Incredibly, I had everything on hand to make the dish, which came together as quickly as promised. The first time I made it, I used fresh Chinese noodles that I had on hand, which worked well but I’ve since made the recipe with dried Japanese udon noodles, Milk Street’s recommendation, which worked even better. The recipe, I learned, was inspired by Fuchsia Dunlop’s “emergency midnight noodles” from her cookbook Every Grain of Rice ....

Nothing beats corn on the cob for its ease and simplicity, but if I had my way, it would be corn off the cob ALL the time. Grated into the freshest polenta , simmered into a curried coconut soup , dressed with lime, olive oil, and herbs , sautéed with onions and garlic into an irresistible galette filling , some of my favorite summer dishes leave the cobs behind (or reserve them, smartly, to make a stock ....

This truly is the best zucchini bread. The original source is unknown, but my mother learned it from her mother, and I’ve been passing it along as well, baking it with my children, who have called it “bikini” bread, for years. I love serving this zucchini bread when entertaining — it’s as delicious for mid-morning brunch as for afternoon tea all summer long. In sum, it’s a classic quick bread made with both brown sugar and white, eggs and oil, and a heap of zucchini....

In this fall salad, cubes of chili-roasted sweet potatoes unite with greens, toasted nuts, cheese, and a sweet-sharp vinaigrette. A few weeks ago, my daughter and I had lunch at ​ GB Eats ​ in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. I ordered the breakfast salad, a bowl of arugula, roasted sweet potatoes, crumbled bacon, and avocado dressed with a lemon vinaigrette and topped with two poached eggs. It was heavenly — so fresh tasting — and made me wonder why breakfast salads aren’t more of a thing....

It has been my experience for years that on eves of CSA pickups, we get by with what we have, cobble together dinner with the scraps in the vegetable drawer, a hunk of bread, cheese, a tin of sardines or whatever we find in the pantry. But this summer, I can’t keep up. Even with the children eating the green beans, a weekly ritual of chard fritters , and gratins galore , we can’t make a dent in our produce share....

Last month, while reminiscing about grocery shopping and specifically about a broccoli salad from a favorite market in Minnesota, I found myself scouring Pinterest for broccoli salad recipes. A few caught my eye, namely one from The Modern Proper, for its likeness to the Byerly’s salad I so adore. And a few others did as well: one speckled with farro and feta from Walder Wellness; another with cheddar and sunflower seeds from Cookie & Kate; and another with tamari-roasted almonds from Love and Lemons....

After a month of abstaining from serious dessert (inordinate amounts of dark chocolate, providing heaps of antioxidants, don’t count), a sugar craving and a magazine blurb had me unearthing baking pans and once again scribbling down butter, chocolate and brown sugar on my grocery list. The blurb described a treat offered at San Francisco’s Black Jet Baking Co — brown butter blondies made with Maldon sea salt — which I needed to have in my mouth immediately....

Looking for a classic, foolproof cream cheese cutout cookie recipe? Look no further. These cutout cookies hold their shape when baked, they’re sweet, tender, and tasty, and most important, children love them. More to the point, children love making them. The dough can be made days in advance and stashed in the fridge. The recipe yields about 50 cookies, perfect for gifting for the holiday season! There is a woman here in town who, I have no doubt, would defeat Bobby Flay in a Christmas-cookie throw down....

This one-pot chicken and rice with dates, harissa, and pistachios is a showstopper — it’s a mix of sweet and spicy, smoky and crunchy, and best of all it couldn’t be simpler to prepare. There’s no need to brown the chicken. In just about 45 minutes, it will be done! The subtle freshness or orange zest permeates the rice and the chopped dates add a nice sweetness. This is a great one for entertaining, but its minimal demands make it great for any night of the week....

Nicely sweet and lightly lemony, this blueberry cobbler is such a treat. Read on to learn the secret to making a cobbler with light, flaky, perfectly cooked (not dry) biscuits. Fruity and festive, this is a wonderful dessert to make for summer entertaining. I don’t think I’ve ever disliked a cobbler I’ve eaten, but what I love about the Cook’s Illustrated recipe is this: the blueberries bake without a biscuit topping for 25 minutes or until they begin to bubble around the edges....

This amazing baby back ribs recipe takes five minutes to prepare, but what emerges from the oven — a juice-filled package of falling-off-the-bone ribs, perfectly crisped on the exterior — tastes like a day’s work toiling over a coal-filled bbq pit. Sweet. Smokey. Salty. Delicious. These might just be the best ribs you ever make! The best ribs you’ve ever made? Let me qualify that. These are the only ones I know how to make, which make them the best I’ve ever made....

I’m so taken by this chicken enchilada casserole recipe, because it’s extremely simple and incredibly flavorful, unlike so many other enchilada recipes I’ve attempted previously. It was originally published in the WSJ’s “Slow Food Fast” column and it comes from Chef Spike Gjerde of Baltimore’s Woodbury Kitchen. Here’s the gist: After you make the sauce—a mix of broiled onions and garlic, canned tomatoes, and chipotles in adobo that simmers for 7 minutes—you layer it lasagna-style with tortillas, cheese, chicken, scallions, and cilantro....

This homemade ravioli recipe unites sweet, creamy pumpkin with salty, nutty parmesan to create the most delicious ravioli filling. Dressed with a brown butter sage sauce, it’s the ultimate fall comfort food. Like making bread from scratch, making pasta from scratch is a deeply rewarding process. Yes, it takes a little effort, but the reward — having a stash of pumpkin-filled pillows of goodness on hand, ready to be dressed in sage brown butter — is well worth it....

In the wonderful world of crumb-topped, baked-fruit desserts, buckles are new to me. And I’m a fan. I love how the sandy, buttery topping melts into the stewed fruit, which all sinks — buckles! — into the base. And I like that I can eat it as I would a brownie, out of hand, making for easy snacking morning, noon and night. Martha said it best: “This dessert belongs in everyone’s outdoor entertaining file....

You know I love a slab sandwich . This is my latest favorite: olive tapenade , roasted red peppers, whipped honey goat cheese (inspired by Trader Joe’s honey chevre), and a heap of greens. I think you’ll approve. Recipe below. For the roasted red peppers: 6 red bell peppers, halved and seeded For the whipped goat cheese: 8 -oz goat cheese 1 tablespoon honey ¼ cup milk, plus more as needed For assembly:...

Meet your new favorite summer dessert: strawberry-rhubarb crisp, a union of sweet-tart jammy fruit and an irresistibly buttery crisp topping. Summery, festive, and delicious — strawberries and rhubarb have never been so happy together ! Like basil and tomatoes, apples and cinnamon, peanut butter and chocolate, rhubarb and strawberries are meant to be together. Arguably, they’re better together. At least in their cooked forms. Here, strawberries and rhubarb bake together beneath a buttery, shortbread-like topping until the fruit softens, becoming jammy in texture, the sweetness of the strawberries balancing the tartness of the rhubarb, the meltingly soft rhubarb buoying the bursts of juicy strawberries....

Whenever I return home for a big holiday, I can expect to find two things in my mother’s fridge: an enormous pot of Vermont Cheddar cheese soup and an enormous pan of spanakopita . These two easily reheatable items become lunch for everyone in attendance, often around 16 adults and children total, for the duration of the visit. This past Christmas was no different: every day around noon, out came the giant vessels along with the plates, the mugs, and, of course, the bread ....

<img loading=“lazy” src=“https://alexandracooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/brussels3.jpg" onerror=“this.onerror=null;this.src=‘https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhe7F7TRXHtjiKvHb5vS7DmnxvpHiDyoYyYvm1nHB3Qp2_w3BnM6A2eq4v7FYxCC9bfZt3a9vIMtAYEKUiaDQbHMg-ViyGmRIj39MLp0bGFfgfYw1Dc9q_H-T0wiTm3l0Uq42dETrN9eC8aGJ9_IORZsxST1AcLR7np1koOfcc7tnHa4S8Mwz_xD9d0=s16000';" alt=“Charred Brussels sprouts, sweet apples, sour crème fraîche and toasted pistachios combine to form a delicious mixture of contrasting flavors and textures in this “Alta” tapas recreation. A balsamic vinegar reduction offers an at once sweet and sharp bite. // alexandracooks.com - 1”> Last night my husband and I traveled to New York to meet a group of friends for an impromptu dinner at Alta, a tapas restaurant in the West Village....

Can we talk about the Madness? Uconn upsetting Michigan State? Kentucky’s last-second 3-pointer for the win? The Wisconsin-Arizona overtime nail biter? I sound like I know what I’m talking about, right? I don’t. But thanks to theSkimm, I am up-to-date on all the most important goings-on in the world. You also should make this baked ricotta for any guests you might find at your house watching the Final Four this weekend....

At the end of January, I spotted a dressing recipe in Bon Appetit that intrigued me. It was cashew-based, but unlike many cashew-based dressings, which require soaking raw cashews in water for a couple of hours, this one called for roasted cashews and no soak. Why, you might be wondering, would one include cashews in a dressing in the first place? Well, because cashews lend a creaminess and richness to dressings, precluding the need for dairy or eggs....