Sauces/2 recipes

Veal chow mein casserole baked with tomato soup, Worcestershire sauce, and bean sprouts, served over crispy noodles. A retro American-Chinese comfort dish.

Chocolate banana split cake with cocoa-banana layers, fresh sliced bananas, homemade chocolate sauce, whipped topping, and a cherry on top. No butter, no egg yolks.

Chinese fried dumplings stuffed with pork, shrimp, water chestnuts, and ginger, served with a hot chili dipping sauce. Crispy, golden, and deeply savory.

Tofu cubes rolled in wheat germ and cornstarch, then deep-fried until crispy and golden. A 3-ingredient vegetarian snack or side, ready in 30 minutes with soy or sweet and sour dip.

Hearty taco stew with ground beef, pinto beans, corn, and tomato soup seasoned with taco spices. Topped with crushed tortilla chips and Monterey Jack cheese. A thick, warming one-pot meal.

Making pot stickers are pretty much as same as making dumplings, the only thing different is how to cook them. Instead of boiling in the water, we fry them in a nonstick skillet with a bit oil, which really develops a layer of golden, brown and crispy bottoms with great texture. Serve these yummy pot stickers with a mixture of rice vinegar, a little bit soy sauce, a dash of sesame oil and splash of hot pepper oil.

A dense, cinnamon-spiced apple cake loaded with walnuts and diced apples, soaked in a hot buttermilk sauce that seeps into every crumb. Old-fashioned baking at its finest.

Frozen layered dessert with chocolate wafer crust, vanilla frozen yogurt, raspberry sorbet, and homemade fudge sauce. An impressive make-ahead springform pan dessert.

Hearty vegan split pea and lentil soup with eggplant, zucchini, hibiscus leaves, and fresh basil, simmered until tender and pureed silky smooth. Plant-powered comfort in a bowl.

General Tso's chicken double-fried until shatter-crisp, then tossed in a glossy soy and rice wine sauce with dried chilies, ginger, and scallions. The takeout favorite, made better at home.

Swiss steak with flour-pounded round steak braised in tomatoes, onions, celery, and green pepper. A retro skillet supper simmered fork-tender in 90 minutes.

Old-fashioned boiled beef simmered with potatoes, carrots, onions, and peppercorns until fork-tender. Served with a tangy horseradish-mayonnaise sauce that cuts right through the richness.

This no-beans chili packs a wallop with 5 pounds of beef and pork, 8 jalapeños, beer, bourbon, and a hit of molasses for smoky depth. Thick, meaty, and built to bring the heat.

Northern Chinese-style beef stir-fry with bok choy, sherry, five-spice, and a honey-soy gravy. A 25-minute wok dinner with real Northern provincial flavors.

Chocolate bar brownie sundaes layer fudgy toffee-studded brownies with Heath-bar vanilla ice cream and a homemade caramel sauce. A make-ahead, three-part dessert where every component is built from scratch.

Orange angel food cake with cardamom caramel sauce and tropical fruit compote of mango, passion fruit, kiwi, and blood orange. A three-part make-ahead showstopper for dinner parties.