152 stage recipes

Old-fashioned brown sugar and butter fudge loaded with pecans. Cooked to soft-ball stage on the stovetop, this Southern-style fudge keeps for weeks in the fridge.

Creamy mashed sweet potatoes topped with a buttery pecan praline sauce cooked to soft ball stage. A make-ahead Southern side dish that belongs on every holiday table.

Pizza on the grill with a homemade whole-wheat crust, creamy garlic-tomato sauce, and crumbled gorgonzola. Hot-grilled two-stage crust method delivers smoky char and crisp bottoms.

Rich chocolate caramels: chewy homemade candies cooked to firm-ball stage with brown sugar, corn syrup, half-and-half, and unsweetened chocolate. Wrap individually in waxed paper for the perfect homemade gift.

From-scratch black bean soup with cumin, six cloves of garlic, vinegar, and soy sauce built in two stages. A hearty vegan bean soup simmered until thick and deeply flavored.

Popcorn snowman craft built from hard-ball-stage caramel popcorn, stacked into a holiday centerpiece with gumdrop features and raisin buttons. A sweet, edible Christmas decoration kids can help make.

Kakuluwo (Sri Lankan crab curry) simmered in two stages of coconut milk with shallots, ginger, garlic, fenugreek, turmeric, curry leaves, and a finishing splash of lime. Bold, fragrant, deeply spiced.

Risotto primavera packs spring vegetables into creamy arborio rice: green beans, peas, asparagus, artichokes, carrots, and tomatoes folded in stages, finished with butter and Parmigiano. The garden in a bowl.

Never-fail fudge with marshmallow cream, chocolate chips, evaporated milk, butter, and walnuts. A foolproof candy recipe that reaches soft-ball stage in 5 minutes of boiling and fills two 9x9 pans.

Slow-simmered chicken and okra gumbo with a medium-brown roux, fresh tomatoes, and onions. The okra cooks down past the slime stage into a thick, velvety Louisiana classic served over rice.

Vegan Cuban-style black beans with two stages of green pepper, classic sofrito, and a finish of apple cider vinegar. Slow-simmered until the beans crack open. Plant-based comfort that holds its own.

Southern sweet potato pie with mashed sweet potatoes, warm spices, and a brightening splash of fresh lemon or orange juice. Pecan halves on top add Southern charm. The two-stage bake delivers a custard that sets without cracking.

A two-layer cocoa cake with a cooked fudge frosting made the old-fashioned way, heated to soft-ball stage and beaten until thick. Cake flour keeps the crumb feathery light against that dense, candy-like frosting.

Puppy's Breath Chili is a no-bean Texas-style bowl of red built on chunks of sirloin and layers of chili powder and pureed dried chiles. The spices go in staged like a cook-off champ, finished with lime and Tabasco.

Easy to prepare, and the chicken comes out succulent. A delicious weekend meal.

This was the sourest sourdough I'd ever eaten but it was to die for.