Main Course
8665 recipes found
Mac and Queso Fundido
This recipe, adapted from “Chicano Eats: Recipes From My Mexican-American Kitchen” (Harper Design, 2020) by Esteban Castillo, is less dip than it is pasta — a smoky, spicy version of the best boxed macaroni and cheese you’ve ever had. Make a very simple roux, to which you add smoked paprika and three types of grated cheese (mozzarella, Mexican cheese blend and Parmesan). Stir in the noodles until they are glossy and coated. You could stop there or take it over the top by finishing the dish with crumbled, cooked chorizo and sautéed mushrooms.
Chicken With Cinnamon and Dates
This chicken dish was adapted from Kim Sunée, the Korean-born author of “Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love and the Search for Home” (Grand Central, 2008).
Crispy Mushroom Focaccia
In this recipe, the secret to achieving crispy, not soggy, mushrooms is roasting them twice: first, alone on a sheet pan until they’re just tender and their moisture reduced, then again on top of a soft and fluffy focaccia dough, where they will brown and crisp. For a vegan version, skip the Parmesan and use flaky salt or nutritional yeast instead.
Glazed Ham
This is the ham that led directly to whatever childhood memory caused someone to combine ham and pineapple on a pizza. The sweet, slightly fiery and herbaceous crust on this salty haunch practically calls out for a garnish of caramelized pineapple, if not a spray of maraschino cherries. Others may reverse course and apply mustard. Either way, it is good to serve with a nutty wild rice or potatoes au grain, something with backbone.
Feast of the Seven Fishes Pie
A velvety fish pie, filled with chunks of seafood in a delicate sauce, is classic cold-weather comfort food in the British Isles. This seafood pie is fancier than most. It’s got a buttery puff pastry topping that turns golden and crunchy as it bakes. And it’s brimming with seven varieties of fish, including scallops and shrimp, to make it festive enough to serve for a blowout Christmas Eve meal, like the Italian-American celebration Feast of the Seven Fishes. That said, if you’d rather keep things simpler, using just two or three kinds of fish still results in a stunning pie. Alaskan wild pollock, a mild, flaky fish that’s becoming more and more available in seafood markets, is a lovely and sustainable choice, as is Pacific cod.
Meatballs in Sour Cherry Sauce (Kabab Karaz)
The writer Anissa Helou put this bright and tart Syrian dish on the cover of her cookbook "Feast: Food of the Islamic World," which gathers recipes from across the Muslim diaspora. "If there is a dish that symbolizes the cooking of Aleppo, this has to be it," she writes inside; the recipe is adapted from Maria Gaspard-Samra, a chef who taught cooking classes in Aleppo. These small lamb meatballs are browned — take care not to overcook them — and then simmered in a pool of pitted sour cherries, raw cane sugar and pomegranate molasses. Then they are piled on a bed of pita bread triangles drizzled with butter and dusted with chopped parsley and toasted pine nuts. If you can’t find fresh or frozen sour cherries, use dried, which you can rehydrate by soaking overnight in water.
Chicken Stew With Okra and Tomatoes
Tender chicken, stewed tomatoes and spices that warm without too much heat: This stew is exactly what you want on a cold day. Okra is cooked over high heat with the holy trinity (onion, bell pepper and celery) to draw out its moisture and reduce any possibility of sliminess. Make sure to use bone-in chicken thighs: They take a little longer to cook, but they give this stew heft and flavor that you wouldn’t get from boneless. This recipe calls for ripe plum tomatoes, but if you can’t find good ones, use a 15-ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes instead.
Warak Dawali (Stuffed Grape Leaves)
Stuffed grape leaves are so prevalent across the Arab world and the Mediterranean that it can seem like there are as many variations as there are families. This recipe is for traditional Levantine versions existing in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, which generally have a warmly spiced beef and rice filling, are rich from being cooked with either meat at the bottom of the pot or chicken broth, and involve stuffed grape leaves that are rolled fairly thin and long. It’s a hallmark of any celebratory or holiday table, and perfect served with a side of plain yogurt. Though they are time-consuming, warak dawali are a very fun project to embark on with family or friends, and leftovers store wonderfully, up to 3 days in the fridge or a couple of months in the freezer.
Vegan Poblano Macaroni and Cheese
Making this plant-based dish might become a new holiday tradition in your house — and the recipe is fast and easy enough to become part of your weeknight rotation as well. It’s not your average macaroni and cheese as it has no actual cheese, but its creamy cashew sauce, stained green from smoky fire-roasted poblano chiles, is guaranteed to turn heads. The end result is sure to be piled high on everyone’s plates. To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.
Grilled Corn and Avocado Salad With Feta Dressing
This lively salad of corn, scallions, jalapeño and avocado tossed with a tangy buttermilk-feta dressing is like summer on a plate. The sweetness of peak-summer corn and the richness of creamy avocado balance out the tartness of the dressing. To choose the perfect corn, make sure that the corn husk is bright green and slightly dewy to the touch, and that the silks peeking out at the top are yellow, not browned. Finally, the corn should be heavy for its size: the heavier the corn, the plumper the kernels.
Turkey Barley Soup
This mellow, velvety soup filled with barley and vegetables is a perfect place for your leftover Thanksgiving turkey. Adapted from Cristiana N. de Carvalho of Massachusetts, it’s savory, herby and very warming on a cold winter evening. If you want to make your own stock from the turkey bones, the soup will be even richer. But store-bought stock works just as well and makes this straightforward recipe quick to put together. Brown rice makes an excellent barley substitute, though you may have to add a few minutes to the cooking time.
Samgyeopsal
This pork belly dish is less a recipe and more a road map to dinner. A chill way to have Korean barbecue at home, samgyeopsal, or “three-layer meat,” refers to pork belly’s fat cap and the two leaner layers of meat below it, one light and one dark. Crisp slivers of pork are wrapped in various lettuces and dabbed with doenjang honey and punchy slivers of raw garlic. The lightly peppered, vinegared freshness of pa muchim, an all-occasion scallion salad often served with the grilled meats at Korean barbecue restaurants, is a welcome accompaniment to rich foods like fried or rotisserie-style chickens, pan-seared pork chops, and grilled bulgogi, galbi and samgyeopsal. Don’t skip the sesame oil dipping sauce; its nuttiness lets the pork belly shine.
Scallion Cornmeal Waffles
For many alumni, homecoming week at the nation’s H.B.C.U.s — historically Black colleges and universities — culminates with day parties and brunches, where waffles are almost always on the menu. These crispy, savory cornmeal waffles are a weekend must-make and fancier than a pancake stack. They are also the perfect base for berry-jam fried chicken. Use full-fat buttermilk here, and feel free to swap in the oil of your choice. A citrus salad with peanuts and avocado, or crispy tofu, make a lovely accompaniment if you don’t eat meat.
Stuffed Ham, Southern Maryland Style
There are as many recipes for southern Maryland stuffed ham as there are families in St. Mary’s County. It shows up on Christmas and Easter tables, and at almost every community fund-raising supper. This recipe, compiled from cooks whose families have been making it for generations, uses raw stuffing and is spiced with plenty of black and red pepper. Because the ham boils for so long, the spiciness will mellow. The most challenging part is the finding the ham itself. Corned hams — which are simply fresh hams that have been cured in salt or brine — aren’t usually in the grocery meat case, and butchers will often require advance orders. Corning your own fresh ham is not hard, but it can take several days and turns this into even more of a project.
White Bean Caprese Salad
Beloved pantry white beans add substance to this take on caprese salad, which comes together in no time. It’s a perfect side for grilled chicken or fish, and can be easily doubled to work as a main course when it’s too hot to turn on the oven. If you’re so inclined, a handful of spicy arugula, thinly sliced roasted red peppers or ribbons of prosciutto — or all three — would also be nice additions. This dish is easily transportable and tastier when eaten while sitting in a lawn chair.
Hot Brown
The Hot Brown was invented in 1926 at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Ky., by the chef Fred Schmidt. The open-faced turkey sandwich, smothered in Mornay sauce and topped with bacon, was served to customers at late-night dances, while the band was on its break. The dish has become a Louisville staple, one well suited for Derby Day or after Thanksgiving, when roast turkey is plentiful. Thick slices of bread, sold as Texas Toast in some parts of the United States, do not get lost under the meat and sauce. Hand-carved turkey is best for the dish; deli turkey slices do not deliver the same Hot Brown experience.
Chicken Congee
Congee is regarded as the ultimate Chinese comfort food, according to the author Fuchsia Dunlop. This recipe for ji zhou or chicken congee, from her book on Jiangnan regional cuisine, is dead simple and satisfying. Serve it with chicken and soy sauce for a late-night Shanghai-style snack.
Small-Batch Blueberry Muffins
Michelle Lopez, the author of “Weeknight Baking: Recipes to Fit Your Schedule” (Simon & Schuster, 2019), was inspired by the oversize muffins at Levain Bakery when she developed this recipe. The keys to the loftiest muffins? Plenty of batter and a high oven temperature, which ensures that they rise quickly and bake with a beautiful top and a tender interior. For the best results, rest your batter before baking. One very important tip: Spray the muffin pan and its edges generously with nonstick cooking spray. When the muffins come out of the oven, immediately use a small offset spatula to gently release their edges from the pan, then let them cool completely before removing them. You can use frozen blueberries instead of fresh, but be sure to thaw and drain them, then let them come to room temperature before adding them to the batter.
Buttermilk-Brined Roast Chicken
This recipe, adapted from Samin Nosrat's "Salt Fat Acid Heat," is inspired by the Southern grandma method of marinating chicken overnight in buttermilk before frying it. You're roasting here, but the buttermilk and salt still work like a brine, tenderizing the meat on multiple levels to yield an unbelievably juicy chicken. As an added bonus, the sugars in the buttermilk will caramelize, contributing to an exquisitely browned skin. Be sure to leave 24 hours for marinating the chicken. While the beauty of roast chicken is that you can serve it anytime, anywhere, try serving it alongside panzanella, which plays the role of starch, salad and sauce.
Pesce all’Acqua Pazza (Fish With White Wine and Cherry Tomatoes)
Easy enough for a weeknight, this simple, simmered fish dish originated along the Amalfi coast, where seafood is eaten regularly. Acqua pazza, which means “crazy water” in Italian, is derived from the way Neapolitan fisherman used to cook the day’s catch; in seawater, imbuing it with salty notes. This recipe calls for simmering fish over a simple broth seasoned with burst tomatoes, wine, salted water and the caramelized bits created by first quickly searing the fish in olive oil. Like many Italian dishes, the preparation is simple and requires only a few ingredients. Canned tomatoes can be substituted for the cherry, but if using out-of-season cherry tomatoes, a pinch of sugar can revive and build complex flavor. To round out the meal, serve with some crusty bread to sop up the sauce.
Soft-Boiled Eggs With Anchovy Toast
This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredients list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen. If you’re up for a delicious, slightly sporty breakfast, you might consider making some anchovy butter tonight. Take a stick of unsalted butter, and let it soften on the counter while you assemble the other ingredients: a tin of anchovies, some garlic cloves, a shake or two of smoked or regular paprika, a wee splash of lemon juice and maybe, but probably not, some salt. Rinse and mince the little fish, mince the garlic, and fork everything together into the butter to taste. Then, come morning, you can slather toast with the result and serve it with soft scrambled eggs or, better yet, soft-boiled eggs, a breakfast I once had in London at a hotel and restaurant the chef Fergus Henderson was running in Leicester Square. Make sure you spread the butter “wall to wall.” That is a vernacular phrase of the chef Gabrielle Hamilton. It means to cover the entire surface of the bread from edge to edge — an important step in buttering, one that is too often shirked. Sam Sifton features a no-recipe recipe every Wednesday in his What to Cook newsletter. Sign up to receive it. You can find more no-recipe recipes here.
Pan-Seared Marinated Halibut Fillets
Caramel-Apple Dutch Baby
This recipe makes the perfect breakfast, brunch or sweet treat for a lazy weekend. Any 10-inch ovenproof pan or baking dish will work here, but for the puffiest and crispest pancake, use a cast-iron pan. Don’t skimp on the amount of butter you melt in the pan in the first step; it prevents the pancake from sticking, and helps brown and crisp the Dutch baby while it bakes. The easy, no-fail caramel sauce infuses the apples with brown sugar and vanilla, while also serving as a syrup to drizzle over each slice. For maximum ooh and aahs, spoon the apples, caramel and all, into the center of the Dutch baby and serve it in the skillet. To keep the pancake crisp longer, serve the apples and caramel separately and allow guests to top their own.
Jerusalem Grill
This recipe for griddled chicken thighs with chicken livers and hearts comes from Mike Solomonov and Steven Cook, the Philadelphia restaurateurs whose cookbook, “Israeli Soul,” is an invaluable guide to making Israel’s most beloved street foods and restaurant dishes at home. But you don't need to make it with the livers and hearts. “I like a little funk in there,” Solomonov told me, “but I get it if you don’t like that, if it freaks you out.” So omit the offal if you want. “The dish is as much about the spicing, anyway,” Solomonov said. Serve the meat mounded onto a drift of hummus, as you might spoon a thick ragù on top of polenta, or alone beside a salad. Solomonov likes it as a sandwich. “Eat mixed grill in a pita,” he said. “Eat it with some onion and tehina and a pickle, and it’s so satisfying. It’s a taste of Jerusalem at the end of the night.”