Recipes By Melissa Clark
1468 recipes found
Blackberry Crumb Muffins
There are muffins that aspire to be healthful, filled with the likes of whole grains, wheat germ and fruit purée. Then there are rich, chocolate-chip laden muffins that are more like cupcakes in disguise. These muffins fall squarely into that last camp. But they are as tender and buttery as any crumb cake. And like a crumb cake, their nubby, cinnamon-scented crumb topping makes them feel more appropriate for brunch than dessert. This is breakfast food at its most elegant and delicious.
Corn Polenta With Baked Eggs
This baked polenta is an extremely adaptable pantry dinner, and it works just as well without a stash of summer corn. (Of course, if you carefully sliced some off, and froze them after the summer, feel free to use them here.) You can use just about any kind of hearty chopped green here, and any full flavored cheese such as feta, blue cheese, Parmesan or an aged Cheddar. The eggs round out the dish, but feel free to leave them out for a satisfying side dish. (This recipe is part of the From the Pantry series, started in the days after the coronavirus lockdown.)
Silky Scrambled Eggs With Pancetta, Pepper and Pecorino
Keeping the heat low and steady is the key to these soft scrambled eggs. Pancetta adds a brawny bite, but you can leave it out to make the dish vegetarian. Do add lots of freshly ground black pepper, though: It’s what gives the custardy eggs a spicy snap.
Simple Yeasted Waffles
Yeast-risen waffles have a lovely, complex tang that works beautifully with whatever sweet topping you apply – honey, maple syrup, fruit jam. You can make the batter the night before and let it rise in the refrigerator until breakfast time. Or, it will rise at room temperature in a couple of hours, which makes these waffles a good choice for brunch. Like all waffles, these freeze well. Once they cool, pack them in a heavy-duty freezer bag and store in the freezer. Then pop them, still frozen, in a toaster to reheat. Toasted waffles are even crisper than freshly made ones, and make a quick and convenient weekday breakfast.
Kimchi Omelet With Sriracha Syrup
The ingredient list is short and the cooking method quick and unfussy — so much so that this kimchi omelet doesn’t seem like a restaurant recipe at all. But then you bite in. There is a delicate balance of flavors — sweet, salty, spicy — and textures — soft, crunchy, sticky — that only a skilled chef could so precisely devise. That the ingredients are not expensive and the technique not daunting only makes it more appealing. The premise is simple: you sauté chopped store-bought kimchi in a pan, then add beaten eggs. What elevates this from your standard brunch is the sriracha syrup, made from simmered rice vinegar and sugar spiked with thick red hot sriracha chili sauce (or any other hot sauce). Combined with the kimchi, there’s just enough heat to make your tongue tingle but not burn. For that you can add more sriracha on the side if you like. Or serve it with more kimchi. It makes a hearty breakfast, an unusual lunch or a light dinner. And a simple one, too.
Cinnamon Crumb Cake Muffins
Somewhere between muffins and mini-crumb cakes, these tender breakfast treats have a surprise layer of crunchy, cinnamon-scented crumbs hiding underneath. Browning the butter for the crumbs adds a rich, caramelized depth that rounds out the flavors of vanilla and lemon zest in the batter. These muffins keep well for several days stored airtight at room temperature, and freeze perfectly for up to two months.
Challah French Toast With Cinnamon-Sugar Glaze
Thick slices of soft challah bread make for superior French toast, with a plush, custardy center and golden, crisp edges. This version has extra egg yolks for added richness, and a dash of cardamom for spice. Cinnamon-sugar is sprinkled on top of the challah slices as they cook, caramelizing and glazing them (though you can skip this step, if you want). If you want to work ahead, soak the challah slices in the custard mixture the night before, storing everything in the fridge, then add a few extra minutes onto the cooking time to make sure the centers are cooked through.
Dutch Baby With Bacon and Runny Camembert
Most Dutch babies are sweet and often fruity. Not this one, which is topped with runny Camembert cheese and studded with bacon. It’s savory, golden and perfect for a hardy brunch or light dinner. A word of caution: It deflates quickly, so be sure to serve it as soon as it comes out of the oven.
Cornmeal Plum Scones
Scones with jam is classic. But in most cases the jam is served alongside; here, we’ve baked it right into the pastry. This recipe calls for a whipping up a quickly made plum and honey jam scented with bay leaf (you can substitute a rosemary sprig or cinnamon stick if you’d rather). If that seems like one step too many, use any prepared jam you like, though something on the less sweet side works best. Or bake the cornmeal scones unfilled. They are moist, lightly sweet and perfectly satisfying all on their own.
Savory Scones With Onion, Currants and Caraway
Whole-Wheat English Muffins
Yes, it is worth your while to make English muffins from scratch. Not only is the texture lighter and crisper, homemade muffins taste better, too — yeasty, wheaty, complex. You will need to sear these muffins on the stove top before baking. That’s what gives them their unique crunch on their bottoms. This recipe does not require muffin rings, but if you have them and would like to use them, go right ahead. Just add a few minutes onto the baking time to accommodate the muffins’ increased thickness. Then fork-split them, toast and serve with plenty of butter. After all, that’s what those crevices are made for.
Salami and Scallion Biscuits
These rich, savory biscuits are even better than the traditional ham and cheese variety. Bits of chopped salami and scallions are scattered throughout tender dough that's been enriched with heavy cream. Did we mention that they come together – start to finish – in about 45 minutes? They'll be gone in about five.
Honey-Apple Bread Pudding
Soft and cakelike challah makes for a deluxe bread pudding. This one is shot through with cubes of apples caramelized in honey, then topped with sliced almonds for crunch. You can assemble the pudding up to two days ahead of time and store it, covered, in the refrigerator. Then pop it into the oven an hour or two before you want to serve it, adding a few minutes onto the baking time. It’s best served warm, when the apples are at their most jamlike. But leftovers served cold from the fridge make a terrific breakfast.
Crème Brûlée French Toast
With a crackling, caramelized brown sugar topping, these custardy slices of French toast resemble crème brûlée. Start them soaking the night before, then pop them in the oven in the morning for one of the most decadent brunches imaginable. Even better, you can bake a pan of bacon at the same time. Just keep your eye on it; depending upon its thickness, the bacon might be done a few minutes sooner than the French toast. Then serve the French toast with more of the pan syrup spooned on top. But skip the maple syrup, which would be overkill.
Rhubarb Shake
A combination of rhubarb compote, honey, yogurt and rosewater, this is unusual shake works either for dessert or as a sweet mid-afternoon snack. Keep in mind that the redder your rhubarb, the rosier the shake. If you can only find green stalks, add a few strawberries to the pot to brighten things up. You can make the compote a week ahead, but don’t blend the shake until just before serving. It will separate if left to sit out for more than ten minutes or so.
Matzo Brei With Hot Honey and Feta
When it comes to matzo brei (rhymes with fry), preferences run deep. Do you like yours salty and peppery, with crispy edges, or softer and sweeter, served with a drizzle of syrup or shower of confectioners’ sugar? This version leans savory, dotted with pockets of creamy feta and dill, but a slick of hot honey added at the end is a nod to the sweeter — albeit spicier — side. Serve it for breakfast, lunch or dinner, during Passover and beyond. It’s a quick, satisfying meal with verve to spare.
Breakfast Bars With Oats and Coconut
A little like granola bars with their combination of oats, seeds, almond butter and dried cherries, these cookies — adapted from the chefs Michelle Palazzo and Peter Edris of Frenchette Bakery — have a soft and chewy texture rather than a crunchy snap. Perfect for a breakfast on the run or an afternoon nibble, they are lightly sweet and decidedly filling. At the bakery, the dough is baked into large, individual cookies, but, in this slightly simpler version, the dough is pressed into a 9-inch pan and baked into bars. (To make cookies, see the note below.)
Matzo, Lox, Eggs and Onions
One morning during Passover, when I was eating matzo brei but dreaming about bagels and lox, it hit me. If I added smoked salmon to the matzo brei, I’d end up with a heartier twist on another Jewish staple: lox, eggs and onions.
Za’atar
Za’atar is the name for both a traditional Middle Eastern seasoning blend and the pungent green herb that gives the blend its intense, earthy character. The hardy herb, which grows wild, tastes like a combination of oregano, marjoram, summer savory and thyme — all of which can be used as substitutes if dried za’atar isn’t available. As with all spice blends, recipes vary widely depending on the region and the cook, but this one, adapted from Lior Lev Sercarz of La Boîte in New York, includes ground sumac berries for acidity, toasted sesame seeds for their rich, earthy notes, and a little salt as well. Za’atar can be used in marinades for grilled or roasted poultry or meats, mixed into dips, salads and egg dishes, or set on the table to be sprinkled on dishes as a bright and herby condiment.
Salt and Pepper Lassi with Mint
This savory lassi variation includes salt and mint leaves, which are traditional, and black pepper and lime zest, which are not. It’s the kind of thing to serve with juicy ripe melon and prosciutto for a light hot weather lunch, or to offer as a nonalcoholic alternative at a cocktail party. Sheeps’ milk yogurt lends a lovely earthiness to the mix but plain cows’ milk yogurt is a perfectly fine alternative. Feel free to adjust the salt and sugar levels to suit your taste. You want this on the savory side, but a little more sweetness works nicely with the pepper and mint.
Crispy Parmesan Eggs With Radicchio and Pea Salad
The true stars of this main course salad are the Parmesan fried eggs, which have lacy, golden edges that are almost fricolike in their crunch. As the runny yolks leak onto the radicchio and vegetables, they mix with the lemony dressing, making the whole salad creamy and rich. It’s best to shred the Parmesan yourself, using the largest holes on your grater; the preground stuff is usually too fine. Then be sure to use a nonstick skillet or well-seasoned cast-iron pan to fry the eggs; otherwise, they are liable to glue themselves onto a regular pan. And if you aren’t an anchovy fan but still want to add a saline bite, a tablespoon of drained capers also works well.
Chocolate Babka
Baking a chocolate babka is no casual undertaking. The Eastern European yeast-risen coffee cake has 14 steps and takes all day to make. But the results are worth every sugarcoated second – with a moist, deeply flavored brioche-like cake wrapped around a dark fudge filling, then topped with cocoa streusel crumbs. If you want to save yourself a little work and love Nutella, you can substitute 1 1/2 cup (420 grams) of it for the homemade fudge filling. Also note that you can make this over a few days instead of all at once. Babka freezes well for up to 3 months, so if you need only one loaf now, freeze the other for later.
Buttery Almond Cookies
Made with high-fat, cultured butter, these melt-in-your-mouth almond cookies are like the most tender shortbread you’ve ever eaten. A simple confectioners’ sugar icing and a sliced almond topping make them especially pretty, but you can skip the garnish for something sleeker and simpler. Or use them to make sandwich cookies, filling them with the likes of lemon curd, raspberry jam or melted chocolate.
Chocolate Pecan Pie
Here is a pie that might make Thanksgiving purists shake their heads. Chocolate and pecan? But bear with us. The bittersweet chocolate adds depth to what is traditionally an achingly sweet pie, and the bourbon gives it a grownup finish. For more delicious pie recipes, check out our collection of Thanksgiving pies.