Milk & Cream
3644 recipes found
Hong Kong-Style French Toast
This mainstay of the cha chaan teng, or Hong Kong-style diner, transforms the humble peanut butter sandwich into something decadent thanks to a custardy golden-brown exterior that gives way to a warm, creamy filling. Typically deep-fried, this version uses a shallow-fry method for a treat that is easy to achieve at home. A melting pat of butter and drizzle of condensed milk provide the signature finish. The peanut butter may be replaced with any number of fillings, such as kaya (coconut jam), marmalade or chocolate-hazelnut spread. Serve this indulgent breakfast or snack alongside milk tea or coffee for an authentic cha chaan teng experience.
Braised Pork With Leeks and Mushrooms
Inspired by blanquette de veau, a classic French veal stew, this comforting braise unites pork, leeks, mushrooms and carrots in a creamy, rosemary-infused broth. In this simple braise, nicely seared pork and softened veggies are combined with the broth and aromatics and simmered until the pork is tender and juicy. The dish is finished with a beurre manié — a mixture of equal parts butter and flour — that gets whisked into the stew at the end of cooking to create a smooth, thickened sauce. The final addition of just enough heavy cream creates a silky texture, with fresh chopped parsley to brighten the rich stew.
Sheet-Pan Malai Chicken and Potatoes
Inspired by traditional South Asian malai chicken, a warmly spiced, yogurt-marinated dish that’s usually tandoor-grilled or served as a creamy curry, this sheet-pan meal comes together in under an hour. Here, the cream, or malai, is added just before serving, combining with lemon juice and water to create a silky, tangy sauce. The yogurt marinade acts as a powerful tenderizer for the chicken, so even a quick rest will enhance the flavors (if you have time for an overnight marinade, all the better). For this version, a sheet pan is used to maximize surface area and help the potatoes brown, but a cast-iron skillet also works.
Tofu Rendang
Rendang is an Indonesian and Malaysian curry associated with the long and gentle cooking of protein, most often beef. This vegan version, however, evokes rendang’s signature deep and intoxicating flavors in a fraction of the time thanks to tofu, which absorbs flavor readily without requiring lengthy cooking. The spice paste of ginger (or galangal), shallots, lemongrass and garlic brings potent flavor, and clings to the tofu as it cooks down with the coconut milk. Classic rendang will often feature a buttery, toasted coconut paste, but this recipe uses toasted shredded coconut to impart texture and nuttiness. If you are meal prepping, cook this on the weekend to eat during the week, as the curry increases in flavor over time.
Crispy Chicken With Lime Butter
You don’t need a thermometer to know when these chicken thighs are done. You just need your ears. In this recipe, chicken thighs are slow seared using a technique from the chef Paul Bertolli called “bottom-up cooking” where the chicken cooks almost entirely on the skin side over moderate heat, resulting in shatteringly crisp skin. The gentle sputtering sound that signals the release of moisture from the chicken hitting the hot fat in the pan stops when the meat is fully cooked and the skin crisp and evenly browned. A quick pan sauce of chicken stock, lime juice and maple syrup, made glossy with a few pats of butter, completes this dish.
Easy Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
The whole point of carrot cake is that, in its most ideal form, it’s a vehicle for cream cheese frosting, a triple stack of fluffy spiced cake, finished with generous swoops of frosting. Baking the cake batter in a half-sheet pan, then cutting the flat cake into three rectangles delivers thin, even layers and skips the hassle of baking and slicing tall cake rounds. To highlight the tang of cream cheese, this frosting includes sour cream instead of butter. It gives the whole thing a fresh lightness, each forkful equal parts tender cake and silky frosting. The resulting cake looks modern with its sharp angles but can still be cut into classic triangular wedges.
Cauliflower Alfredo Pasta
Good cheese, good vegetables, good pasta. What more could you need? These quick creamy noodles rely on one thing: a stellar homemade Alfredo sauce. Butter, cream and cheese get you there, anchored by the musky aroma of nutmeg. Adding cauliflower to the boiling pasta in the last few minutes of cooking results in a lighter, glossier final sauce. Serve with an arugula salad, dressed simply with lemon juice, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, extra-virgin olive oil and more grated cheese.
Chicken Florentine
In this weeknight recipe, perfectly browned chicken breasts are smothered in a creamy spinach sauce that comes together with ease, all in one skillet. The highlight of this recipe is the buttery white-wine sauce, which is enriched and thickened with a secret ingredient: cream cheese. The sauce nicely coats the wilted spinach, though you can use sun-dried tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms or canned artichokes instead of, or in addition to, the spinach. A side of mashed or roasted potatoes would round out this dish well, but some crusty bread to sop up every last bit is a must.
Roasted Carrots With Whipped Tahini
For a spectacular vegetable side at home, try this tried-and-true formula: A swoosh of sauce on a plate topped with a cooked vegetable and a confetti of finely chopped garnish. For this iteration, blend the base (a cloud of yogurt, tahini, citrus and garlic) and chop your garnish (a pretty pile of pistachios, dill and chives) while the carrots roast. Set on a platter, served hot or at room temperature, it’s a special side dish that can also hold its own as a vegetarian main, supplemented with chickpeas, quinoa, couscous or toasted bread.
Chicken à la King
This regal midcentury favorite of tender poached chicken draped in a creamy sherry sauce is due for a revival. Think of chicken potpie filling without the crust, or the kind of banquet poultry served at weddings. Many hotel chefs in the 19th century, including George Greenwald of the Brighton Beach Hotel, claim to have invented chicken à la king, which has as many variations as there are cooks. This particular iteration of the retro dish comes from Craig Claiborne, adapted from a column he wrote for The New York Times in 1969. For the full effect, serve the comforting chicken with toast triangles, as they still do at nostalgic restaurants like Musso & Frank Grill in Los Angeles and Cecchi’s in New York City, or enjoy with rice, noodles or biscuits, whatever makes you happy. This dish reheats beautifully in the microwave or over low heat on the stove.
Ham and Potato Soup
Cooked ham lends a surprising amount of flavor to this simple, hearty soup. Easy to put together using leftover ham or a ham steak, this recipe is perfect for a weeknight or a busy weekend.
Lemon Cake With Strawberries and Cream
For dessert, a bowl of strawberries and cream is always a winner. But instead, consider this lemony spongecake topped with strawberries and cream, which may well generate applause. It’s worth seeking out smaller strawberries, which tend to be riper and sweeter than the large, white-shouldered type. The spongecake may be baked in advance, up to 2 days ahead. It’s fun to hide the strawberries under a thick layer of whipped cream, but you can serve the cream on the side if preferred.
Lemon Layer Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
This soft and moist lemon cake is doubly lemony, thanks to lemon juice and lemon zest, and is soaked in a tangy lemon syrup to further boost the flavor. These cake layers bake up nice and flat, so you don’t even need to worry about trimming them. The cream cheese frosting comes together easily with two simple tricks: Start by blending the powdered sugar with the butter until thoroughly smooth before adding the cream cheese, and be sure to use room-temperature cream cheese so it incorporates easily. (Firm cream cheese can lead to overbeating and liquidy frosting.) Practice your piping skills by using a little bit of the frosting and a star pastry tip to pipe a few rosettes around the border of the cake. If you’d prefer not to pipe, thinly sliced lemons make a lovely garnish all on their own, too.
Chocolate Easter Egg Nests
Loved by adults and children alike, Easter nest “cakes” are the perfect no-fuss baking activity for the whole family. These couldn’t be simpler: Just stir, portion, chill and fill with as many candy eggs as you can. If you can find golden syrup (a wondrous sweetener from Britain and a product you’ll never regret having in your pantry), you’ll get a more complex sweetness and chew, though corn syrup will work, too.
Princess Cake
Princess Cake, or Prinsesstårta, makes a spectacular centerpiece for any celebration, but despite its regal appearance, this simplified version is far easier to make than it looks. The original recipe from Sweden called for three layers of soft spongecake and custard, coated with stiffly whipped cream and covered with a thin layer of green-dyed mandelmassa (almond paste), finished with a single pink rose. While the essence and color scheme have endured, almond paste has been replaced with sweeter, smoother marzipan and the pleasing domed shape — thought to allude to a crown — is a modern addition. Purists may argue that jam, which did not appear in the original recipe but is a fixture of contemporary versions, does not belong, though the tart tang is most welcome among the sweet muddle of soft, creamy layers. Here, the usual three cake layers are reduced to two, and using good-quality shop-bought jam saves time. The entire cake is built in a bowl, allowing you to take your time with each layer. Once turned out, it reveals a beautifully smooth dome, fit for any princess.
Greek Yogurt-Marinated Salmon
This weeknight-friendly recipe leans on Greek yogurt for a fish marinade that not only adds flavor, but also makes for salmon that’s even more tender than usual. The yogurt works on the salmon slowly, with less risk of “cooking” (or denaturing) the fish that citrus- or vinegar-based marinades pose, and acts as a protective crust, sealing in moisture as the salmon bakes. The marinade in this recipe calls for mostly pantry and fridge staples, along with grated fresh ginger and garlic, but feel free to use the yogurt as a starting point and add your own favorite spices and seasonings.
Gnocchi Gratin
This speedy take on potato gratin uses store-bought potato gnocchi instead of sliced potatoes. Not only does the switch cut down on prep time, but the gnocchi get soft and luxurious as they warm in the heavy cream. A sprinkle of nutty Gruyere and salty Parmesan melts into the creamy sauce, which is also scented with garlic, sage and nutmeg — that is, except the layer of cheese on top, which browns and crisps. Serve this as a side to roasted cabbage, asparagus, chicken or another protein.
Simple Whole Artichokes
An artichoke, which is actually the flower bud of a thistle, is a beguiling thing to eat, with its prickly outer leaves, purple inner leaves and a hidden, tender heart. This cooking method is as straightforward as they come, with minimal preparation and a luxurious sauce of melted butter for dipping. Spike the butter with the same ingredients used to season the boiling water; that could be lemon, black pepper and bay leaves, as written, or switch it up with dried chile, garlic, sage leaves or coriander seeds. Just keep the lemon, which adds brightness and keeps the artichokes from browning as they cook.
Um Ali (Sweet Milk and Phyllo Pudding)
Um Ali (which translates to “Mother of Ali”) is a creamy, crunchy Egyptian dessert that could be considered a distant relative of bread pudding. Traditionally a wafer-thin bread is used to form the foundation, which is baked in sweet milk and topped with a handful of nuts and raisins. This version uses phyllo, buttered and baked until golden, which allows for softer, milk-soaked bits throughout the dessert and crispy pastry bits on top. Feel free to get creative with the toppings, using whatever nuts or dried fruits you have to hand. Often served during Ramadan, this dessert is pure comfort.
Rhubarb-Almond Crumble
This tangy, fruity dessert is gluten-free, vegan and suitable for Passover (those who choose to avoid cornstarch at Passover can use tapioca starch in the filling). The topping is a bit sandier and more caky than a classic crumble, with a subtle, nutty sweetness from a combination of almond flour, almond butter and shredded coconut. Paired with the jammy fruit, the almond butter gives this crumble distinct PB&J energy. Note that almond butter brands vary widely; some are loose and runny, others thick and pasty. If yours is on the thicker side, you may need to add a bit more to get the crumbs to hold together. Leftovers make a terrific breakfast, topped with yogurt if you like.
Lemon Butter Salmon With Dill
Glossed with a tangy blend of honey and lemon, this salmon caramelizes around the edges while staying juicy and tender. Dill, lots of it, brings freshness, green as cut grass. Wild salmon works especially well here because the butter in the sauce gives the lean fish richness. (Fatty farmed salmon will simply taste even richer, not a bad thing at all.) Quick-pickled cucumbers and mustard seeds offer a cool, crunchy pop to this dish, but the salmon is also tasty on its own. Serve this with rice, potatoes or a tray of asparagus roasted alongside the salmon.
Spice Muffins
Deep, complex flavors from molasses and stout distinguish these muffins from the typical sweeter varieties, and nutty brown butter and spices like cardamom, allspice and cinnamon bring a toasty warmth. Those familiar with Jamaican spice bun will be pleasantly surprised to find many parallels between that cake and these muffins. The chewy, spicy tendrils of crystallized ginger — which are optional in this recipe but highly recommended — stand in for the traditional fruit mix and further amplify the ground ginger in the batter.
Chantilly Lili
This dessert, named for Meghan’s daughter, Princess Lilibet, is based on a banana pudding recipe of Meghan’s grandmother. In the Southern classic, vanilla pudding is layered with cookies and sliced banana; Meghan’s version adds the sweet-tart sting of strawberries macerated with lemon. She happens to have a passion fruit vine in her garden, and its yellow seeds make a nice, juicy garnish. This layered pudding can be made in individual glasses for a party, or a big bowl for a family night in.
Old-Fashioned Coconut Cake
The variations of coconut cake in the South are nearly endless and depend a lot on where you live. Pecans make an appearance on occasion. The frostings range from cream cheese to buttercream. Yellow cake layered tightly with custard and topped with meringue is not uncommon either. This version, though, is simple and traditional, and about as delicate and old-fashioned as they come. It is pared down to a soft white cake and a delightful Swiss buttercream that centers the coconut. It’s a perfectly elegant way to celebrate spring and all of the holidays that come with it.