Confort

In many Italian American households, Sunday means there’s red sauce simmering all day on the stove It might be called sauce, sugo or gravy, and surely every family makes it differently, but the result is always a tomato sauce rich with meat This recipe (which you can also make in a slow cooker) follows a classic route of using shreddy pork shoulder, Italian sausage and meatballs

This simple, lemon-scented olive oil cake is an elegant treat all by itself or topped with whipped cream, fruit or ice cream The olive oil contributes a pleasant fruity flavor while keeping the cake moister for longer than butter ever could Make sure your olive oil tastes delicious and fresh

A snack prized for their crunch and salt factor, chicharrones commonly involve fried pork skin You’ll find versions across Spain and Latin America where they might be crisped by methods that include deep-frying, baking or boiling This recipe uses long, 1-inch-wide pork belly strips that include the skin, fat and belly

For me, a chocolate cake is the basic unit of celebration The chocolate Guinness cake here is simple but deeply pleasurable, and has earned its place as a stand-alone treat.

This absurdly rich chocolate cake came to The Times in a 1991 article by Molly O’Neill about Ebinger’s, the legendary chain of Brooklyn bakeries that closed its doors in 1972 after 74 years in business Their wildly popular blackout cake, a three layer devil’s food cake filled with dark chocolate pudding, slathered with chocolate frosting and covered with chocolate cake crumbs, had a cult-like following in its day This recipe isn’t authentic (the Ebinger family never shared the original recipe with the public), but Ms

These oven fries are a deeply satisfying and nostalgic side dish that comes together with ease any night of the week Seasoning the wedges with spices, grated Parmesan and garlic, and roasting them with more freshly grated cheese on top, ensures plenty of flavor in every bite Soaking the cut potatoes in cold water before baking releases extra starch which leads to crispier outsides and creamier insides

For the juiciest, most golden pork chops, a few things need to happen Dry brining, or rubbing the meat with salt (and in this case, spices) at least 4 hours ahead of cooking, results in deeply seasoned chops that won’t be dry Here, a mixture of common pantry spices make for a flavorful, barbecue-inspired blend

Summery, tart and slightly sweet, this sauce ingeniously uses peach preserves to make a perfect pairing for pork chops It also works as a tart dressing for a kale or chicory salad, highlighting the fruit at its peak while also adding richness thanks to butter and oil In the mid-60s, Pamela Strobel served this condiment, her signature sauce, alongside dishes like fried chicken, black eyed peas and smothered pork chops at her restaurant, Little Kitchen

Our recipe tells you how to use one incredibly simple technique to produce the fluffiest and lightest mashed potatoes you'll ever eat.

Don’t confuse Midwestern chicken and noodles with soup. This dish features juicy hunks of chicken in a roux-thickened gravy with chewy, homemade egg noodles, all served over fluffy mashed potatoes.

This is a wonderfully simple and hands-off way to prepare a flavorful hunk of meat, equally suited to a weeknight or a dinner party There is no need to brown the pork first because the meat gets appealingly dark and caramelized while braising in the rich combination of soy sauce and honey Fresh cilantro, scallions and a squeeze of lime added just before serving bring freshness

For me, a chocolate cake is the basic unit of celebration The chocolate Guinness cake here is simple but deeply pleasurable, and has earned its place as a stand-alone treat.

As a child living in Tuscany, Ixta Belfrage fell for a pasta rich with dried porcini mushrooms, served at the lone restaurant in the tiny mountain village of Acone In her cookbook, “Mezcla” (Ten Speed Press, 2022), she pays homage to the power of porcini mushrooms, which are typically gathered from the wild and taste of it, luscious and nutty They offer a shortcut to glory in this ragù that almost defies the name, because it doesn’t demand hours on the stove and attains a velvety intensity in practically no time at all

Coated in a crisp, airy batter, fried until light golden, then spritzed with malt vinegar, these fish and chips are gloriously crunchy and tender.

Garlicky, cheesy, and slathered in butter, these easy pull-apart garlic knots take just minutes to assemble, and are miles better than most pizzeria versions.

Amanda Saab, a social worker and home cook who lives near Detroit, riffs on her Lebanese grandmother's recipe for namoura, a cake made from semolina flour, soaked in syrup while it's still warm When she serves it at iftar dinners during Ramadan, Ms Saab often doses the syrup with a little bit of lavender extract

This four-ingredient recipe draws inspiration from carnitas, barbecue pulled pork and Vietnamese caramel pork for sticky, sweet and spicy pulled meat Braising browned pork shoulder in a slow cooker in pickled jalapeño brine and fish sauce tenderizes the meat and adds savory depth Part of the cooking liquid then simmers with brown sugar and pickled jalapeño slices for a glaze to drape over pull-apart, crispy-edged meat

Eddie Hernandez, who runs Taqueria del Sol, a string of easygoing Mexican restaurants in Georgia and Tennessee, considers himself a born-again Southern boy whose food reflects a mash-up of the two cultures He grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Monterrey, Mexico, where a pork roast like this would have never made it onto the table But he came to love the roast’s role in a traditional Southern Sunday supper, and decided to give it his own Mexican twist

Though elite, upper-caste Hindus tend to be vegetarian, most Indians eat meat, and many millions of Muslim Indians eat beef This saucy keema, which can be made with chicken, lamb, beef or a combination of meat, is simple, comforting home cooking — the meat stretched out and made luxurious in a reduction of spiced tomato It can be dinner with a couple of soft, shiny bread rolls, or a chapati and a dollop of yogurt

These sweet and spicy chicken thighs pack enormous flavor using only a handful of pantry ingredients Generously seasoned with salt, pepper, and onion and garlic powders, they’re roasted at a high temperature to maximize the crispiness of the skin Halfway through cooking, the chicken is brushed with a butter-and-hot-sauce blend

If you go to a children’s birthday party in Australia or New Zealand, you may not get birthday cake, but you are very likely to find fairy bread: triangles of untoasted white bread covered with margarine or butter and “hundreds and thousands” (known as sprinkles stateside) Fairy bread is a much-loved treat with fairly murky origins; one variation is hagelslag, a Dutch treat that uses chocolate sprinkles instead of rainbow-colored rounds After one bite of fairy bread, it is clear why the combination of soft bread, creamy butter and crunchy, sugary sprinkles is beloved by so many — and may be soon by you, too.

Cottage pie is a near twin to its sibling, the slightly better-known shepherd's pie The main difference between these traditional dishes, which have roots in Ireland and Britain, is that cottage pie embraces ground beef while shepherd’s pie, fittingly, favors lamb Smothered in a delicious and thick gravy along with carrots, onions, celery and peas, the ground beef filling is covered in creamy mashed potatoes and then baked into a hearty and satisfying meal

Bold and full flavored, this beef and root vegetable stew from the Gascogne region of France is country cooking at its best.

This weeknight wonder is for those who delight in turning a modest can of beans into a spectacular dinner Inspired by the flavors of red pesto, this recipe calls for simmering cannellini beans with staple ingredients like onion, garlic, crushed red pepper, tomato paste and heavy cream, as well as sun-dried tomatoes and salty Pecorino, until the results taste complex and rich Top the beans with a lemony arugula salad that is peppered with fried bread crumbs for a dish that is crunchy, chewy, crispy and creamy in every bite.

This quick and easy skillet dinner is somewhere between an easy take on enchiladas verdes (no rolling required) and a complete-meal rendition of chile con queso The base is a mixture of charred green chiles, pinto beans and store-bought or homemade salsa verde, which delivers the brightness of tomatillos, chiles, cilantro and lime Blanket the bean-and-chile mixture with Monterey Jack cheese, then broil until molten

In Singapore, there are countless versions of curry Families have their own formulas depending on heritage, and this recipe comes from Shila Das, a second-generation Singaporean of Indian and Vietnamese descent She makes it as an integral part of her nasi biryani for special occasions, including the Lunar New Year, when she brings the dish to a celebration with her best friend

This quick skillet dinner of spiced, seared ground beef over cooling yogurt combines elements of two Persian classics: kebab koobideh (grilled kebabs) and mast-o-khiar (cucumber yogurt) The creamy yogurt base keeps close to the original, while the ground beef is hard-seared on one side like a scallop for a crisp texture Walnuts and raisins, traditionally toppings for mast-o-khiar, get toasted in the beef fat, adding crunch and sweetness to balance the savory meat and tangy yogurt.

The well-known combo spans cultures and cuisines, and is our favorite way to get dinner on the table. These 15 recipes showcase just some of what the ingredient duo has to offer.

In Japanese, “yamitsuki” means addictive — a precise description of this seemingly humble side dish of cabbage, gently torn and simply anointed with sesame oil and seeds, garlic, black pepper and a fingerprint’s worth of salt So few ingredients, so little time required, and you can’t stop eating it Often served at izakayas, the Japanese equivalent of pubs, the cabbage is especially good for refreshing the palate and easing the stomach between bites of richer, fattier foods

Making great meatballs is all about memorizing a basic ratio that you can adjust to suit your taste Start with a pound of ground meat — any kind will work, even fish if you want to take it in that direction Add 1/2 cup bread crumbs for lightness, a teaspoon of salt, and an egg to bind it together