Stuffed Chinese black mushrooms filled with seasoned crushed tofu, ginger, garlic, sesame, and scallion, then grilled or broiled. A vegan-friendly appetizer with earthy, umami-rich mushroom caps.
Four-layer Black Forest torte with thin unsweetened chocolate cake layers alternating between chocolate filling and cream filling. Unfrosted sides show off the elegant layers.
Late-summer soup: a garden-cleanout vegetable soup with yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, and fennel seed. Vegan, naturally gluten-free, and built for the August harvest.
Scandinavian-style grilled hamburgers with dill vinegar marinade, marinated onions, and celery seed on warm rye bread. Double-stacked thin patties for a Nordic twist on burgers.
Appetizers have long been a part of the culinary tradition in Europe, but they're relatively new to America. One of the first to appear in American cookbooks, at the turn of the century, was shrimp cocktail.
Coffee and pepper crusted T-bone steaks marinated in red wine, soy sauce, and garlic, grilled over coals and served with a reduced wine sauce.
Bread machine banana chocolate chip yeast bread combines mashed banana with bread flour and semi-sweet chips for a slightly sweet, tender loaf. A breakfast or snack bread that comes out of the machine ready to slice.
Giant chocolate chip whopper cookies loaded with semi-sweet chips, pecans, walnuts, and a shot of espresso. Crackly shell, fudgy center, bakery-style at home.
Old-fashioned home baked beans with navy beans, salt pork, molasses, and dry mustard. Slow-baked for 6 hours in a bean pot for deep, smoky-sweet flavor.
A South African-style spiced mince filling for samoosas: beef or mutton braised dry with jeera, ginger, garlic, turmeric, fresh coriander and mint. The keep-it-dry method that stops samoosas from going soggy.
Scotch shortbread is a 5-ingredient buttery Christmas cookie cut into festive shapes. Powdered sugar gives a melt-in-the-mouth crumb; tender, sandy, and made for sprinkling with colored sugar.
One-pot arroz con pollo with saffron yellow rice, chicken, tomatoes, green peppers, peas, and pimientos. A classic Latin comfort meal cooked in a single pan.
Fudgy chocolate brownie cookies topped with pastel-colored frosting and sugar crystals. Loaded with semisweet chocolate chips and finished with rainbow icing for a festive, party-ready treat.
Lasagna roll-up filled with cottage cheese, cream cheese, garlic, and Parmesan, baked in a cream of tomato sauce with oregano. A fun twist on classic lasagna.
Three-layer butter pecan cake filled with rich, from-scratch burnt-sugar caramel, frosted in buttercream and crusted with pecans. A classic Southern caramel cake worth the fuss.
Indian-style red lentil soup (masoor dal) simmered with ghee-bloomed onion, peppercorns, bay leaves, dried red chilies and grated fresh ginger. Vegetarian, high in fiber, ready in 45 minutes.