Recipe Sifter

Old-fashioned sour cream cookies with raisins, nuts, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Soft, cake-like drop cookies made with brown sugar and cake flour for an extra tender crumb.

Simple sourdough starter made with unbleached all-purpose flour and warm milk instead of water. A two-ingredient base for homemade sourdough bread.

Five-ingredient South Texas chuck wagon rub with crushed garlic, dried green chiles, cayenne, and seasoned pepper. A quick, bold paste for steaks, brisket, and grilled meats.

Three-ingredient BBQ pulled pork tortilla pizzas with mozzarella baked until bubbly and crisp. A 15-minute dinner or snack that turns leftover barbecue into something new.

No-cook spaghetti with raw tomato sauce, fresh basil, garlic, and extra-virgin olive oil. Served at room temperature, this Italian summer pasta is ready in 40 minutes.

Speedy gazpacho blends vegetable juice cocktail with fresh cucumber, green pepper, celery, and red wine vinegar for a chilled Spanish-style [soup](/recipes/soups) ready in 10 minutes. A hot-weather lifesaver when tomatoes are not in peak season.

Spiced applesauce cookies with cinnamon and cloves bake into soft, cake-like drops sweetened with thick unsweetened applesauce. Makes 3 dozen tender old-fashioned cookies in 30 minutes.

Spiced Christmas ornaments mix cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves with applesauce into a fragrant no-bake dough rolled and cut into holiday shapes. A homemade craft that scents the tree for years.

Fresh currants simmered with sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves into a sweet-tart spiced relish. This old-fashioned preserve is a natural alongside roasted meats, cheese boards, or warm biscuits.

Crispy phyllo triangles stuffed with spiced lamb, raisins, pine nuts, and warm cinnamon-cumin-allspice. A Middle Eastern-inspired appetizer that bakes lighter than fried, perfect for parties.

Spiced olives are the easiest homemade Moroccan-style appetizer: drained olives tossed with your favorite spice blend and left to marinate overnight. Transforms ordinary olives into something bar-worthy.

Hot cranberry pineapple punch brewed in a coffee percolator with whole cloves and cinnamon sticks. Serves 22 and fills the whole house with the smell of the holidays.

Spicy baby back ribs with a Chinese-style marinade of fermented black beans, ginger, garlic, soy, fish sauce, and chopped orange. Marinated overnight, grilled low and slow, basted constantly.

Maryland-style spicy crab soup simmered with chicken wings, tomatoes, corn, and green peas. Seasoned with Old Bay-style spices and lemon pepper for that Chesapeake Bay kick.

Spicy garbanzo bean soup with potatoes, tomatoes, saffron, turmeric, cumin, and ginger simmered for four hours from dried chickpeas. A Moroccan-inspired vegan soup finished with lemon and cilantro.

Fresh tomatillo green sauce with jalapenos, cumin, cilantro, and garlic sauteed in vegetable stock. A low-fat, bright salsa verde for tacos, enchiladas, and grilled meats.