Simple Cooking

Coating the herbs in oil and soaking the shallot in vinegar prevents oxidation, so you can keep these beans for days.

On the streets of Lisbon and outside any nightclub or bar in Johannesburg, you’ll find vendors grilling steak and slathering garlic butter on a soft bun—heaven. The key to this mouth-watering street food is finding a soft, airy roll to absorb the steak juices. If there is a Portuguese market near you, you’re in luck! If not, look for a soft roll dusted with flour at your local bakery.

Go hard on those potatoes and let them get good and browned before tossing them in the pan. That way they’ll keep their crunch after being doused with the spicy mayonnaise.

Chef Ignacio Mattos of Café Altro Paradiso and Estela in NYC inspired this puréed lemon dressing with olive oil, miso, and honey—the ideal base note for pleasantly bitter radicchio.

Simplicity relies on quality. Be choosy when picking your produce, and look for a new-harvest olive oil for this, which will lend a bright, robust flavor.

Get an extra jolt from your breakfast by putting espresso powder in the waffle batter.

You can serve these flatbreads as is or wrapped around a filling.

This lattice-topped, make-ahead casserole is almost too pretty for its own good.

This quick and spicy riff on General Tso’s chicken relies on ingredients you probably already have in the pantry.

This cheesecake-like dessert is based on the first-ever recorded pie recipe, written down by ancient Romans.

Studded with pistachios and white chocolate, these festive green cupcakes are better than finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Sifting the powdered sugar may seem a bit fussy, but it’s the key to getting an even, not clumpy coating of sugar on each and every piece.

Silkier, lighter, and more sinfully good than anything you've ever tasted before.

Cheesier macaroni and cheese in minutes—no box required.

In this method, potatoes and oil begin cooking together at room temperature, totally defying all the rules of deep-frying.

A delightfully mustardy version of the battered and fried turkey, ham, and cheese sandwiches.

These tasty sandwiches are best after chilling for several hours, so they're the perfect make-ahead for camping trips.

Ask your butcher for lamb backstraps, an interior cut from the loin that is lean and exceedingly tender.

Fresh and candied ginger team up to make an uplifting, zesty treat that can be prepared in any season. This quick yet impressive dessert lends itself to endless reincarnations, using various dried fruits and citrus zests, or even cocoa for chocolate lovers—see the recipes that follow for ideas!

I call this crowd-pleasing soup my magic recipe. It is so amazing that so few ingredients—and a soup made in a matter of minutes—can have so much depth of flavor. It really is a fine example of the miracles of infusion. The dried cèpe (porcini) mushroom powder packs a maximum of fragrance and flavor and takes well to many variations: Pair it with paper-thin slices of raw domestic mushrooms or seared domestic or wild mushrooms showered in the bowl at serving time; prepare with dried morel powder in place of cèpes; top with thin slices of raw black truffles; or add a dollop of mushroom-powder- infused whipped cream.