Cook's Country

HAVE YOU EVER used one of our recipe cards? The ones you find in the middle of every issue? I hope you have. To me, they represent some of our very best work. Each of the recipes on those tear-out cards is designed with speed and ease in mind. The co

Recipes often call for slicing beef against the grain, but I don’t understand what this means or how to do it. Can you please clarify? –Bridgette Holmes, New York, N.Y. If you look closely at a piece of beef, you’ll notice little lines—bundles of clo

–Amber Nelson, Pensacola, Fla. As a die-hard griller, I don’t let rainy days stop me from cooking outside—especially when I’m slow-smoking meat on a covered grill. The grill lid protects the meat and fire from the rain but not my probe thermometer/ti

THERE’S NO DENYING it: Americans love ketchup. Ketchup hits all five basic tastes: salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami. And it’s more than just a condiment. In the test kitchen, we add ketchup not just to meatloaf glazes and barbecue sauces but als

TEXAS-STYLE BEEF RIBS are intimidating—so big they look like they came off a T. rex. But fans know that beneath the dark, peppery crust and pink smoke ring is succulently tender beef so flavorful that barbecue sauce is unnecessary (and, in some corne

SOMEONE SHOULD MAKE a horror movie about a society overtaken by uncontrollable hordes of summer zucchini. In peak season, this vegetable is everywhere and home gardeners struggle to give it away. Attack of the killer zucchini, indeed. I wanted to wri

MY GRANDMOTHER USED to throw together thinly sliced cucumbers and onions in a tangy-sweet dressing to create harmony on our summer table. It’s not that the table was in disharmony, but the rich Southern main dishes we commonly enjoyed—succulent pulle

FRESH CORN ON the cob, shucked, boiled, and buttered, is a summertime treasure. But with enough repetition, even treasures can become a little tired. I wanted to create a simple, easy recipe that added pizzazz to summer corn by enhancing its fresh, s

I ARRIVE AT DESERT Oak Barbecue in El Paso, Texas, promptly at 6:00 a.m., which is when owner Richard Funk says the beef ribs will be ready to come off the cooker. I park around back, a few feet behind a trailer that houses the wood and supplies need

WHAT IS THE ultimate way to savor summer? Ask any of the Southerners on the Cook’s Country team (we have a few), and they’ll tell you: white sandwich bread, mayonnaise (preferably Duke’s, a Southern favorite), slices of perfectly ripe tomato, salt, a

BOILED POTATOES MAKE a great salad. Roasted potatoes with flavorful browned exteriors make a fantastic side. I wanted to combine the two for a dish that boasted the best of both worlds. I selected five very different recipes for roasted potato salad

WHEN MY EDITORS asked me to develop a recipe for Chinese-style sesame noodles, I knew exactly which dish I wanted to use for inspiration: dan dan noodles. The first time I had these noodles (at an unassuming Sichuan restaurant near Boston), they open

WHAT’S NOT TO like about cooking chicken wings—one of America’s favorite finger foods—on the grill over plumes of aromatic, intensely flavored woodsmoke? Plenty, as I quickly discovered when I made a collection of what I thought were promising recipe

THE CLEANER YOUR grill grate, the less food will stick to it. A good grill brush should allow you to scrub the entire cooking grate, even the hard-to-reach grate ends, and remove debris with minimal effort. Our previous winner has had some availabili

NAMED FOR THE nut of Ohio’s state tree, this sweetened peanut butter ball dipped up to its shoulders in melted chocolate is a fan favorite across the state but particularly in Columbus (see “One Sweet Century [and Counting]”). I’m from Ohio and am a

IT’S A WEEK after Easter and the shelves of Eagle Family Candy Company in Columbus, Ohio, are mostly empty except for the green shredded-plastic grass that lines children’s Easter baskets. The chocolate bunnies are all gone. I ring a bell at the coun

How successfully a food can be frozen and defrosted depends on many factors. Dry foods such as breads and pastries freeze really well. Dense, relatively dry carrots freeze well, while wet cucumbers become squishy and slimy when frozen and thawed. Liq

I DEFY YOU to corral the range of the humble biscuit. Biscuits are as welcome at breakfast as they are at lunch. They’re a treat at dinner, and make a rib-sticking afternoon snack. And they take a thousand forms: square, round, large, small, stamped,

THE MEXICAN DISH rajas con crema (“strips with cream”) features strips of charred poblano peppers folded into a rich mixture of cream, onions, and sometimes corn. When I was living in Mexico City, I was always excited to see this dish at taco joints—

PICTURE A TOWERING vertical spit packed with layers of marinated pork. Flames lick the meat as the spit turns, slowly rendering the fat in each layer to create juicy, charred pork flavored with plenty of garlic and oregano. Gyro (“YEE-ro”) is a Greek

THE IDEA OF a bright, sunny Greek salad—juicy tomatoes, briny feta and olives, crisp greens, and herby dressing—often outpaces the execution. Some sad versions I’ve had featured pink, hard, and tasteless tomatoes; tired lettuce; and ho-hum dressing.

Makes 8 scones Work the dough just until it comes together; do not overmix. For the best results, work quickly to keep the butter and berries as cold as possible. Note that the butter is divided in this recipe. If your berry mix contains strawberries

DID YOU KNOW that you can cook rice in a casserole dish in the oven? It may sound strange, but we’ve had success with this technique before, and I wanted to use it to create a one-pan dinner with rice, salmon, and broccoli. Our testing has shown that

IN A MATTER of minutes, you can make a homemade barbecue sauce that easily outpaces anything you’ll pull off the shelves in the supermarket. I’m talking about all-purpose barbecue sauce here: the dark red, sweet-and-tangy elixir that works just as we

FEW THINGS ARE as satisfying as pasta tossed in a comforting, meaty “Sunday sauce”—one that you’ve stood over all day, doting on it from morning until evening, adding a touch of this and a touch of that until, after hours of attention, it’s just righ

CHEESE ENCHILADAS ARE comfort food at its finest: earthy corn tortillas filled with melty cheese and covered in a deeply flavorful, spiced-but-not-spicy chile sauce. Simple and satisfying. But enchiladas can be laborious to make: Toasting, soaking, a

Serves 6 to 8 Use ripe yellow bananas. Avoid ones that are green or have begun to turn black. Serve with store-bought chocolate sauce, if desired. 4 ripe bananas, sliced 1 inch thick2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus¾ cup (3¾ ounces), divided½ cup

1¼ teaspoons unflavored gelatin2 tablespoons water3 large egg yolks2 teaspoons cornstarch1 pound (3¼ cups) thawed frozen raspberries⅔ cup (4⅔ ounces) sugar2 tablespoons unsalted butter Pinch table salt1¼ cups heavy cream, chilled1 recipe Lime Yellow