18 secret recipes

Gourmet chili: a deeply spiced, meaty beef chili with a secret spoonful of unsweetened cocoa for mole-like richness, plus cumin, paprika, cayenne and green chilies. Beans simmer separately so you can keep them in or on the side.

The secret to tender baked beans is to leave the salt out until they are finished cooking. For some reason, salt toughens them. To pamper your tummy, rinse off the beans when they are finished soaking in several changes of cold water. This recipe is easy to prepare ahead and cooks in only two hours.