Vegetable Oil
53 recipes found
Flour Tortillas With Honey and Butter
Every culture has some kind of basic flatbread. The recipe for this one, originating in New Mexico in the early 20th century, is quick, simple and rustic. You can roll the tortillas out to a thinness or thickness of your preference. For this purpose, keeping them a bit thicker and eating them hot off the comal, with soft salted butter and honey, is a great joy. You can also roll them thinner for tacos, keeping them warm in towels or tortilla warmers until you are ready to use them.
Salsa Negra (Smoky Garlic and Walnut Salsa)
This salsa, inspired by Gabriela Cámara’s Salsa Negra recipe in her cookbook “My Mexico City Kitchen,” is a versatile and flavorful addition to any meal. It has a perfect balance of heat and sweetness that enhances breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything in between. The spice level is moderate thanks to morita chiles — smoked, dried jalapeños — that add a smoky note to the salsa. Stir a dollop into scrambled eggs or spread on toasted bread leading up to avocado toast. As long as it’s refrigerated and the oil doesn’t go rancid, it keeps indefinitely. Keep a little out at room temperature so that its full flavors are expressed. This is a great time to splurge on pre-peeled garlic available at most supermarkets.
Roux
The foundation for a smooth gravy, a thickened cream sauce or a flavorful gumbo, roux is prepared by combining equal parts fat and flour, then cooking the mixture until it reaches the desired shade. A roux loses its thickening power the longer it cooks, but as it darkens, it becomes increasingly nutty and flavorful. A white roux is the first stage, and perhaps the most common, used to make white gravy or coat noodles for macaroni and cheese. Beyond that, a blond roux is used to make darker gravies and sauces; a peanut butter roux is common in richer stews and soups, such as étouffee; and a milk chocolate roux (pictured above) is traditional in gumbo. Use any fat you like, but be mindful that butter can burn the longer it cooks, so consider oil or a mix of oil and butter for a darker roux.
Pastelitos
When my mother, Rosa Fernandez, immigrated from the Dominican Republic to New York to be with my father, she brought her grandmother’s recipe for pastelitos along with her. Most Latin American countries have their own versions of a savory pie; stuffed with spiced meat and deep-fried, pastelitos are the Dominican Republic’s take. Variations on the filling exist throughout the island, the most common of which is ground beef (but you can swap in any ground meat of your choice). Street vendors and restaurants in the Dominican Republic and New York sell these savory pies year-round, but many home cooks save them for special occasions. Though dough is traditionally made from scratch, this recipe uses store-bought dough disks instead, for convenience and ease. Usually, one disk is folded to create half-moon shapes, but in this recipe the disks are cut in half and folded to create small triangles, which makes them the perfect bite to serve to guests.
Lechon Kawali
Lechon, or whole suckling pig, is traditionally prepared for large holiday gatherings in the Philippines, but lechon kawali, a dish of crispy deep-fried pork belly, is served year-round for special occasions. (Kawali refers to the pan used for frying the pork.) To maximize lechon kawali’s crispiness, it’s important to make sure the skin is as dry as possible. In this version, the pork belly is first simmered in a savory broth of onion, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns, then dried in a low oven. To finish, the pork is fried until the skin is crisp and crackly. Serve lechon kawali with a side of rice, and don’t skip the garlicky vinegar sauce for dipping, which balances the fried pork by adding a necessary tang.
Cornell Chicken
Herbaceous, tangy, juicy and crisp-skinned, this chicken is a common grill staple at fairs, fundraisers and cookouts in central New York. The recipe was developed in the 1950s by Dr. Robert C. Baker, a professor of food and poultry science at Cornell University, as a way to get people to eat more chicken. (It’s hard to believe it now, but at the time, chickens were more valued for their eggs, not their meat.) To provide more flexibility and control, a few changes have been made to the original recipe, but the essentials remain: Marinate bone-in chicken in oil, vinegar, egg and poultry seasoning, then grill and baste with the same mixture. The egg gives the chicken a creamy coating that also keeps it from burning (much like mayonnaise).
Fried Green Tomatoes
Tangy and bold in flavor, this not-so-traditional twist on classic fried green tomatoes sandwiches slices around Southern-style pimento cheese. They’re then dredged in a perfectly seasoned breading and fried until the outside is crisp and crunchy and the inside is creamy with a slight kick. Round it all out with some ranch dressing for dipping, and this update to the old-fashioned favorite is sure to become your new obsession.
Steamed Sea Bass in Ginger
Stuffed Zucchini Flowers
Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Muffins
These chocolate-and-pumpkin muffins make a perfect breakfast on the go, the two flavors united by a hint of cinnamon. If you’d like to dress them up for a party, start by adding 2 tablespoons of finely chopped chocolate to the chocolate batter before scooping it into the cups and skip the sugar topping. Bake and cool the muffins, then top them with a simple cream cheese frosting: Beat together 8 ounces softened cream cheese, 4 tablespoons room-temperature unsalted butter and 1/2 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar. Spread the frosting liberally on the muffins and top with chocolate sprinkles.
Fried Shallots
Frying shallots can be time-consuming and finicky, but there are some steps you can take to improve your odds of success. This recipe, adapted from “The Wok: Recipes and Techniques” by J. Kenji López-Alt (W.W. Norton & Company, 2022), makes sure the shallots are sliced evenly, with a mandoline, for best results. Then, once the shallot rings start to sizzle in earnest, they’re fried gently over medium-high heat. What results is crisp and aromatic, and can be used as a finish for salads, pastas and more. The cup and a half that this recipe makes may seem like a lot, but it’s not. They’ll be sure to go quickly.
Chiffon Cake
In 1927, a former insurance agent in Los Angeles was fiddling obsessively with ingredients in his home kitchen when he came up with a cake that was weightless yet rich — angel and devil at once — which we know today as chiffon. His secret: Instead of butter, he used vegetable oil in a batter thick with yolks, folded together with glossy peaks of whipped egg whites. The cake’s kinship to clouds makes it an ideal dessert for Christopher Tan, who lives in Singapore, where the temperature and humidity are enemies of more traditional, butter-based cakes. Here, he uses mandarin oranges, packing in as much juice and zest as possible. The most difficult part is beating the egg whites properly. Tan has a baking secret of his own: He mixes a little potato starch (which absorbs more liquid than other starches) into the meringue, to guard against deflating.
Roasted Delicata Squash Purée
Potato Kugel
Make this ahead — the flavor really comes out after it has been reheated.
Pescado Frito (Fried Red Snapper)
Fishing is an extraordinarily complex issue in Puerto Rico. Much of the seafood eaten doesn’t come from the island’s own waters, in part because of arcane legislation that controls fishing rights. And yet, whole deep-fried fish is a staple on the island, particularly along the west and southwest coast. There, you’ll find red snapper, simply marinated in adobo, fried and served with tostones, avocado salad and white rice. It is, in my opinion, the absolute best way to enjoy a whole fish. The frying turns the head and the tail into a crunchy fish chicharrón, and the skin and flesh cook evenly, keeping the flesh moist and the skin crisp. While bones are often a concern for those uncomfortable eating whole fish, there’s a simple solution: Eat it with your hands. Your fingers will do a much better job of finding bones than your fork will, and the experience is more visceral, and delicious.
Homemade Tortilla Chips
Of course, you can buy tortilla chips at the store, but there are many good reasons to make your own. For one, they can support more toppings, since they’re likely to be thicker. And you can control the level of salt and browning. This recipe allows you to bake or fry them: Frying results in the crispiest, snappiest crunch, while baking is incredibly easy. If you decide to fry, mind your stovetop heat, adjusting as needed so the chips turn golden in the same time it take them to crisp. The chips are delicious on their own, with salsa or guacamole, or in nachos, chilaquiles or migas. Keep the chips in a sealed container or bag and they will stay beautifully crisp for at least one week.
Egg Mayo
Egg mayo — or oeuf mayo, as it’s called in France — is simply hard-boiled eggs coated with seasoned mayonnaise, but it’s so beloved in France that it has a society to protect it: Association de sauvegarde de l’oeuf mayonnaise. You could season store-bought mayonnaise for this recipe from Priscilla Martel, but at least just once, you should make your own. It’ll be delicious, and you’ll feel like a magician. The dish is beautiful served plain, and tasty dressed with anchovies, capers, snipped chives or other herbs (choose one or more). It’s good as a starter, with a pouf of dressed greens, or as part of a platter of small salads (hors d’oeuvres variées), a picnic on a tray.
Onion Poppy-Seed Rolls
Eddie’s Remarkable Ribs
Mandarin Pancakes
These thin pancakes are typically used for wrapping moo shu pork or Peking duck. They’re made with a hot water dough, which makes them very easy to roll out. Stacking two disks of dough, rolling them out, cooking them, then carefully peeling them apart lets you make pancakes that are half as thin as a single pancake would be — and prepared in nearly half the amount of time.
Pork Tenderloin With Orange
Stuffed Peppers (Chiles Rellenos)
Marina's Kofte
Finnish Pancakes
Outside Thunder Bay, you won’t find many places that serve the Hoito’s style of Finnish pancakes, which bear no resemblance to fluffy American-style pancakes. At the restaurant, they are each the size of a dinner plate, heavy and dense.