel through the middle.

Mesquite-smoked salmon fajitas with a fresh mango-cantaloupe salsa and sauteed poblano peppers. The salmon is smoked indoors on the stovetop using mesquite wood chunks and a cast-iron skillet.

Make-ahead sausage, cheese and egg breakfast casserole built on herb croutons, sharp cheddar and bulk pork sausage. Assemble at night, bake in the morning. The brunch crowd-feeder.

Broiled potato skins loaded with a fresh corn, black bean, tomato, and cucumber salsa with cilantro and lime, topped with melted cheese. A lighter take on loaded potato skins using Southwestern flavors.

Banana Meringue Pie with buttery homemade shortcrust, sliced bananas layered over a mashed-banana cream filling, and golden meringue. Made from scratch with 6 bananas for genuine fruit depth.

Ham and noodle hot dish is the classic Midwestern church-potluck casserole with egg noodles, cubed ham, corn, green peppers, and cream-of-soup base, finished with a buttery corn flake topping.

Ground beef in a garlicky tomato sauce layered with creamy ricotta, stretchy mozzarella, and sharp Parmesan. Classic baked ziti that feeds a crowd without breaking a sweat.

Layered lamb and Italian sausage meatloaf baked in a Bundt pan with bulgur wheat, pine nuts, pistachios, and Middle Eastern spices like allspice, cinnamon, and mint. A showstopping ring-shaped meatloaf.

Fresh strawberry scones layer sliced berries and strawberry jam between two halves of a citrus-scented scone dough, then bake into wedges. A bakery-style stuffed scone sweetened with orange juice concentrate.

Chunky Southwestern chicken stew with kielbasa, potatoes, zucchini, summer squash, and corn in a cumin-tomato broth. A Dutch oven crowd-feeder that serves 8.

Chicken cranberry bake with a sweet-tart sauce of ketchup, brown sugar, orange zest, and fresh cranberries spooned over partially baked chicken breasts. A festive one-dish dinner for fall and winter.

Old-fashioned icebox cookies with cardamom, cinnamon, lemon juice, and chopped nuts. Slice-and-bake dough that refrigerates overnight or freezes for weeks. Paper-thin and crispy.

Sweet potato pancakes with creamy mushroom ragout pair crispy panko-crusted sweet potato cakes with a sage-and-shallot wild mushroom cream sauce. An elegant vegetarian appetizer or holiday side.

Pizza pomodoro with homemade garlic dough topped with overlapping Roma tomato slices, fresh basil, and Parmesan. A simple Italian flatbread pizza from scratch.

German potato salad with a warm beer dressing made from a butter-flour roux, dry mustard, and a touch of hot sauce, tossed with crispy bacon. Kartoffelsalat at its best.