Milk & Cream
3644 recipes found
Vegetarian Bolognese
Unlike a traditional Bolognese sauce, this riff on the classic has no meat and isn’t simmered for hours, but the results are still rich, buttery and sweet. Mild cauliflower and soffrito — the carrot, celery and onion mix that is the traditional base of the the sauce — become the bulk. Tomato paste and soy sauce are toasted to build umami. Then, everything is braised with whole milk, which softens the vegetables and adds silkiness. Swap the cauliflower for broccoli, mushrooms, cabbage, eggplant, or even green lentils, chickpeas or crumbled tempeh. To make it vegan, swap 2 tablespoons oil for butter in Step 1, use nondairy milk, and swap 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast for Parmesan.
Sour-Cream Coffee Cake
Here is a classic coffee cake with a tender crumb and a crunchy streusel topping that comes together in about an hour. It's quite rich, so your serving sizes don't need to be large.
Pound Cake With Brown Butter and Pecans
This twist on a traditional pound cake takes the ordinary and turns it into something extraordinary, making the longtime favorite taste like a buttery, nutty maple-glazed doughnut. Beyond being delicious, it’s also a great way to use up any pecans, rescuing them by toasting them and tossing them in a sweet glaze. (If you like, you can also use a mix of pecans and walnuts.) It’s a big cake, great for a crowd, and a little goes a long way. But it keeps well in the fridge and is especially nice heated up for 15 seconds in the microwave.
Biscuits and Gravy
This is not the traditional way to make biscuits, but it may become your new technique. Instead of preparing individual drop biscuits, a sturdy dough is spread out into a baking dish over a bed of melted butter. Scoring the biscuit dough allows the butter to seep into the sides as the biscuits bake, creating tall biscuits with crisp edges and flaky insides. They’re perfect to soak up a classic Southern gravy, warmly seasoned with sage and nutmeg. This dish tastes like the holidays in the best way possible, while still being light enough for brunch. But if you made it for dinner, we wouldn’t blame you.
Pumpkin Fudge Torte
With a texture that falls somewhere between pudding and ganache, this bittersweet torte is silky smooth and very rich. The whipped cream topping, run through with spiced pumpkin purée, is a fluffy contrast to the torte’s denseness. You can make the torte two days ahead. Store it, well wrapped, in the refrigerator, then let it come to room temperature before serving.
Strawberry Jelly Cake
This layer cake is affectionately referred to as “Grandma’s Cake” by many Southerners. Using jelly as the filling and the frosting is a wonderful way to add fruity flavor to a cake year-round. The jelly seeps into the cake, so there’s no need to brush on a simple syrup to keep it moist. This recipe uses cake flour, which has less protein than all-purpose flour and yields a more tender crumb. But it can be prone to clumping. Sift it into the mixing bowl, or use a whisk to aerate it and break up any lumps. “Frost” the sides of the cake with jelly or buttercream, or just let it drip down the sides. When making this cake in the summer, you can top it with sliced fresh strawberries.
Fluffy Cheddar Biscuits
These biscuits are golden and crisp outside, light and fluffy inside, and wonderfully cheesy inside and out. They come together in minutes, and triple basting them in butter (before baking, halfway through baking and once more when they come out of the oven) really takes them over the top. You may be tempted to skip the 3 tablespoons of sugar in this otherwise savory biscuit, but don’t: It’s the secret to the biscuit’s tender interior. Inspired by Red Lobster’s buttery biscuits, these are drop-style, which means you just scoop up the batter and gently plop it onto baking sheets. Try to handle the dough gently to avoid compressing it, which can result in a less-than-fluffy biscuit.
Blender Chocolate Mousse
This recipe for chocolate mousse made in a blender comes via the pastry chef Natasha Pickowicz, who got it from a cook named Monica Stolbach, who in turn got it from her mother-in-law, who got it from a Junior League cookbook published in the 1980s. Straightforward, adaptable and extremely satisfying, it’s one of those recipes that you want to pass along to as many people as you can. Instead of separating the egg yolks and whites, this technique simply involves pouring hot sugar syrup into a blender with chocolate and whole eggs, then folding that mixture into softly whipped cream. The resulting texture is so creamy and rich, it doesn’t need anything at all, though you can top it with extra whipped cream, if you like.
Skillet Gingerbread Cake With Apple Butter
Apple butter is the surprise ingredient here. Along with molasses, it makes the gingerbread moist, flavorful and a good keeper. The cake’s got a mix of traditional spices — ground ginger, cinnamon and cloves — as well as crystallized ginger, which has a soft, chewy texture and adds a bit of heat. If your ginger is hard, steep it in hot water for 30 seconds, drain and pat it dry. The gingerbread is sweet, but not very, so it’s as good with ricotta, yogurt, a swish of cream cheese or even a slice of Cheddar as it is with whipped cream, ice cream or hot fudge.
Almond, Black Pepper and Fig Cake With Tamarind Glaze
This cake celebrates the sweet, jamlike texture of juicy ripe figs against the backdrop of a fragrant almond cake, with a sweet-and-sour tamarind glaze as contrast. As the cake bakes, the fresh figs release their juices, which begin to caramelize and take on the flavor of black pepper. Tellicherry black peppercorns and long pepper, if available, are wonderful options to explore for their unique aromas. Frozen fresh figs will also work in this cake. Just remember to thaw them to room temperature and drain off any excess liquid before using. And, make sure to use tamarind paste, not concentrate. Thick, syrupy concentrates lack the fruity flavor of tamarind and carry a noticeable artificial aftertaste.
Cheese Grits
There’s very little simpler than cooking grits. A few ingredients come together into something comforting, good for a cold morning and just as good for Sunday dinner. Use the best ingredients, pull out that pepper mill and season well. Make sure you pay attention to the details. The trick to good grits is cooking out the grittiness. The extra cream and frequent stirring here give it a consistency that’s not too dense and not too liquidy. Don’t leave it alone too long: If you stir it frequently, giving it love, it will love you back.
Fried Chicken Biscuits With Hot Honey Butter
This recipe for chicken biscuits could be a weeknight dinner with a side of greens, but it's made to travel, and perfectly suited for a picnic. The biscuit dough, adapted from Sam Sifton's all-purpose biscuit recipe, is lightly kneaded here, so it's not too tender to work in a sandwich. The chicken tenders, inspired by Masaharu Morimoto's katsu in the cookbook "Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking," are pounded and coated in panko for plenty of crunch. Prepare both components the day you want to eat them, giving yourself at least one extra hour for everything to cool before you assemble, so the sandwich stays crisp. You can also cook well in advance, and assemble the sandwiches the next day. Either way, cooling the chicken completely, on a wire rack, is crucial. If you prefer breast meat over thigh, feel free to swap it in.
Garlicky Mashed Potato Cake
If you like the creaminess of mashed potatoes but not the uniform texture, try this potato cake, which is like a cross between hash browns and a classic mash. Made with fluffy baked russet potatoes and flavored with garlic, browned butter and tangy sour cream, the cake is cooked on the stovetop, then transferred to the oven, where it takes on a crispy, golden brown crust. Make sure your nonstick skillet is oven-safe, or use a very well-seasoned cast-iron skillet.
Buttery Pancakes With Lemon and Sugar
Historically, on the day preceding Lent, the shriving bell rang in towns throughout Ireland and Great Britain, calling parishioners to church to be absolved from their sins. The bell is less important in modern times on Shrove Tuesday, and what is eaten has taken center stage, which is why many now call the day Pancake Day or Pancake Tuesday. The pancake accomplishes the annual Christian tradition of finishing animal products like butter and eggs just before they become forbidden during the long fast. This traditional Irish pancake recipe, shared by Claire Keeney and her team at Ahoy Cafe in Killybegs, Ireland, is simple and delicious. The thin, delicate pancakes are topped with butter, sugar and a bright burst of lemon.
Pan-Seared Chicken With Harissa, Dates and Citrus
Juicy, pan-seared chicken thighs in a saucy mix of peppery harissa, sour citrus and sweet caramelized dates will make this dish the star of your weeknight meals. For even more flavor, marinate the chicken for as long as you can, anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours. Dollops of creamy yogurt will mellow any heat, and a shower of fresh herbs will add a subtle fragrance. Serve with the pan drippings spooned generously over steamed rice or fluffy couscous, or alongside some warm crusty bread for dipping.
Cranberry Spice Bundt Cake
This tall and tender Bundt cake pulls off the trick of being cozy and zingy at the same time. It gets its soft crumb from yogurt (although you could use sour cream or buttermilk) and its pop from puckery fresh cranberries and a mix of cardamom, coriander and ginger. It’s festive with a cranberry icing and classic with a dusting of powdered sugar. And it’s a cake that can go through the seasons — think about swapping the cranberries for dried fruit in the winter and berries in the summer. It’s great with blueberries.
Smashed Pickle Salad
Many cucumber salads are dressed with some combination of salt, acidity (such as vinegar or lemon juice) and something tangy and creamy. (Sour cream is commonly used in Germany, Scandinavia and the Midwest; buttermilk in the South; and yogurt in the Mediterranean, Southwest Asia and South Asia.) This recipe skips the first step of salting by instead substituting pickles — cucumbers fermented in salt and vinegar — in place of raw cucumbers. They’re still crunchy, but also pack a fierce punch. Eat this salad alongside something rich, like grilled meats or schnitzel, or in a sandwich with deli meats, tinned fish or boiled eggs. While most pickles work, half-sour pickles are especially refreshing. (Avoid bread and butter pickles, which are too sweet.) Smashing the pickles opens them up to absorb dressing, and the act of doing so is just plain fun.
Coconut Chicken Curry
Curry powder is stirred into this braise only during the last minute of cooking, delivering a bright hit of spice on top of the paprika and turmeric mellowed into the slow-simmered chicken. This dish from “Burma Superstar” by Desmond Tan and Kate Leahy (Ten Speed Press, 2017), needs time on the stove but not much attention, and gets even better after resting in the fridge, making it an ideal weeknight meal that can last days. There’s plenty of coconut milk broth to spoon over rice or noodles. At his restaurant, Burma Superstar in Oakland, Calif., Mr. Tan also serves this with platha, a buttery, flaky Burmese flatbread, for dipping.
Todd Richards’s Fried Catfish With Hot Sauce
The Atlanta chef Todd Richards says his mother made catfish on Fridays as part of her weekly rotation of dishes. She let the fish sit in cornmeal for about five minutes before frying, a technique that he said resulted in very crispy fish. He uses the same method in this recipe, adapted from his cookbook, “Soul: A Chef’s Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes” (Oxmoor House, 2018). If you’re using boneless catfish, this dish can be served as a sandwich.
Strawberry Pretzel Pie
This is a wonderful but simple summer pie inspired by strawberry pretzel salad, a popular Southern dessert. The classic recipe consists of a crumbled pretzel crust, a whipped cream cheese and Cool Whip filling, and a top layer of strawberry Jell-O. In this fresher adaptation, crushed pretzels form the foundation of an easy shortbread crust, followed by a fluffy cream filling and a pile of fresh strawberries, omitting the use of gelatin. If you’re making this pie in advance — especially with juicy, height-of-season berries — complete Steps 1 to 3, then cloak the filled crust with plastic wrap and chill up to 24 hours. Just before serving, toss the berries in sugar and pile them on top.
Fancy Pigs in a Blanket
For decades, pigs in a blanket have been a staple on the cocktail-party circuit. The little sausages are the easy part. It’s the pastry which, at its finest, should approximate buttery, flaky French puff pastry or pâte feuilletée. Suppose you could make decently flaky puff pastry in minutes? Christian Leue, the manager of La Boîte, a spice emporium in New York, has developed just such a marvel. And it works.
Spiced Lamb Meatballs With Yogurt and Herbs
These spice-loaded meatballs have a Turkish inflection. The warm yogurt sauce adds tang and richness, along with a sprinkling of tart sumac powder and chopped mint. American "Greek-style" yogurt is not always tart enough, but it can be thinned with a bit of buttermilk or even lemon juice. Whisking it with cornstarch and egg produces a silky sauce. Though the ingredient list looks long, this is a simple and impressive dish to make.
Shrimp Cocktail
This method for a beloved appetizer maximizes flavor by gently poaching shrimp in a deeply seasoned broth of salt, chile powder and celery seeds. Rather than wash away all the spices with a rinse or a plunge in an ice bath, you stop the cooking by pouring ice directly into the hot bath. For dipping, go for a classic cocktail sauce with the sharp brightness of lemon and horseradish, or a simple garlicky dill butter, which makes the shrimp taste somehow of lobster, or a comforting, warmly spiced honey mustard, because you always need a creamy option. Enjoy the plump shrimp with your favorite sauce — or all three.
Tzatziki Potato Salad
Tzatziki, the classic Greek combination of garlic, yogurt and cucumber, is incredibly versatile and often served with grilled meat, gyros, roasted vegetables or simply flatbread. Here, it is the sauce for a fresh potato salad. Opt for a waxy potato, such as red, new or fingerlings, as these varieties contain the least starch and will retain their shape when boiled. (All-purpose Yukon Golds work, too.) The potatoes are left unpeeled for texture, but peel them if you prefer, and make sure they are roughly the same size to ensure even cooking. The tzatziki benefits from resting for at least 10 to 15 minutes before being added to the potatoes, so prepare it before you start the potatoes, or better yet, make it the night before and let it hang out in the fridge so the flavors can get to know one another. A little honey lends a floral, subtle sweetness, but omit it if you want this dish to be purely savory.