Recipe Sifter

Loaded carrot cake with flaked coconut, crushed pineapple, and chopped nuts, all tucked under a thick layer of cream cheese frosting. Moist, spiced, and feeds a crowd.

Slow-simmered black bean soup with ham hocks, cumin, jalapeno, and dry sherry, pureed thick and finished with fresh lime juice. A from-scratch Sunday soup worth the wait.

Onion and tomato tart with anchovies bakes caramelized onions, tomatoes, briny anchovies, and Nicoise olives on a thin yeasted crust. The Provençal pissaladière at home.

Roman-style concia: zucchini slices fried golden in olive oil, then layered with garlic, basil, and vinegar. An old-world Italian appetizer that improves as it sits.

Easy stewed chicken baked Italian-style with canned stewed tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and a melty mozzarella topping. A light, low-calorie weeknight dinner that comes together with mostly pantry staples.

Cola chicken slow-cooks with regular cola, ketchup, and onions into a sticky, fall-apart sweet-savory dump dinner. The classic crockpot shortcut Southern grandmas swear by.

Anginares me anitho: Greek artichokes braised with spring onions, fresh dill, and lemon, then finished with a silky avgolemono egg-lemon sauce. The springtime Athenian classic.

Classic Tuscan ribollita, a thick bread soup with cannellini beans, cabbage, spinach, zucchini, and rosemary. Finished with Romano cheese and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

Sweet and fiery banana chutney with Granny Smith apples, raisins, cayenne, ginger, and apple cider vinegar, baked until thick and jammy. Makes 4 cups of bold condiment for canning.

Gingered rhubarb crisp with crystallized ginger folded into tart rhubarb under a buttery crumb topping. Baked until bubbling and golden, served warm with vanilla ice cream.

Carrot cake cheesecake on a cinnamon graham cracker crust with shredded carrots, raisins, nutmeg, and ginger. Topped with an orange cream cheese glaze.

Hot fudge pudding cake that creates its own chocolate sauce as it bakes. Cocoa batter topped with sugar and hot water, the oven transforms it into cake over fudge sauce.

Overnight marinated pork ribs slow-grilled with tangy vinegar ketchup baste for fall-off-the-bone tenderness and smoky char on the grill.

Homemade chicken barley soup with pearl barley, carrots, celery, onion, and sage. Made from scratch with a whole chicken simmered into the broth for deep homestyle flavor.

Fresh garden vegetable pasta tosses spaghetti with a chunky sauce of tomatoes, carrots, celery, and onion, simmered with basil and garlic. A naturally vegan, low-fat dinner that lets summer vegetables shine.

Tom Kha Gai - Thai coconut chicken soup with lemongrass, galangal, and dried red chiles. A creamy, aromatic broth simmered from scratch and served with white rice.