American Recipes
2886 recipes found
Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce
Pomegranate, honey and Meyer lemon zest boosts the flavor of the traditional cranberry sauce in this version from Amy Lawrence, and her husband, Justin Fox Burks, the authors of the Chubby Vegetarian blog.
Dick Taeuber's Brandy Alexander Pie
In January 1970, The Times published a recipe for brandy Alexander pie. It was an unassuming confection: a graham-cracker crust filled with a wobbly, creamy mousse and enough alcohol to raise the hair on your neck and then make your neck wobbly too. Later that year, Craig Claiborne, then the food editor, declared it one of the paper’s three most-requested dessert recipes and ran it again. By rights, this should have been the recipe’s swan song. But thanks to Dick Taeuber, a Maryland statistician, the pie lived on. Taeuber discovered that you could use a simple formula to make the pie in the flavor of almost any cocktail you wanted (3 eggs to 1 cup cream to 1/2 cup liquor). In 1975, Claiborne renamed it Dick Taeuber’s cordial pie and published it once more, this time with all 20 variations (see note). Calling it a cordial pie doesn’t quite capture its punch or proof. Booze pie would be more fitting. It’s not the kind of thing you want to serve for a children’s birthday party.
Stir-Fried Turkey and Brussels Sprouts
A stir-fry is always a great way to use a little bit of leftover meat with a lot of vegetables. This one is quickly accomplished because the turkey is already cooked and it’s thrown into the colorful, gingery mix at the last minute. Once you add the turkey it’s important to stir-fry only long enough to heat the turkey through or it will be dry and stringy. If you are making this just after Thanksgiving and you happen to have leftover Brussels sprouts too, then you can reduce the cooking time even more, adding them along with the turkey after you’ve stir-fried the red peppers, and just stir-frying to heat through.
Caramelized Bananas With Pecan-Coconut Crunch
This cozy dessert comes together quickly and fills the kitchen with a sweet, buttery aroma. The textures play well together: The spiced caramel is silky but robust, the bananas tender, and the pecan-and-coconut topping crunchy and crisp. Pick ripe but firm bananas so they’ll maintain their shape after cooking. (The bananas should be yellow with no black spots; green bananas won’t work.) Broil them until sizzling, then allow the bubbling caramel to cool and thicken a bit before serving. Devoured directly out of the skillet, or spooned into individual servings, these caramelized bananas are a lovely way to end a meal. Top with a scoop of ice cream for a cool contrast to the warm dessert.
Glazed Bacon
Betty Groff, the home cook turned proprietor of Groff’s Farm Restaurant, once said that there were only two authentic American cuisines: Pennsylvania Dutch and Creole. Her brown-sugar-glazed bacon represents the former, and she occasionally served it as an hors d’oeuvre at her restaurant, which she started in her family’s 1756 Pennsylvania Dutch farmhouse in Mount Joy in the late 1950s. The restaurant became a place of pilgrimage for food lovers, among them Craig Claiborne, who wrote an article about it in The New York Times in 1965. This recipe, which Ms. Groff said “will amaze every guest,” serves six, but she noted that you can easily scale it up to serve 30, or possibly more.
Pawpaw Pudding
When it comes to pawpaw, accept no substitutes. Trust us; we tried. We went to a bunch of experts — scholars who specialize in fruit, plus chefs and cookbook authors who know all about the proud culinary history of Appalachia — and we asked them, “If a home cook doesn’t happen to have any pawpaw, what combination of other fruits and vegetables might work well as a replacement?” We picked up passing nods to sweet potatoes, bananas, papayas, avocados, really ripe mangoes. But in the end everyone came back with variations on “Forget it, there’s nothing like a pawpaw.” The goopy-textured, tropical-ish fruit whose name sounds like a punch line on “Hee Haw” can be found scattered all over the country, but recipes (for cakes, pies, puddings) abound largely in West Virginia and nearby states like Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. If you happen to secure some pawpaw, best to get out of its way, as is the case with this pudding. Pawpaw is a holiday guest who responds well to minimal interference.
Hot Blueberries
Strawberries With Brown Butter Shortcake
This recipe came to The Times from David Guas, a New Orleans chef. He substitutes a spongecake enriched with browned butter for crumbly shortcake. And instead of simply seasoning raw berries with sugar, he cooks them lightly over steaming water with orange zest, which fills the kitchen with the smell of warm, simmering fruit.
Mary Encinger's Brownies
Crispy Orange Coconut Balls
In the world of Sandra Lee, a cookbook author and self-proclaimed “lifestylist,” life is hectic and people are busy, so she cooks semi-homemade food. “The Semi-Homemade cooking approach is easily done by combining several prepackaged foods, a few fresh ingredients, and a ‘pinch of this with a hint of that’ to make new, easy, gourmet-tasting, inexpensive meals in minutes,” she said. The Duncan Hines Creamy Home-Style chocolate icings that Ms. Lee calls for in her Crispy Orange Coconut Balls (truffles, really) do not allow you to have control over the quality of the chocolate — the main flavor of the dessert. If you would like more control of that flavor, try this riff, developed by Amanda Hesser.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
Brownie Ice Cream Sundaes
The ice cream sundae has shed its youthful, frivolous shell. This is a balanced, thoughtfully constructed dessert, something that nourishes the intellect and the palate, not just the pangs of the stomach.
Lu’s Bloody Mary
My friend Lu Ratunil was the man behind the bar on Sundays at Good World, my favorite brunch spot when I was still the sort of person who went out to brunch. He considers himself a bit of a purist when it comes to bloody marys, explaining that ‘‘since the drink has so many ingredients, the key is to balance them.’’
Basic Red Barbecue Sauce
Peach Kebabs On Cinnamon Sticks
Persimmon-Nut-And-Raisin Pudding
Pumpkin Black-Bean Soup
Lattice-Top Strawberry Pie
Here is a classic American strawberry pie. The filling is super simple – just strawberries, sugar, a bit of flour and butter – and the crosshatched crust is spectacular. If the thought of weaving together a lattice-top makes you quiver, check out our pie guide for a how-to video, or use a round biscuit cutter to cut out circles and lay them on top, like Melissa Clark did on this sour cherry pie.
Whiskey-Apple Crumble Pie
This whiskey-apple crumble pie calls for the apple slices to be sautéed before they are put into the crust and baked. The requirement that the apples be tart should be taken seriously, so the filling will stand up to the sweet crumble topping.
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Gooey Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Bars
These soft-centered, marbled bars have all the hallmarks of a winning autumnal treat — spiced pumpkin, rich dark chocolate, toasty pecans and a splash of bourbon. It's worth the extra effort to brown the butter; its warm toffee notes bring out the best of everything.
Julia Child’s Aunt Helen’s Fluffy Pumpkin Pie
This recipe was published in Parade in November 1982, when Julia Child was writing a recipe column for the magazine. As all cooks (and writers) know, Thanksgiving is an adventure and a challenge: how to come up with fresh ideas that keep the dish on the right side of tradition? In this pie, Mrs. Child’s addition of molasses, extra spices and especially bourbon breathe new life into the filling. If you like your desserts on the spicy side, add an extra tablespoon of molasses and a pinch of black pepper.
Citrus Salad With Peanuts and Avocado
There’s really no need for leafy greens in a big, meaty citrus salad. The first step is to acquire a range of fruit — citrus of different colors, sizes and shapes, with varied levels of acidity and sweetness. Cutting the fruit so you don’t lose too much juice is key: Cut the pith and peel with a knife, then slice the fruit horizontally with a sharp knife that doesn’t crush and squeeze. A simple dressing of fish sauce, sweetened with a little brown sugar, works well, especially when it’s offset with some fatty pieces of avocado and some fresh herbs.
Parsnips and Apples With Marsala
In 1954, the food writer Elizabeth David introduced her fellow Brits to carote al Marsala via her book “Italian Food.” She warned readers that Marsala and carrots may sound like “an unsuitable combination,” but lists the dish as one of her favorite vegetable recipes. Simmering the carrot in sweet wine until the liquid reduces to the point of becoming a glaze creates a delightful candying effect. The approach works equally well for parsnips and apples, which also have a natural sweetness, and any number of other root vegetables, like sunchokes or salsify.