While a whole roast duck might seem like a special-occasion dish—something you’d serve for Christmas dinner or order in certain Chinese restaurants—it’s actually very simple to make. If you can prepare a Thanksgiving turkey (or even a roast chicken), you can cook a whole duck. In some ways, cooking duck is even easier than cooking … Read more
If you’re in the market for the best roasting pan, chances are you need a big one. Most standard-size cuts of meat, like chickens or tenderloins, cook easily in a cast-iron, carbon steel, or stainless steel skillet, so the benefit of owning a dedicated roasting pan is that it can fit an oversized, crowd-pleasing main … Read more
Hot take: Crispy smashed potatoes are the ultimate form of potato. Sure, mashed potatoes get all the glory, but there’s something about these creamy-in-the-center, crisp-on-the-outside twice-cooked spuds that can’t be beat. The two-step cooking method is key to any good smashed potatoes recipe: Boiling the potatoes fluffs up their interior and gets them soft enough … Read more
As you sprint from oven to stove to freezer on Thanksgiving, multiple timers blaring, you may whisper to yourself: “Do I really need to toast the pecans for my pecan pie like the recipe calls for?” Such a finicky step in the scheme of things, right? We’ll put it this way: Your pie (and other … Read more
Let’s not blame family members, friends—and most importantly, ourselves—for the sad roast turkeys of Thanksgiving dinners past. Learning how to season a turkey is much like seasoning anything: a skill perfected over time. The trouble is, most of us only cook a turkey once or twice per calendar year (and who can remember what seasoning … Read more
In 1936, agriculturalist George Washington Carver published two versions of glacéed sweet potatoes in a farmers bulletin. Forty years earlier, legendary chef Fannie Farmer included her recipe for candied sweet potatoes in what would become her eponymous cookbook. This is to say, The dish most often known as “candied yams” has a long history on … Read more
Few can resist the lure of tender, herby Greek lemon potatoes. Often cooked in the drippings of a roasting leg of lamb or whole chicken, Greek potatoes don’t require a big roast for big flavor. Here, the lemony side dish gets its punch from a bit of chicken stock, plus plenty of garlic, oregano, and … Read more
This easy spinach salad recipe has range: It is elegant enough for a dinner party, will impress at a potluck, and makes for a quick and satisfying midweek lunch—especially if you give it main dish energy by adding chickpeas, or sliced hard-boiled eggs. If frying sounds fussy, you can make crispy bacon in the oven. … Read more
Step 1 Whisk 7 cups (875 g) all-purpose flour, ¼ cup (50 g) sugar, 2 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. baking powder, 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. baking soda, 2 oz. Parmesan, finely grated (about 1 cup), ½ cup (packed) finely chopped parsley, 2 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 Tbsp. plus ½ … Read more
So often Thanksgiving side dishes get overlooked, pushed to the side and forgotten about until the very last minute. While I won’t scold you for cooking them à la minute, I will declare that sides deserve just as much flavor and pizzazz as their flashier project-based counterparts. Enter these bold and flavorful carrots that come … Read more