Recipe Sifter

Crunchy twice-baked biscotti loaded with chopped Heath bars, pecans, and butterscotch extract. Makes 36 to 48 cookies that are built for dunking in coffee, tea, or hot cocoa.

Zuni vegetable stew: a Southwestern medley of winter squash, corn, pinto beans, and zucchini simmered with poblano and jalapeno chiles. A hearty, chile-spiced three-sisters stew with real depth.

I used to make this cake when I lived in Germany back in the 80's, and it always got raves. I lost the book the recipe was in during a move, and was really glad to find the recipe here. The cake is in the oven as I write! It makes a great coffee cake in the morning or for dessert.

Cream of shrimp soup with white wine, cream, thyme, and pureed shrimp for body. Reserved chunks of shrimp added at the end for texture. Restaurant-style bisque.

Risotto is an Italian rice dish. It is made by briefly sautéing the rice in olive oil or butter, then adding a little bit of stock, stirring almost constantly until the rice absorbs the stock, then adding a bit more stock, stirring, adding, stirring, adding until it’s done. It usually takes between 20 and 30 minutes of stirring. When it’s done, the rice is cooked through and bound in a wonderful creamy sauce that is made as the starch leaches out of the rice grains and combines with the stock.

Rich and creamy Southwestern chicken con queso soup with jalapeños, cumin, cheddar cheese, and a silky roux-thickened broth. Restaurant-quality comfort in every spoonful.

You don't need to be a farmer to enjoy this scrumptious casserole made with creamed corn and cheddar cheese.

Gather round pound cake: a moist butterscotch-coffee bundt cake with melted butterscotch chips and instant coffee in the batter. The deep amber pound cake that smells like a coffee shop bakery.

The reddish crest of Sleieve na mBan (The Mountain of Women in Ireland) rising above the milk-white mist that forms there gives its name to this dish of cream-wreathed carrots.

If you're late to make dinner, try this simple and delicious dish that takes no time to make and tastes amazing!

Mohn kuchen: a traditional German poppy seed cake with a pressed shortbread base, creamy cooked poppy seed filling, and buttery streusel top. Dense, nutty, old-world dessert.

Frosty date balls with chopped dates and walnuts in a buttery shortbread dough, baked low and slow, then rolled in powdered sugar while warm. A classic holiday cookie.

Beef tenderloin wrapped in buttered phyllo with a mushroom-shallot duxelles and Madeira sauce. A lighter, flakier alternative to classic beef Wellington.

SPAM breakfast skillet with hash brown potatoes, bell peppers, onion, eggs, hot sauce, and cheddar cheese. A one-pan breakfast scramble that feeds a crowd.

Middle Eastern beef kibbe patties made with bulgur wheat, pine nuts, cinnamon, cayenne, and fresh lemon juice. Pan-fried until golden and served with cool yogurt on the side.

Greek-style turkey stuffing with three meats, chestnuts, pine nuts, and white raisins simmered in red wine and tomato paste. A meat-forward holiday stuffing with rice instead of bread cubes.