12 posole recipes

Crispy potato pancakes from a simple batter of grated potato, egg, onion, and flour, pan-fried golden in a shallow pool of fat. Serve them piping hot with applesauce or a dollop of sour cream.

Pork shoulder chops braised with golden hominy and carrots in chicken broth, finished with pink pickled onions. A one-pan riff on pozole that lets the pork do the talking.

Hot fudge pudding cake that makes its own chocolate sauce as it bakes. Bisquick, cocoa, sugar, and hot water create a cakey top over a pool of gooey fudge. No eggs, no butter needed.

Roasted prawns with spinach mashed potatoes and roasted red pepper cream: Emeril-style plated dinner with seared shrimp, emerald green mash, and a silky pepper sauce pool.

Chunky bittersweet chocolate cookies with hand-chopped chocolate bars and walnuts. Golden edges, soft centers, and pools of melted chocolate in every bite. Serve warm for maximum gooeyness.

Easy tamale pie tops a quick ground beef chili with a corn muffin batter, then bakes everything until the cornbread is golden and cheddar melts into pools. Weeknight Tex-Mex casserole in 45 minutes.

Chocolate decadence cake, a near-flourless, truffle-dense round of melted chocolate and butter. Baked briefly so the center stays fudgy, cloaked in whipped cream and pooled with tart raspberry sauce.

Saucy chocolate cake that creates its own hot fudge sauce as it bakes. Cocoa batter topped with brown sugar and boiling water transforms into cake over a pool of warm chocolate pudding.

Crispy flour-dredged soft-shell crabs served on a pool of creamy tomato sauce with creme fraiche, cumin seeds, celery seeds, garlic, and shallots. A restaurant-worthy crab dish with a make-ahead sauce.

Chocolate bundles are flaky puff pastry purses twisted around pools of semi-sweet chocolate and crunchy walnuts, baked golden and dusted with powdered sugar. A three-ingredient French-style dessert that looks far fancier than the effort behind it.

Butternut squash soup with honey and a roasted barley risotto center, a restaurant-plated autumn soup where creamy risotto sits in the middle of a pool of silky squash soup. Elegant fall entertaining in a bowl.

Pea purée can serve as a garnish, a side dish, or as a spread on crackers or vegetable sticks. Use it as a bed upon which the main item in your entrée can rest. For example, sauté some scallops and place them on a pool of the pea purée.