Every September, I step up onto my soapbox to report for my self-appointed duty — one part desperate, one part cantankerous — to remind us that summer isn’t over yet. I beg us to put away the decorative gourds and pumpkin spice for just a tiny bit longer. It’s a slippery slope from “hooray, scarves!”…
This is a towering brick of a 2.5-pound zucchini bread, easily 1.5x of most standard recipes, so please don’t balk at the oil or sugar levels — they’re all to scale, and the result is just moderately sweet. If you have a scale, this is a one-bowl recipe. You can use any kind of cocoa…
This has been my go-to cheesecake for as long as I have cooked. Gourmet Magazine published it in 1999, but the recipe hailed from Santa Fe’s Three Cities of Spain coffeehouse* a place I didn’t know a thing about until this week, when curiosity got the better of my intentions to something succinct about cake…
What did we get up to while our kids’ time away overlapped for two weeks this summer? Did we go on vacation? Did we party every night? The truth is honestly embarrassing, so middle-aged coded, Deb of the early Smitten Kitchen years would rage and weep. [“You promised you wouldn’t get lame!”] I got… orthotics….
Make the cookies: Heat oven to 350°F (175°C) degrees and line two 8-inch round cake pans with rounds of parchment paper. Coat the exposed sides with butter or nonstick spray. A little extra underneath the parchment helps it stick. If you only have one cake pan, don’t fret. The batter will hold while you bake…
Prepare the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and yeast. Add water and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and use a spoon or dough whisk (I have this one) to bring it together, stirring the mixture a few times to ensure there are no unmixed pockets of flour. Cover the…
Psst: You really don’t need a recipe for this but I’m sharing the proportions I used, loosely. I photographed a small plate of it with just half of everything. You’ll be happier if you make the full amount, listed below! Some additional burrata advice: Burrata is at its most nuanced and creamy when it’s been…
This is a riff on my favorite Peanut Sesame Noodles so check it out if you’re looking for more of a big meal. This is just for you, or for you and a lucky friend if you’re feeling generous. If you cannot find firm silken tofu, you can use silken tofu here but don’t bother…
Very key here is the size of your loaf pan because this will fill out every speck of it before it is done. Mine holds 6 liquid cups; it’s 8×4 inches on the bottom and 9×5 inches on the top. If yours is even slightly smaller or you’re nervous, go ahead and scoop out a…
A few years ago, Alex and I started batching cocktails and keeping them in the freezer. Batching may sound fancy and professional but at most we were participating in rudimentary math (“one ounce? nah, one cup!”) and advanced laziness (ahem, preparedness). Having cocktails ready to go and super, super cold so that they won’t immediately…
Until recently, I was fairly ambivalent about one-pan pasta recipes. I appreciate them in a pinch [here’s a longtime favorite; and this is my total comfort food], but I sometimes find that when the pasta is cooked in a sauce the whole time, it doesn’t quite get that al dente definition and structural integrity that…
Why three servings, Deb? I know it’s an odd number. But it’s half a dozen eggs and a standard 6-pack of English muffins, so it’s easily doubled. Plus, I don’t find that everyone always eats a 2-egg serving, especially if this is part of a larger brunch spread. This recipe yields a little over 1/2-cup…
The challah makes an airy, rich, and gently sweet french toast with crisp edges and a custardy interior. The toppings make this cancel-your-brunch-reservations-and-stay-home worthy. Berry sauce 2 cups (10 ounces) mixed frozen berries 2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar Pinch of salt 3 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons water, divided 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch 1 to…
Note: Delightfully (to me and perhaps to you, too), this works best with green cabbage, that inexpensive, sturdy workhorse you can find everywhere and often in the back of my fridge, neglected. This recipe was originally published in my third cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Keepers, a sort of odd man out recipe I didn’t expect anyone…
Heat your oven: To 350°F (175°C). Prepare your brisket: Place your total measured amount of salt [see Note] in a small bowl. Trim your brisket, if necessary, so that only a thin layer of fat remains — about 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick. Season it generously on top with salt from the bowl and many grinds…
Note: If your mozzarella seems wet or comes in water, drain it on paper towels for a while before grating it so the final dish doesn’t become too watery. Gluten-free: This dish is (of course) only gluten-free if you exclude the garlic bread, or make garlic bread with gf bread. Glug of olive oil 1…
Crust 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (150 grams) all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/3 cup (40 grams) powdered sugar or 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar 1/2 cup (4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter, cold is fine, diced Filling 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (225 grams) granulated sugar 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 4…
Adapted, only slightly, from Martha Stewart I recently picked up some barley flour and fell in love with it. We tend to associate whole grain flours with heartiness and heaviness, but this is neither — it’s silky and delicate, like the best cake flour you’ve ever bought, and it has a subtle creamy, nuttiness to…
Note: I’ve bumped up the amount of broth based on comments from people who found their rice undercooked. Prepare the chicken: Arrange chicken skin side up on a plate and season generously on top with salt and freshly ground black pepper. We’ll get to the undersides in a minute. Heat a large sauté pan, preferably…
Heat oven: To 375°F. Prepare leeks: Trim off the root ends of the leeks and split each leek lengthwise. Slice white and light green parts 1/4-inch-thick. Place sliced leeks in a bowl of cold water and swish the leeks around, separating layers, and letting any sand/dirt fall to the bottom. Scoop the leeks out (leaving…
I realize that if you’re scouring the internet this week looking for something romantic to cook for that little Hallmark holiday this weekend, the words “pot roast” probably didn’t cross your search threshold. It’s not sexy food; nobody is writing aphrodisiac cookbooks about bottom rounds and boneless chucks. But if you ask me, it’s something…
Cranberries are, for me, one of the best things about late fall and they show up right in time, just as all of the other colors disappear. The ginkgo trees, always one of the last November holdouts, simultaneously ejected their green/yellow leaves last week and ever since, pretty much everything outside is looking rather… greige,…
Very key here is the size of your loaf pan because this will fill out every speck of it before it is done. Mine holds 6 liquid cups (or 1420 ml); it’s 8×4 inches on the bottom and 9×5 inches on the top. If yours is even slightly smaller or you’re nervous, go ahead and…
Why matzo meal? If you grew up with matzo ball soup, you might like the familiar flavor (and I’m convinced extra buoyancy) from using it, but don’t worry, breadcrumbs work just as well. The amount of noodles suggested for this soup is generous because we like it that way, but for a more classic balance,…
I realize, after 18 years as a part of it, that the rules of the food internet in the week before the American cooking superbowl we call Thanksgiving dictate that everything should relate back to turkey, stuffing, or pie. But friends, we have that abundantly covered in the archives, and the newsletter. So let me…
Heat oven: To 375°F (190°C). Toast the crumbs: In a 10-inch ovenproof skillet (I’m using this one), melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat and add the breadcrumbs. Toast the crumbs in the butter, stirring, until they’re a light golden brown. Season with a pinch of salt and scrape crumbs into a dish…
Confession time! As someone with more opinions than I can fit in three cookbooks, one audiobook, and even 18 years of archives on this website, sometimes when I want to grumble about something food-related but it’s not the time or place, I tuck it in a little document called “rants” that is so full of…
“I was looking for a simple roasted carrot recipe on your site and couldn’t find one,” a friend told me a month ago and I immediately put “simple roasted carrot recipe” on my sprawling, decades-long To Cook list because sometimes I forget myself, too. Spoiler: I was never going to write a simple recipe for…
These aren’t quite a match for Drummond’s rolls — my measurements are a little different, there’s no baking powder or baking soda, they’re a little less sweet, and I’ve tested this with different yeasts and nondairy products. (I just wanted to warn in case you’re loyal to her world-famous recipe.) Make dough: In a large…
Note: I’ve finished this with capers, with chopped green olives, and even once with some lightly dressed arugula (lemon, olive oil, salt, and pepper) but even with none of those things or a handful of parsley, as shown here, this dish is perfect and fits the bill for overly busy days. 2 lemons, halved 1…
If you hate mayo, you can try plain yogurt instead. However, you might find that you like the dressing with neither; it just ends up thinner and more robust in flavor. You’ll probably have more shallots than you need but I cannot bring myself to make the effort to fry shallots and not have extras…
Heat your oven: to 400°F (205°C). Prepare the peaches: Halve and pit the peaches, then cut the halves into 1/2-to-3/4-inch-thick wedges. Toss them in a large bowl with the lemon juice, and set aside while you make the salted caramel. Make the caramel: In a 4-quart ovenproof deep skillet (I’m using my braiser)* stir together…
Last summer, when my younger child joined my older child at sleepaway camp for a month for the first time, leaving us unmoored and a little restless, we made a list of restaurants we’d been meaning to try and friends we don’t see enough and took this task on like it was our job. I…
Prep the steak: Pat steak dry and place on a plate or tray. If your grill or pan for cooking is smaller than the length of it, cut the steak into segments that will fit. Combine sugar, salt, paprika, and many grinds of black pepper in a small bowl then sprinkle half of it over…
Even though my kids are not yet on summer break and even though I, as an adult, do not have a thing called a summer break, I’ve apparently helped myself to one. I’m sneaking off to the beach on weekdays (oops), reading novels, gorging myself on cherries and crisp-from-the-market cucumbers, playing midday tennis like a…
2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated sugar 1/3 cup (45 grams) cornstarch 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1 pound cream cheese (2 8-ounce/227-gram packages) [see Note at end] 3 large eggs 2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract plus 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste 2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice 1 cup (235…
Thanks to How Sweet Eats for inspiring the combination of grilled feta and chimichurri. While I’m adding asparagus and red onion here, I truly think this would be excellent with anything from sugar snaps, snow peas, green beans, broccoli, sweet peas … yes, I basically cannot think of a vegetable that’s bad with chimichurri sauce,…
Note: Very key here is the size of your loaf pan because this will fill out every speck of it before it is done. Mine holds 6 liquid cups; it’s 8×4 inches on the bottom and 9×5 inches on the top. If yours is even slightly smaller or you’re nervous, go ahead and scoop out…
Note: This makes a lot! We end up eating it for at least two days. When we run out of chips, we end up scooping it onto small flour tortillas, closing the taco to dip to taco loop, you could say. You could make half the dish in a 2-quart baking dish or 8-inch round…
Each of the preparation steps is shown in the photos above so please check them for visual guidance. 2 to 3 full-sized fresh artichokes 1 to 2 lemons, halved Salt, freshly ground black pepper A big pat of butter (optional) A few garlic cloves, halved lengthwise (optional) Mayonnaise, for dipping sauce Trim artichokes: Cut the…
This pizza dough is adapted from a focaccia dough, and my favorite comes from Alexandra Stafford. I wrote about the focaccia in her first book in 2018. Guess what? Next Tuesday, her second cookbook, Pizza Night, comes out and it’s all about pizza — pizza for home cooks without special equipment. I’m wildly excited about…
Crumbs 10 tablespoons (140 grams) unsalted butter, melted 1/2 cup (110 grams) dark brown sugar 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar 1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1 2/3 cups (215 grams) all-purpose flour Cake 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, softened 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar 1 large egg 1/2…
Note: This is a small-sized meatloaf, and it works for my family of four. It doubles easily, either as two small loaves (baking time the same) or one larger, freeform loaf that will take between 60 and 70 minutes in the oven. Meatloaf 1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped 1 garlic clove, smashed 1 slim…
While this is not the Smitten Kitchen’s only tomato soup — there’s one with roasted summer tomatoes capped with an open-faced grilled cheese sandwich in the archives, and further back, a classic cream of tomato soup adapted from Cook’s Illustrated — neither are this: a seasonless tomato soup I can make on any rainy day,…
Definitely read this recipe through, especially what can and cannot be made ahead, listed at the end, before you start. While I’ve simplified it in every way that such a wobbling, centerpiece of a dessert can be without compromising what it is, please, let this be an indulgence of a cooking project, one you should…
I’m using fingerlings and cremini mushrooms from the Union Square Greenmarket, lucky me, but I usually make this with yukon gold potatoes and any mix of mushrooms that looks good at the store. Potatoes 1 1/2 pounds (680 grams) Yukon gold potatoes, peeled if you wish, cut into 1/4-inch slices Olive oil Kosher Salt Freshly…
This dish was inspired by a message from an Elizabeth from Oakland, CA, I am so grateful for. She said she got some guidance from Ali Slagle’s Baked Farro With Lentils, Tomato and Feta, so a hat tip goes there too! 2 pounds yellow onions (4 large or 5 medium) 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1…
1/4 cup golden raisins 1/4 cup white wine vinegar, warmed 2 tablespoons minced shallot 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds fresh summer peas, such as sugar snaps, snow peas, shelling peas, and/or favas Kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon smooth dijon mustard (optional) 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil Red pepper flakes and freshly ground black pepper,…
A frequently asked question I get about *all of this* (waves hands in the general direction of the internet/air) is where I get my inspiration from. And almost without fail, I will say “not here.” No offense to this space we’ve created, but inspiration hits when I’m not pressed to find it, like when I’m…
I know we’re in the midst of the nth heatwave of the summer and the idea of eating anything but a bowl of cold cherries or, worse, something that requires you turn your oven on sounds about as unappealing as that curiously empty subway car [that definitely has no a/c or worse] but trust me…
Earlier this summer, I made what I thought was just a dinner salad that turned out to be my new favorite dinner salad of all time and it was literally all I could talk about for the next few weeks. Incessantly. Insufferably. I didn’t even wait to ask if you’re into buffalo wings (of course…
Once upon a time, I spent approximately a whole summer making blueberry muffins, gripped with an obsession (that would be worrisome anywhere but this page) to make what I hoped would be the last blueberry muffin recipe we’d ever need. You’d think after all that that the path to these raspberry muffins would be simpler,…
This recipe is adapted from my 2018 Foolproof Cacio e Pepe, which uses a technique from the chef of Flavio Al Velavevodetto in Rome, which I learned via tour guide Elizabeth Minchilli. To understand why starting with a cold sauce works, read the 2018 headnote. You can watch me make this without corn on YouTube….
Prepare the eggplant: Arrange eggplant slices on a large (half-sheet) baking pan in one layer. Sprinkle with about 2 teaspoons kosher salt and set aside for 30 minutes. Heat oven: To 425°F (220°C) degrees. Roast eggplant: Transfer eggplant slices to paper towels and blot them of as much excess water as possible. Dry the baking…
Note: I’ve bumped up the amount of broth based on comments from people who found their rice undercooked. Prepare the chicken: Arrange chicken skin side up on a plate and season generously on top with salt and freshly ground black pepper. We’ll get to the undersides in a minute. Heat a large sauté pan, preferably…
I did not intend to disappear for so long! In early October I was putting the finishing touches on a cake that manages to incorporate 2.5 pounds of apples (perfect for people like me who show no self-control nor willingness to learn from the previous season’s excess at orchards) when the world went to hell,…
Brown your butter: In a medium saucepan or frying pan, melt butter over medium-high heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and some toasted speckles will appear. As soon as they do, remove the pan from the burner; the residual heat will be sufficient to toast the rest of the butter to…
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