Cook's Country

ONE OF MY favorite things about cooking is the thrill of the unknown. It’s so easy and safe to settle into the predictable processes of cooking (you know what you’re going to get when you boil a pot of noodles, for example), and there’s certainly not

WE LOVE EGG noodles in soups, casseroles, and as a base for dishes such as beef stroganoff. They differ from “regular” dried pasta by virtue of their deeper yellow color and slightly savory flavor from the addition of eggs. They are most commonly fou

INOCENCIO CARBAJAL STANDS at a massive cauldron of bubbling lard, stirring in sheets of pork skin with a darkened wooden paddle. Another cook reaches into a second pot of lard with a stainless-steel meat hook to retrieve racks of deeply browned pork

DESPITE WHAT MANY restaurant menus may lead you to believe, “carnitas” is not a catchall term for any pork taco filling. The chefs at Carnitas Uruapan in Chicago brought this into sharp focus on our recent visit, showing us their cooking technique, w

WHEN I WAS a kid, my family always celebrated milestone moments or special occasions with dinner at Il Villaggio. This Italian American restaurant, which was discreetly tucked into a northern New Jersey strip mall, might not have been well-known beyo

THE MINIATURE BURGERS known as sliders (popularized by the White Castle hamburger restaurant chain) satisfy a lot of cravings in just a few bites. Tender, beefy burger? Check. Soft, steamy roll? Check. Gooey melted cheese and sweet browned onions? Ch

FRIED CHICKEN IS part of the fabric of Cook’s Country. Between all the regional styles, the recipes passed down through generations, and the memories of gathering around a table with loved ones and fighting over the drumsticks, fried chicken has a cu

THE AMERICAN FAVORITE chicken-fried steak has a crunchy coating similar to that of, well, fried chicken. But steak Milanese, its more refined cousin, has a crunchy bread-crumb coating that’s more akin to that of chicken Parmesan. (The term Milanese—m

I AM ALWAYS looking for new vegetable side dishes—especially around the holidays. So when a friend recently made me dinner, I paid particular attention to the green beans she served. The tender beans were lightly browned and draped with soft, sweet c

NOT TOO LONG ago I heard a friend of mine wax nostalgic about her grandmother’s brandy-braised chicken. It was a wet, cold day; I was hungry, and all her talk about this “heavenly” dish was torture. When I asked her for the recipe, she said she didn’

I LOVE EATING a juicy, ripe pear plain out of hand, but I find them more enticing when they’re roasted until they’re tender and creamy inside and lightly caramelized outside—the browning enhances the fruits’ floral essence. I wanted to create a salad

THERE’S NOTHING BETTER than a fresh bagel—a dense but soft interior surrounded by a chewy exterior. But many bagels fall short on two important physical challenges: fitting into a toaster and creating a sandwich that you can actually fit into your mo

WHEN DONE RIGHT, an apple turnover is equally as good with a warm cup of coffee and your morning newspaper as it is alongside a scoop of ice cream for dessert. These handheld pastries have a ton of appeal—puff pastry dough folded over sweet apple fil

When we want a dark gravy, we either add a little tomato paste with the flour or cook the roux until it darkens. Both of these techniques add deeper flavor to the gravy. Roux is always cooked to a specific shade that can range from white to blonde to

WHEN IT COMES to eating the Thanksgiving turkey, my family has a preference for white meat. That suits me fine, as it means there’s always plenty of rich, silky dark meat for me. But this year I decided to put my own preferences aside and roast just

WHEN I WAS a kid, my mom made corn pudding every Thanksgiving. This rustic, soufflé-like casserole highlights the gentle flavors of corn and cream. But her recipe relied on corn muffin mix and canned creamed corn. I wanted something fresher. My first

EVERY ONE’S FAVORITE part of the Thanksgiving meal is the side dishes. But rather than stick to the tried-and-true options, I like to throw a couple of curveballs to keep things interesting. This year, it’s an intensely flavorful side dish that I fir

I GREW UP thinking stuffing was a combination of mashed potatoes and bread. Yes—double the starch. Perhaps not surprisingly for such a thrifty, clever dish, that version has Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish roots. I was able to collect a handful of recip

I LOVE MAKING pies of all kinds. For that reason, I volunteer to make some of my favorites every Thanksgiving for my family’s big gathering. And every Thanksgiving I find myself scrambling at the last minute to get the pies made. Sure, sometimes I’m

A PIE SERVER is essentially a pointed spatula designed to cut, remove, and transport pie slices. We previously tested pie servers, but with new models on the market, we decided to retest. We selected six, including our previous winner from OXO, and s

Makes enough for one 9-inch pie This recipe was developed in a metal pie plate, but it will work in a glass pie plate and even a disposable pie plate. Do not use this dough in a deep-dish pie plate or a plate without a lip around the edge. When fully

IF SWEET POTATOES sometimes get a bad rap, one reason is that cooks often combine them with cloying ingredients (such as brown sugar or marshmallows) that intensify this tuber’s natural sweetness—there’s no need to clobber something sweet with more s

STUFFED BONELESS, SKINLESS chicken breasts should be fantastic, but they’re often not. The filling usually tastes steamy, and the chicken itself tends to be dry and flavorless. In creating a recipe for stuffed chicken breasts for two, I wanted to ove

I’M ESPECIALLY FOND of the saucy, flavorful mini meatballs called cocktail meatballs. These bold little treats are often made in (and served from) a slow cooker to feed a hungry crowd. The best ones are sweet, spicy, savory, and fun to spear and eat

I LOVE HOW cornbread’s subtle sweetness complements the punchy flavors of white chicken chili. Could I create a straightforward recipe for white chicken chili with cornbread—cooked in one pot—that was fast and easy enough for a weeknight? We have dev

For the best results, use a mandoline to slice the apples paper-thin. 24 tablespoons (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 3 cups (12 ounces) confectioners’ sugar2 tablespoons heavy cream2 teaspoons vanilla extract⅓ teaspoon salt1 recipe Salted Carame