American Recipes
2881 recipes found
Baked Alaska
The creation of baked alaska is commonly attributed to Charles Ranhofer, the chef at Delmonico’s restaurant in New York who served the dessert as a commentary on the United States’ purchase of the Alaska territory in 1867. He called it ‘Alaska, Florida’ — the contrast between frozen ice cream and torched meringue represented the difference in the country’s climates. Consisting of a cake base in addition to the ice cream and meringue, it sounds complicated, but with a little patience, baked alaska is surprisingly simple to make at home. It takes time to let each layer freeze, but that makes it an ideal dessert to prepare in advance. Chocolate and cherry ice cream are just suggestions; feel free to choose your own favorites, keeping in mind that contrasting colors will make for a particularly beautiful dessert.
Chili Mac
“Nothing induces a feeling of security and comfort better than the come-hither aroma of an honest pot of chili mac keeping warm on the stove.” Many would agree with what Jane and Michael Stern wrote in “The Lexicon of Real American Food” (Lyons Press, 2011), whether they’ve had the thrifty, hearty combination of macaroni and chili at a family dinner table, around a campfire, bellied up to a bar somewhere near Lake Michigan or even in an M.R.E. in a military dining room. This supersavory version is a cinch, requiring just one pot and minimal chopping. (For another common chili pasta, see this Cincinnati chili con carne.)
Concord Grape Jelly
With a notoriously short season — late September to early October — this straightforward jelly is just one way to capture the intensity of Concord grapes well into the winter months. Inspired by a pie at Pies ‘n’ Thighs in Brooklyn, this recipe simplifies the restaurant’s process. Whole grapes in a pot are heated until soft, then crushed, and the grape juice is strained of seeds and skins. Sugar, pectin and a little lemon juice are the only other ingredients. Spread it on buttered toast, spoon it into a par-baked thumbprint cookie, or use it to fill PB&Js. Sealed and canned in glass jars, this jelly will last for up to 1 year, when stored in a cool, dry place. Without canning, it will keep in an airtight container, refrigerated, for up to 3 months.
Vegan Green Goddess Dressing
Green goddess dressing was served for the first time, in the 1920s, at the Palace Hotel, in San Francisco, at a banquet in honor of George Arliss, who starred in the play “The Green Goddess.” Herbaceous, creamy and tangy, the original recipe used mayonnaise, scallions, chives, tarragon, parsley, anchovies and vinegar. This vegan rendition mostly sticks to tradition, but employs tahini for body, basil for sweetness and soy sauce for a flavor that’s similar to anchovy. Keep the dressing thick for a dip, or thin it to coat sturdy salad leaves like romaine, iceberg, escarole or radicchio.
Sugar Cookies
What sets drop-style sugar cookies apart from classic cut-outs is that you don’t need to roll out the dough or dig deep into drawers in search of cookie cutters. Simply scoop and roll the dough into balls, then slightly flatten and bake. The dough needs to chill in the fridge for at least an hour so the cookies don’t spread too much during baking, but this can be done up to a day in advance. Follow this approach and the cookies will be irresistibly soft, yet chewy in the middle and a little crisp around the edges. They are fantastic as is, but you can top with extra sugar or sprinkles, or exchange the vanilla for a little almond or lemon extract to play around with the flavor.
Key Lime Pie
Key limes, with their distinct tartness and slightly floral aroma, lend a delightfully sharp flavor to this classic American pie. They can be hard to find, especially out of season and outside of Florida, and juicing the diminutive limes can sometimes feel like a big effort. This recipe allows you to choose your own adventure: fresh fruit for Key lime purists, bottled stuff for shortcut seekers, or a blend of Persian lime juice (from the limes most commonly found in grocery stores) bolstered with a little lemon juice, for those seeking a solid substitution. The amount of salt in the crust may seem like a lot, but it offsets the tart curd and rich whipped topping. Try adding ¼ cup of unsweetened shredded coconut to the crust for a fun twist on the classic. This pie freezes like a dream, providing a great make-ahead dessert and a taste of the beach any time.
Dump Cake
Dump cake is a classic American dessert that became popular with the production and marketing of store-bought boxed cake mixes. But it’s more like a cobbler than a cake — it’s filled with fruit and, as the name suggests, all the ingredients are “dumped” in a dish and baked in the oven. Canned cherry pie filling mixed with crushed pineapple is traditional, but feel free to swap out with other canned fruit, like peaches or strawberry pie filling. For a little crunch, add some nuts, such as sliced almonds or chopped pecans. Dump cake is best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. This truly low-effort dessert is an easy way to feed a crowd any time of year.
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Pumpkin Spice Latte (With Real Squash)
Rich with butternut squash and fall spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and ginger, this frothy, creamy drink is like drinking pumpkin pie in your mug.
Tequila Sunrise
This beautiful ombré cocktail first appeared on the menu of the Arizona Biltmore, a resort hotel in Phoenix, in the late 1930s or early 1940s. Originally, it was made with tequila, lime juice, soda water and crème de cassis, but was reinterpreted using orange juice and grenadine at the Trident, a bar in Sausalito, Calif., in the 1970s. Rumor has it that the Rolling Stones loved the sunrise-hued drink so much, it worked its way into the unofficial nickname of their 1972 tour. Soon after, the Eagles wrote their eponymous song. You only need a few ingredients to get the look for which this refreshing drink is famous: tequila, orange juice and grenadine, which is slowly poured in as it settles at the bottom of the glass and creates a ruby red base for the rising sun.
Pigs in a Blanket
Mini hotdogs tucked into flaky and tender store-bought crescent rolls are equal parts retro, nostalgia and comfort wrapped into one bite-size bundle. Homemade pigs in a blanket are an evergreen party staple and a cinch to make. If you can’t find cocktail-size wieners, you can simply cut half a dozen regular hotdogs into 1 1/2 inch-long pieces and use those. Serve with your favorite condiments, like honey mustard or ketchup. This is a snack that never falls out of favor.
Funnel Cake
This nostalgic carnival treat is surprisingly easy to make at home. Funnel cake, thought to have been popularized in the United States by the Pennsylvania Dutch, gets its name from its method of using a funnel to pour batter into hot oil. For home cooks, a glass measuring cup with a spout does the job just fine. The simple pancake batter is drizzled into the oil in a circular pattern, fried until crisp and golden, then topped with confectioners’ sugar. If you want to dress up your funnel cake, finish it with whipped cream and a pile of diced fresh strawberries. This recipe doubles easily, though you may want to have extra oil on hand for the pan.
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Cheese-Filled Toasted Ravioli
To make this St. Louis specialty, fill thin pasta dough with a mixture of ricotta and mozzarella, then bread and fry your ravioli until lightly crisp—and don’t forget the marinara sauce for dunking.
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Buffalo Chicken Salad
A salad made for the Buffalo wing lover in your life.
Corn and Miso Pasta Salad
The interplay between the crunch of the celery, the chew of the pasta and the pop of the corn kernels makes this (potentially vegan) pasta salad a textural pleasure to eat. Pasta salads that you can easily eat with a spoon reign supreme, and ditalini’s petite shape — which mimics the size of fresh corn kernels — makes it the perfect pasta candidate. Miso adds savory notes and deep umami flavor to the mayonnaise dressing. This recipe calls for Calabrian chile, but the miso-mayo mix is versatile: You can substitute anything from chopped chipotles in adobo to a spoonful of gochujang for a hit of heat.
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Grill-Baked Smoked Ancho Chile Skillet Brownie
This smoked ancho skillet brownie is baked on the grill, giving it a light smoky flavor that pairs perfectly with a hint of spice from ground ancho chiles.
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Grill-Baked Skillet Apple Crisp
This bubbly and lightly charred apple crisp is baked directly on the grill to evoke smoky campfire cooking
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Grill-Baked Skillet Cornbread
This cornbread achieves a wonderfully smoky and charred flavor by toasting the cornmeal, charring the corn and poblano pepper, and baking on the grill.
Dill Pickle Salsa
For this extra-briny twist on Italian salsa verde, fresh dill and parsley are combined with punchy cornichons (or pickles) for bright, light flavor.
Peach Crisp
Peach crisp is one of the joys of summer, and honey-sweet peaches need very little adornment, aside from this buttery crisp topping. Choose peaches that are just ripe for baking, as super-ripe peaches will turn into mush during this dessert’s long bake time. In this crisp, the peaches are peeled for the most luscious texture — and you can do so using a standard Y-shaped peeler (no need to boil a pot of water). That said, if you don’t have the time or energy to peel your peaches, you can leave them on for a slightly more rustic dessert. You may notice there aren’t any spices in this recipe, but vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg all pair very nicely with peaches.
Lemon Bars
The best lemon bars are just sweet enough to temper lemon’s acidity while heightening its heady tang. Adding zest to the curd would have detracted from its comforting smoothness with chewy bits. Instead, the wisps of lemon peel bake into the cookie, which is snappier than classic shortbread to provide a contrast to the filling’s softness. Rather than cutting cold butter into flour and powdered sugar for a crumbly bottom as many recipes do, this version combines melted butter with flour and granulated sugar for a sturdy — and simpler — dough. After setting in the oven, the base is covered with the just-as-simple lemon mixture while still hot. Doing so ensures that the layers meld together into a textural ombré so that each bite starts with melt-in-your-mouth curd and ends with a satisfying crispness.
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Italian-American Beef Braciole
This Italian-American beef braciole recipe features thin slices of beef topped with a savory breadcrumb filling and prosciutto, that's rolled up and braised in a tomato sauce.
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Plum, Thyme, and Chile Infused Water
This fruit infused water recipe relies on Floral plums, woodsy thyme, and fresh chiles for its tart and herbaceous flavor.
Strawberry Basil Key Lime Pie
A night of cocktails inspired Maya-Camille Broussard’s strawberry basil Key lime pie, a signature pie at her Chicago pastry shop, Justice of the Pies. After tasting a vodka cocktail with puréed basil, lime and bell pepper crafted by her cousin Peter, the pastry chef recreated the mixture as a pie filling, nixing the bell pepper, adding juice from Key limes and balancing the sublimely sour taste with the creamy sweetness of condensed milk. If strawberries are out of season, you may top the pie with macerated strawberries for an additional dose of sweetness.
Arnold Palmer
Named for the eponymous professional golfer who was known to request a drink combining iced tea and lemonade after a day on the course, the Arnold Palmer has become a hugely popular American drink. While Mr. Palmer preferred a ratio that favored tea over lemonade, the drink has become more commonly known as a “half-and-half” — half tea, half lemonade. This recipe uses equal parts homemade lemonade and unsweetened black tea for a nicely balanced flavor, but feel free to adjust the ratio to your liking, using a bit more lemonade for a sweeter drink, or more tea for a slightly bitter one, Palmer-style.