Recipe Sifter

Egyptian-style falafel (ta'ameya) with dried fava beans, parsley, garlic, cumin, and coriander, ground twice for the right crispy-yet-tender texture. The original falafel before chickpeas took over.

Slow cooker beef stew loaded with zucchini and sweet corn in a savory steak sauce broth. Fork-tender meat meets a glossy cornstarch-thickened sauce in this set-it-and-forget-it dinner.

Fava bean and tiny pasta salad with blanched carrots, chives, and a red wine vinegar-basil dressing. A light, marinated vegan side served at room temperature.

Smoked BBQ chicken marinated overnight in Italian dressing, rubbed with spice, then smoked low and slow with hourly lemon mopping and a barbecue sauce glaze. Juicy, smoky chicken for the grill or smoker.

Two-layer cheesecake with a cream cheese filling baked first, then topped with a tangy sour cream layer and baked again. Simple, creamy, and foolproof on a graham cracker crust.

Molasses crinkle cookies bake into chewy spiced rounds with a sugary, crackled top, deeply scented with cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice. A lower-fat take using egg whites and soft margarine.

Orange-almond biscotti, the crisp Italian twice-baked cookie scented with fresh orange zest and almond, studded with slivered almonds. Made for dunking in coffee, tea, or a glass of vin santo.

Homemade pizza dough from just flour, yeast, salt, and water, kneaded soft and stretched into thin 12-inch rounds. The trick to a crisp base is a screaming-hot oven and a preheated tray.

Slow cooker pot roast with beef chuck rubbed in seasoned salt, paprika, and pepper. Set it and forget it for 8 to 10 hours until fork-tender. Just seven simple pantry ingredients.

Beef spaghetti sauce simmered low and slow with garlic, oregano, thyme and a bay leaf for that deep Sunday-supper flavor. Hearty meat sauce that thickens to clingy, glossy perfection over hot pasta.

Butterfinger poke cake: warm chocolate cake riddled with holes and soaked in caramel and sweetened condensed milk, then chilled and topped with whipped topping and crushed Butterfingers.

Buttermilk pound cake with lemon and almond extracts, baked in a 10-inch tube pan or two loaf pans. Tender, fine-crumbed, classic Southern pound cake recipe.

Chocolate meringue pie with a silky cooked custard filling and a billowy sweetened meringue topping baked golden. The diner-counter classic done from scratch with unsweetened chocolate for that unmistakable old-fashioned cocoa flavor.

Favourite crumb cake folds chocolate chips into a sour cream butter cake, topped with brown sugar, nut and chocolate chip streusel. A 9x13 sheet cake for brunches.

Cuban black bean soup simmered slowly for seven hours with garlic, oregano, yellow onion, and red pepper flakes. Vegan, gluten-free, and meltingly tender. Slow-cook classic.

Holiday sugar cookies rolled and cut into shapes, dusted with colored sprinkles, and baked tender with a quiet hint of cinnamon. The classic Christmas cookie tin staple.