Chicken paprikash is a comfort food classic originating from Hungary. My Austrian great-grandmother, Gita, used to make it for our family. This version is minimally updated from Grandma Gita’s. I bumped up the paprika quantity—and threw in a pinch of cayenne—for a punchier sauce. And while she skipped sour cream (and you could too), I … Read more
These banana chocolate chip muffins have range. Serve them at brunch, take them to a housewarming party, or make a batch to snack on throughout the week—no matter the time or place, they’re sure to please. Overripe bananas have the best texture and richest banana flavor, so wait until yours are brown and speckled. To … Read more
This weeknight wonder takes just three ingredients to make: Parmesan, olive oil, and pasta. While it might seem impossible to make a restaurant-quality sauce with nothing more than olive oil and cheese, this technique proves otherwise. Combining grated Parmesan, cold water, and a glug of oil in a blender creates a velvety sauce that perfectly … Read more
The best apple crumble recipe starts with choosing the right apples, so consider your fruit wisely. Baking apples “can range from sweet to tart to everything in between,” says cookbook author (and expert baker) Abby Dodge, who developed this recipe for Epicurious. Dodge recommends a combination of McIntosh and Golden Delicious. McIntosh apples are sweet, … Read more
Classic picadillo—be it the Mexican version studded with potatoes, the Cuban variety speckled with sweet raisins, or the Filipino style bolstered with diced carrots—is a comfort food classic. While no two picadillos are alike and the components vary among regions, the common thread is ground beef cooked in a spicy tomato sauce. This recipe, which … Read more
Crust Step 1 Spray an 8×8″ metal baking pan with nonstick vegetable oil spray and line with 2 sheets of parchment paper, leaving overhang on all 4 sides. Pulse 20 Maria cookies (4–5 oz.) in a food processor until fine crumbs form, about 30 seconds. Add ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, 1 Tbsp. … Read more
My mother is many things, including being a gifted cook, but she is decidedly not a baker. Her roll call of desserts has remained the same over 30 years: no-bake cheesecake, apple crisp (always made in collaboration with my dad), and lemon drizzle cake. The hotly requested cake was baked in a tube pan and, … Read more
The briny juices of fresh clams create the sauce for spaghetti alle vongole, a classic Italian seafood pasta dish from Naples. The first written recipe is generally credited to 19th-century Neapolitan aristocrat Ippolito Cavalcanti, though many historians believe cooks used Adriatic seafood in broths and soups as early as the 17th and 18th centuries. For … Read more
In this recipe, classic caprese salad goes from side dish to main, all thanks to a tube of precooked polenta. Found next to the dried pasta in the supermarket, store-bought polenta is often viewed as a shadow of its homemade counterpart. But try slicing and frying it—and you’ll see that it’s the ideal weeknight sidekick. … Read more
Not everyone has the time to slow-simmer dried chickpeas for the express purpose of blitzing them into oblivion. And while some will tell you that doing so is the only way to achieve a silky smooth hummus, this recipe begs to differ. Canned chickpea hummus is the simple supermarket-ingredient hack that gives you ownership over … Read more