Main Course
8665 recipes found
Brunswick Stew
Few American dishes are more comforting than Brunswick stew, a motley mix of tomatoes, corn, beans and shredded meat. Chicken is most commonly used today, though some stew experts throw in beef chuck or pork shoulder for flavor and fat (or they prepare it in the old way, using game meat such as squirrel and rabbit). Both Brunswick County, Va., and Brunswick, Ga., lay claim to this hearty fall stew. This version borrows from the sweet and savory Virginian tradition. Thickened with potatoes, the stew tastes great on its own, alongside a hunk of cornbread or with a sleeve of saltine crackers.
Khoresh-e Fesenjoon (Persian Chicken Stew With Pomegranate and Walnuts)
Fesenjoon hails from the verdant northern Iranian hills and coast, where pomegranate and walnut trees grow. Taking its flavor cues from the land, this stew braises bone-in chicken thighs in a blend of toasted walnuts, pomegranate juice and pomegranate molasses. As the sauce cooks, it thickens and deepens to a shade of dark brown similar to that of mole poblano. You’ll need to thin it out with water to prevent it from becoming overly sticky and syrupy. The sweet and sour flavors of the pomegranate, along with the silky texture the walnuts bring to the stew, make it one of the most elegant dishes in Persian cuisine.
Three-Cheese Cauliflower Casserole
There's no shortage of richness in this casserole. Here, three types of cheese and heavy cream result in something luxurious and comforting, perfect for colder weather. Make sure to drain and dry the blanched cauliflower well, since excess water could break the creamy sauce and make it separate. Serve as a side with any braised or roasted meat or, for a vegetarian dinner, balance it with a salad tossed with a bright, lemony vinaigrette.
Sopa de Fideo
Sopa de fideo is a quick and comforting Mexican staple that is particularly good on a chilly weeknight. The acidity from tomatoes, the bold garlic flavor and the luscious strands of fideo, a thin noodle similar to angel hair that’s typically included in Mexican soups, make for a hearty dish. Toppings for sopa de fideo vary, but common garnishes include avocado slices, sautéed mushrooms, lime juice, queso fresco, cooked potatoes, Mexican cream — the list goes on!
Fusilli With Broccoli and Anchovies
This is Italian country cooking at its best, a simple dish that requires few ingredients and very little time. Use the same pot of water that you use to cook the broccoli for the pasta. Then finish the broccoli and anchovy mixture in a pan while the pasta is cooking, and toss the pasta with the sauce right in the pan.
Pork Roast With Roasted Jalapeño Gravy
Eddie Hernandez, who runs Taqueria del Sol, a string of easygoing Mexican restaurants in Georgia and Tennessee, considers himself a born-again Southern boy whose food reflects a mash-up of the two cultures. He grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Monterrey, Mexico, where a pork roast like this would have never made it onto the table. But he came to love the roast’s role in a traditional Southern Sunday supper, and decided to give it his own Mexican twist. It has become one of the most popular specials at his restaurants. The granulated garlic and onion are essential to the flavor. The roast cooks fast in a hot oven that crisps the fat. The residual oven heat roasts the jalapeños while the meat rests. Once you make the roux, the rich gravy for the dish comes together quickly.
Radicchio Salad With Crunchy Shiitake Mushrooms and Barley
A colorful grain salad is the perfect light meal. Here, barley adds heft and texture to a bitter leaf salad that’s balanced with a sweet-tart dressing. The sleeper hit of this recipe are the crispy shiitake mushrooms, which impart deep flavor in two ways: They are pan-seared, and the caramelization left in the pan adds extra umami to the dressing. For gluten-free diets, you could substitute buckwheat groats or brown rice in place of the pearled barley.
Shrimp Bathed in Olive Oil and Lemon
A simple but lavish bath of olive oil and lemon juice is the Italian way of showing off superfresh seafood. The key, according to Marcella Hazan, is that the dish should never see the inside of a refrigerator, which changes the texture of the seafood and the flavor of the olive oil. She calls for shrimp in this recipe, but the formula also works with squid, clams and meaty fish fillets.
Quesabirria Tacos
The little puddle of fat floating on top of a pot of birria is pure gold, stained red from chiles, and rich with all the concentrated flavors of the original stew. In other words: Don’t waste it! Instead, spoon the fat off the top of the broth and reserve it for crisping tortillas to make quesabirria tacos, pan-fried until crisp, with cheese smushing out of the edges and browning in the pan. You can enjoy the tacos with salsas or hot sauce, but the birria meat and cooking oil are so flavorful that a little cilantro and onion are all you really need.
Middle-School Tacos
Here is a taste of a time when Mexican food was not as widely available in the United States as it is today, when parents and sports bars looked for food to serve children and those who eat like them, when the combination of crunch and fat and silk was divine. It still can be, if you avoid the taco kits of yore and make your own picadillo, then put it in hard-shell tacos and top how you like. For those who want to avoid prefabricated taco shells, make a form out of aluminum foil, fry fresh corn tortillas in shimmering neutral oil and then allow them to cool into shape on their aluminum saddle. Taco night. You can’t eat just two.
Iga Babi Bali (Balinese Sticky Glazed Pork Ribs)
The smell of Balinese barbecued pork ribs is a harmonious scent typically associated with trips to the picturesque island, but this recipe from the chef Lara Lee’s book, “Coconut & Sambal,” brings the aroma to your home kitchen. Juicy, tender pork is glazed in sticky kecap manis (a sweet condiment that’s typically made with palm sugar and soy sauce, commonly used throughout Indonesia and found at most Asian markets), yielding ribs that are sweet, smoky and viscid. The garlic and chile marinade packs additional heat. (Look for moderately hot red chiles, such as cayenne, that are the length and width of your index or middle finger.) Ms. Lee loves preparing the dish for dinner parties, as they can easily be made in advance and reheated (cover the ribs with foil and place in a 300 degree oven for 10 minutes). You can serve these with potato wedges or morning glory (water spinach).
Five Vegetables and 15-Grain Rice Pot
Spicy Rice Noodles With Crispy Tofu and Spinach
Herby noodles, chile oil and crisp tofu come together in this spicy, filling bowl that will disappear before you know it. But the component parts are just as valuable on their own: Make crisp baked tofu once, and you may never pan-fry cubes again. Make a scallion-basil paste on your cutting board, and forget about pesto from the food processor. And make a little extra spicy sesame oil, so that you can swirl it into scrambled eggs and smashed cucumber salads.
Cheese Enchiladas
Enchiladas are an essential component of Houston’s ebullient, dynamic foodways. Mexican in origin, while distinctly Tex-Mex at the same time, the dish adapts to its surroundings. Each enchilada recipe is deeply local: The style ubiquitous in Monterrey, Mexico, will be different from those found in San Antonio or El Paso or Mexico City. But from enchilada to enchilada, the common denominator is deliciousness. In “The Enchilada Queen Cookbook,” Sylvia Casares notes, “for Tex-Mex-style cheese enchiladas, yellow cheese, such as Cheddar, is the traditional choice” yielding “the quintessential Tex-Mex enchilada.”
Vegan Pho With Carrots, Noodles and Edamame
When I was testing my vegan pho broth for a Recipes for Health series last spring I froze a few containers of the broth; I had forgotten how good it is. I didn’t have some of the traditional ingredients for pho – bean sprouts, cilantro, scallions, green chiles – so I used what I had and it was definitely pho. I used cayenne for heat and a chiffonade of romaine lettuce was a good stand-in for the bean sprouts, crunchy and fresh. Lots of chives stood in for scallions. I did without cilantro or Thai basil but had plenty of Italian basil and mint from my garden.
Juicy BLT
The success of a BLT hangs in its balance of salt, acid, lusciousness and crunch. This version is perfect, with a generous swipe of mayonnaise on each slice of toast, followed by a drizzle of olive oil, tomatoes marinated in red wine vinegar and salt, butter lettuce leaves and thick-cut bacon. Squash this closed and eat while the bacon is still warm. BLTs are often associated with summer, but the vinegar here coaxes flavor and brings brightness to hothouse tomatoes, turning it into a sandwich for all seasons.
Vegan Chorizo
When tofu is crumbled into small bits, combined with umami-rich mushrooms and coated with big-flavor ingredients like chile guajillo, clove and oregano, it becomes a real showstopper. For this soyrizo recipe, the seasonings are similar to those used in Mexican pork chorizo, so use it in dishes where you would normally use the traditional sausage: Serve it as part of a savory breakfast, add it to veggie hash or tuck it inside tortillas for tacos topped with crunchy onion, cilantro, guacamole and lime.
Walnut Picadillo
Picadillo is a dish that spans Latin American and Filipino food cultures with ingredients that vary from country to region. It’s a simple dish that highlights ground meat with bold flavors from tomato, onion, garlic, olives and capers, and is often paired with starches like potatoes and rice for a filling main dish, or even a taco filling. In this plant-based version, ground walnuts take on a meaty texture that absorbs all the bold flavors of a picadillo. Using a food processor is the best — and fastest — way to make sure the walnuts are evenly minced.
Crab and Shrimp Boil Pasta
Sweet corn, salty sausage, zesty shrimp, creamy potatoes and butter for dipping — a crab boil has everything you want in a meal. But unless you’re a pro at cracking crab legs, it can be a challenge. Instead, capture those same flavors with this seafood pasta, which uses lump crab meat and this speedy sheet-pan shrimp boil. Get the shrimp boil into the oven, then immediately start preparing this recipe. (If the shrimp boil is done early, just cover it with aluminum foil until ready to add.) In the end, it all comes together in a big, shareable dish.
Creamy Pasta With Bacon and Red Cabbage
Smoky bacon and cabbage are a classic Eastern European combination, but tossing them with pasta and a bit of cream takes them in a heartier direction. Use a short, curvy shape, such as cavatappi or fusilli, that can catch the silky sauce in its crooks. Red cabbage is called for here, but regular green or Savoy cabbage would also work well. Top any leftovers with a fried egg and, of course, extra grated cheese.
Quick Lamb Ragù
A simple sauce made mostly with pantry staples, this spicy, tomatoey take on a ragù, which is traditionally long-cooked, is unapologetically lamb-forward. If you prefer, you could use pork, beef or a mix of all three. Whatever you do, try not to skip the anchovies — they add a depth of flavor typically achieved by a long simmer, and anchovy-haters won't even know they are there.
Lasagna With Roasted Eggplant, Mushrooms and Carrots
This is like a combination of eggplant Parmesan and lasagna, with the added texture and flavor provided by savory mushrooms and sweet roasted carrots.
Bánh Cuốn
Bánh cuốn, or Vietnamese steamed rice rolls, pack platefuls of flavor into every bite. The dish originated in northern Vietnam, utilizing a batter that forms a delicate rice sheet, which gets rolled around a mixture of pork and wood ear mushrooms. Bánh cuốn’s accompaniments generally include bean sprouts, fried shallots, herbs and chả lụa (Vietnamese pork sausage), along with a dipping sauce of nước chấm. Though the dish has a number of ingredients, its preparation consists of simple steps; give yourself ample time to prepare and the cooking process will be seamless. This meal is best eaten immediately, but it can hold in the refrigerator for a day or two.
Farro e Pepe
While cacio e pepe, the classic Roman dish, is simple — made with only pasta and its cooking water; cacio, or Pecorino Romano; and abundant freshly ground black pepper — it’s not always easy to make. The trick to getting a thick, creamy sauce lies in combining the cheese and pepper with starchy pasta water in just the right way; this usually requires a lot of erratic stirring and sweat. This version bucks tradition in favor of simplicity and, well, farro. The technique for the cheese paste comes from Flavio de Maio, a master of cucina Romana and producer of one of Rome’s most beloved bowls of cacio e pepe. Simply blend grated cheese and a little cold water with freshly ground pepper until they come together into a creamy paste. Then toss a spoonful or two into just-cooked farro and watch it melt like butter to coat the grains in a layer of salt, pepper, richness and tang. The farro’s chewy, satisfying texture is a perfect foil for the creaminess of the sauce. Keep the leftover paste in the fridge — stir a spoonful into grits, toss it with boiled green beans and, of course, use it for a bowl of cacio e pepe. Use the technique with other hard cheeses: Asiago, Parmesan and even clothbound Cheddar make for fantastic versions.