Main Course

8665 recipes found

Craig Claiborne's Chicken Pot Pie
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking
Jan 4, 1987

Craig Claiborne's Chicken Pot Pie

2h 45mSix servings
Osso Buco Alla Milanese
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking
Oct 27, 1985

Osso Buco Alla Milanese

Among hearty stew-like recipes, Italian osso buco ranks as a classic. Meaty veal shanks simmered with white wine and vegetables and served with risotto is to Milan what beef in red wine is to Burgandy. Osso buco means ''bone with a hole.'' The shank bone is hollow, filled with delectable marrow. It is traditional to serve long, slender marrow spoons with this dish to facilitate removing the marrow and enjoying it (cocktail forks are adequate substitutes). Gremolata, a garnish of minced lemon peel, garlic and parsley, is another requirement.

2h 20m6 servings
Sautéed Chicken Breasts With Fresh Corn, Shallots and Cream
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking
Aug 7, 1985

Sautéed Chicken Breasts With Fresh Corn, Shallots and Cream

When you've eaten your fill of corn on the cob, here's another delightful way to enjoy one of summer's best vegetables: Build it into a quick sauce with shallots, white wine, Dijon mustard and cream, to spoon over butter-sautéed chicken. It's a fresh yet luxurious weeknight meal you're going to make all season long.

15m4 servings
Fettuccine With Asparagus
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking
Apr 17, 1985

Fettuccine With Asparagus

Finding a 30-minute dish that's elegant enough for a dinner party is no simple task, but this warm-weather pasta is one to fit the bill. It is gleefully easy to put together. Just toss slices of blanched asparagus with a tangle of cooked fettuccine slicked with butter. Shower with grated Parmesan and serve.

25m4 servings
Gelfite Fish With Almonds
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking
Mar 27, 1985

Gelfite Fish With Almonds

40mAbout 16 pieces
Pork Chops, Milan Style
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking
Jan 9, 1985

Pork Chops, Milan Style

22m4 servings
Ultimate Manhattan Clam Chowder
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking
Nov 4, 1984

Ultimate Manhattan Clam Chowder

The word chowder is said to derive from chaudière, the French word for caldron and the vessel in which the French who migrated to America from their coastal regions cooked fish soups and stews. In 1984, Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey explored a hundred or more variations on the preparation of chowder and alighted upon what they deemed the “ultimate” Manhattan clam chowder. This is their recipe.

40m10 to 12 servings
Chicken Fricassee With Vermouth
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking
Feb 28, 1982

Chicken Fricassee With Vermouth

This is an elegant, velvety take on a traditional skillet-supper, perfect with a mound of fluffy white rice. Cooking this fricassee with the aperitif known as dry vermouth instead of the more traditional white wine results in a slightly sweeter and more aromatic sauce than you would ordinarily get. (White vermouth is composed of, among other things, white wine plus a bit of sugar, herbs and plants and, at times, the bark of trees.) But white wine will work as well.

1h 30m4 to 6 servings
Mimi Sheraton's Potato Pancakes
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking
Dec 19, 1981

Mimi Sheraton's Potato Pancakes

Plenty of onion, salt and white pepper are essential to the character of potato pancakes, and I have also adopted the custom of stirring in some minced parsley for a fresh and verdant accent. Occasionally, and especially if I am serving sauerbraten, I grate in two or three tablespoons of peeled apple, the drier varieties, such as Golden Delicious, being best suited to this purpose. These should be prepared and fried as close to serving time as possible.

50m6 servings
Quiche Lorraine
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking
Oct 1, 1980

Quiche Lorraine

The first quiche to come to the attention of the American public was the quiche Lorraine in the 1950s. Craig Claiborne, who started as food editor of The Times in 1957, created this classic recipe with bacon, onion and cheese to fill a pie dish. If you use a tart pan, expect to have extra custard. Keys to This Recipe What is quiche: In its most traditional French form, a quiche is composed of a buttery crust filled with a savory egg custard. The pastry is known as pâte brisée. Fillings can include any combination of cheese, herbs, vegetables and smoked meat or fish. How to Make Quiche: For any type of quiche, you start with homemade pastry dough or a store-bought pie crust and fit it into a 9- or 10-inch pie, tart or quiche pan. To prevent a soggy crust, par-bake the dough by baking it alone first, lined with parchment paper or foil and filled with pie weights, such as dried beans. Once the dough is golden, it can be filled with the custard and any other ingredients, then baked again until the custard is just set. Make-Ahead Tips for Quiche: Quiche tastes best when served after 20 to 30 minutes of cooling and within an hour of baking. It can be completely cooled, then covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days, but the crust will get soggy. It’s better to keep a fully baked quiche at room temperature for up to 6 hours and then reheat it, uncovered, in a 300-degree oven for 10 to 20 minutes. (If it has been in the refrigerator, add another 10 minutes or so.) You also can prepare the dough up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate it or par-bake the crust up to a day in advance and keep it at room temperature. Side Dishes to Serve With Quiche: Because quiche is quite rich, it tastes best with a sharp, light salad, such as arugula salad or green salad. Gluten-Free Options for Quiche: You can purchase a gluten-free crust or make your own by swapping a 1-to-1 flour blend for all-purpose flour. Or, you can make a crustless quiche. Why You Should Trust This Recipe This recipe was first published in the fall of 1958, when Craig Claiborne, a pre-eminent food journalist, reported that Gruyère cheese was not yet readily available in grocery stores. It is now, and his recipe for this classic quiche remains a favorite among home cooks.

1h 10m6 to 10 servings
Myra Waldo's Swedish Lamb
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking
Mar 20, 1958

Myra Waldo's Swedish Lamb

Craig Claiborne brought this marvelous dinner-party centerpiece to The Times in 1958, after securing it from Myra Waldo, a globetrotting food and travel writer who edited “The Complete Round-the-World Cookbook,” featuring recipes gathered by Pan American Airways. Mr. Claiborne recommended this one in a column in the newspaper four years later: a leg of lamb roasted above carrots and onions, broth, hot coffee, cream and a sprinkling of sugar. Really! The result on the plate is remarkable in the way the richness of the sauce mingles with the big taste of the lamb. All we needed to do to improve it was exchange the beef broth Claiborne used (too tinny in flavor) for some of the low-sodium chicken variety. (Sam Sifton)

2h6 to 8 servings
Sesame Salmon Bowls
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking

Sesame Salmon Bowls

This one-pot meal, which is inspired by chirashi, or Japanese rice and raw fish bowls, features a savory vinegared rice that’s typically served with sushi. Traditionally, the rice is cooked first, then mixed with vinegar, but here, the rice is cooked in vinegar-seasoned water to eliminate a step. The result is sticky rice that’s tangy and sweet, and a perfect bed for fatty salmon. The salmon is added toward the end to steam directly on top of the rice for an easy one-pan meal. Packaged coleslaw is a time saver, eliminating extra knife work. Make a double batch of the zesty dressing for drizzling over roasted vegetables or green leafy salads the next day.

40m4 servings
Tuna-Macaroni Salad 
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking

Tuna-Macaroni Salad 

You pretty much already have everything you need to make this side dish, a great accompaniment to fried or grilled proteins. Some people love raw onion and celery, but you can leave them out or keep them in as you like. Make sure you use tuna packed in water. (Tuna in olive oil will make the salad too oily.) It’s best chilled — don’t serve it at room temperature — its creamy unctuousness balances out the heat (from spice or from cooking) of whatever it’s paired with.

3h 15m10 to 12 servings
Caramelized Zucchini Pasta
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking

Caramelized Zucchini Pasta

This recipe transforms two pounds of grated fresh zucchini into one cup of caramelized zucchini that’s rich, sweet and jammy enough to become a pasta sauce. Cooked over moderately high heat in a combination of olive oil and butter, the zucchini fries in its own juices and concentrates its flavor. Adding garlic and basil lends sweetness, but consider adding anchovy, preserved lemon or red-pepper flakes. As browned bits appear in the skillet, deglaze with a few tablespoons of water, chicken stock or vegetable stock to help prevent burning and to incorporate all of those tasty caramelized bits into the sauce. With time and patience, you’ll have a not-so-pretty but delicious mixture, like caramelized onions made with zucchini. Eat it tossed with pasta, as is done here, or add it to sandwiches, pizzas or antipasti spreads. To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.

50m4 servings
Lemony Farro Pasta Salad With Goat Cheese and Mint
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking

Lemony Farro Pasta Salad With Goat Cheese and Mint

Combining rice-shaped orzo with chewy farro makes for a very satisfying pasta salad, with diverse textures and a nutty flavor. Even better, you can cook the farro and orzo in the same pot, and they can be dressed up to a day in advance. Use this basic recipe as a template for your own combinations. Here, a mix of creamy goat cheese, sweet dried apricots and sliced almonds are tossed with fresh herbs and a mildly spicy lemon dressing. But add what you have and what you love; the orzo and farro can take it, with grace. You can dress the orzo and farro mixture up to one day ahead, but don’t add the remaining ingredients until just before serving. The recipe feeds a crowd, so if you’re not making it for a party, consider halving everything, or plan on eating leftovers for lunch all week long.

45m10 to 14 servings
Stir-Fried Cucumber With Tofu
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking

Stir-Fried Cucumber With Tofu

This vegan take on the cucumber and pork stir-fry offers the perfect level of acid to balance out the spice. Cooked quickly over high heat, cucumbers become juicy, with a lovely silky texture that is still crisp to the bite. Salting the cucumbers before stir-frying is essential, as it draws out moisture and allows for more of the garlicky umami flavors of the sauce to be soaked up. The tofu delivers heartiness, while the hint of Sichuan chile flakes takes this dish to another level.

30m4 servings
Double-Tomato Pasta Salad
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking

Double-Tomato Pasta Salad

For full-spectrum tomato flavor, this pasta salad pairs fresh tomatoes with sun-dried tomatoes. The sun-dried tomato oil and the water that’s released from salted tomatoes serve as a built-in dressing. Nuts and herbs add crunch and freshness, but you should feel free to add more embellishments right before serving, like mozzarella or shaved Parmesan, white beans or chickpeas, sardines or another tinned fish, or briny condiments like capers or olives.

35m4 to 6 servings
Tomato Risotto
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking

Tomato Risotto

Once you master the risotto technique, you can make flavorful versions throughout the year. This summery version is based on red, ripe tomatoes from the garden, but if you want to up the tomato quotient, surround the finished dish with slices of multicolored heirloom varieties. Best as a first course or vegetarian main course, it could also pair with a main course — grilled fish, for instance.

30m4 to 6 servings
Skillet Chicken With Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking

Skillet Chicken With Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions

This comforting one-pot dinner is reminiscent of a rich French onion soup, but made in less time and with lighter ingredients. Cooking the onions in a hot, dry pan forces them to release their moisture, so that they shrink and become silky and sweet in 30 minutes. Serve everything directly from the pan, with some crusty bread to soak up all the juices, or shred the chicken and pile it on top of buttered noodles. For something green, stir in some spinach to wilt at the end or serve alongside a simple green salad or roasted broccoli.

30m4 servings
Cucumber-Ricotta Sandwiches
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking

Cucumber-Ricotta Sandwiches

Part sandwich, part salad, this is an extremely refreshing and satisfying meal. It’s very simple, but there are two requirements: freshly baked bread, with a crisp crust and tender crumb, and the best ricotta you can find, preferably basket ricotta. Skip the low-fat supermarket type: Instead, make your own or use natural cream cheese or queso fresco.

10m2 to 4 servings
Pasta With Marinated Tomatoes and Summer Herbs
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking

Pasta With Marinated Tomatoes and Summer Herbs

The easiest summer dinner known to man, pasta con salsa crudo, is a one-bowl, infinitely variable riot of seasonal flavors. It can be made with fancy Italian tuna and local heirloom tomatoes for foodies, or with supermarket mozzarella and tomatoes for children, or with excellent olives and extra pine nuts for vegetarians. It puts you in the kitchen for about a half-hour at the tail end of lunchtime. After that, all there is to do is cook the pasta, and serve with or without crusty bread, boiled corn, sliced tomatoes, or a nice, simple green salad.

30m6 to 8 servings
Zucchini Parmesan
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking

Zucchini Parmesan

This is a simple layered casserole with three elements: roasted zucchini, a really good homemade tomato sauce and Parmesan. Roasting, rather than frying the zucchini, allows you to cut down on olive oil and time.

1h 30m6 servings
Chicken Alfredo
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking

Chicken Alfredo

Chicken Alfredo is like a distant American cousin of the Roman fettuccine Alfredo. The original dish was created, in 1908, by Alfredo Di Lelio using only a handful of ingredients: namely rich sweet butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano and pasta water artfully tossed together. Heavy cream, while not traditional and only used in the American iteration, gives the sauce its rich flavor and creamy consistency and requires less tossing. The addition of well-seasoned chicken breasts makes this an American restaurant classic beloved by children and adults alike. The flat wide shape of fettuccine noodles is ideal for the cream sauce to embrace, but you can also use linguine or spaghetti. Be sure to use freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (a food processor does the job quickly) to ensure that the cheese is incorporated into the sauce — pre-grated cheese contains additives that don’t allow the cheese to melt properly. For something green, serve with a side of broccoli or a green salad.

55m6 servings
Chicken Piccata
cooking.nytimes.com faviconNYT Cooking

Chicken Piccata

Chicken piccata is an Italian-American staple beloved for its piquant flavors cradled in a silky, butter-rich pan sauce. It also doesn’t hurt that it cooks up very quickly. This version is mostly traditional except that it uses lemon two ways, calling for lemon slices to be caramelized (to soften their tang) and for a hit of fresh juice at the end (to brighten the whole dish). This ensures a sauce that's neither too rich, nor too puckery. Serve with a starch — pasta, polenta, rice or white beans — for sopping up the sauce, and a green vegetable, such as a kale salad, broccoli or green beans.

25m4 servings