Recipes

Linda Wells · NYT Cooking

Linda Wells

Linda Wells · NYT Cooking

Linda Wells · NYT Cooking

Linda Wells · NYT Cooking

Linda Wells · NYT Cooking

This recipe may look laborious. To simplify, chef Moonen suggests making the consomme a day in advance and refrigerating it, or up to one month in advance and freezing it.

Linda Wells · NYT Cooking

Linda Wells · NYT Cooking

Linda Wells

Linda Wells · NYT Cooking

Linda Wells · NYT Cooking

Linda Wells

Linda Wells · NYT Cooking

Linda Wells

Linda Wells · NYT Cooking

Linda Wells

Linda Wells · NYT Cooking

Linda Wells

Linda Wells · NYT Cooking

Linda Wells

Lidey Heuck · NYT Cooking

This Italian frozen dessert looks almost identical to ice cream, but has a few key differences: Compared to its cousin, gelato is made with more milk than cream, and uses fewer or no eggs, instead leaning on other stabilizers to keep it from becoming icy as it freezes. Here, cornstarch is the stabilizer for this easy at-home version, providing a smooth, creamy texture. Because gelato has a lower butterfat percentage than ice cream, it’s best served slightly warmer; for best results, let it soften on the counter for a couple minutes before serving. This recipe makes a basic vanilla gelato, but you can easily make different flavors by adding mix-ins such as chopped chocolate, dulce de leche, or chocolate ganache once the gelato is churned.

Lidey Heuck · NYT Cooking

Italian for ‘little crusts,” crostini are bite-sized slices of toast, often topped with vegetables, spreads or cheeses and served as an appetizer. A good crostini is crisp and lightly browned at the edges, but still slightly soft and chewy in the center. While crostini can be made with any bread, a French baguette’s long, narrow shape is ideal, and sliced at an angle, provides maximum surface area for topping. Crostini serve as a versatile base; try them in this recipe inspired by pasta alla norma, or this one with fresh peaches and ricotta. They’re also a nice addition to a cheese or charcuterie board, and a sturdy vehicle for warm cheeses and dips, such as baked brie, or spinach and artichoke dip.

Lidey Heuck · NYT Cooking

This American diner classic — a battered and grilled ham, turkey and cheese sandwich dusted with confectioners’ sugar — may, in fact, be a descendant of the French croque-monsieur. The two are quite similar, the main difference being that the croque-monsieur has a layer of béchamel on top, while the Monte Cristo is dipped in beaten egg before it’s griddled. The Monte Cristo became popular when a restaurant at Disneyland began serving it in the 1960s, and now, it lives on as a fixture on menus around the country. It's a delicious way to use leftover baked ham, but regular deli meat works well, too. (Feel free to omit the turkey and use twice as much ham, if you prefer.) As with most grilled sandwiches, thinner slices of cheese will melt more easily.

Lidey Heuck · NYT Cooking

You don’t need to be at the beach to make this classic seaside dinner — an assortment of fresh seafood and a really big stock pot will get you there in an hour. Feel free to make this seafood boil your own by swapping in mussels for the clams, or lobster in place of the crab legs. With sausage, corn on the cob and steamed potatoes, this is a true one-pot meal. The flavorful cooking liquid turns into a buttery, lemony sauce that coats the seafood and vegetables. Cover your table with kraft paper and dump the seafood boil out, letting everyone dig in, or, for easier cleanup, serve the boil in a large shallow bowl, with small bowls of garlic butter on the side for dipping.

Lidey Heuck · NYT Cooking

This recipe is a playful twist on traditional shepherd’s pie, swapping in sweet potatoes for the mashed potatoes and a Moroccan-inspired filling for the usual carrots and peas. With warming spices such as cumin and smoked paprika, along with ground lamb, chickpeas, and dates, the filling is both savory and a little sweet, and the perfect partner for the mashed sweet potato topping. Because sweet potatoes contain more water than Yukon Gold or russet potatoes, the topping will be softer here than in a traditional shepherd’s pie. It will firm up as it cools, but make sure to cook any excess moisture from the potatoes before mashing to ensure the mash is thick. If you have access to them, white or Japanese sweet potatoes tend to be drier and starchier than conventional “yams” and work particularly well here.

Lidey Heuck · NYT Cooking

This playful twist on a classic crumb cake adds a generous pour of Irish cream liqueur to the batter. While it’s often served with coffee, Irish cream is not coffee-flavored, but made with whiskey and cream, along with hints of chocolate and vanilla. It lends a rich vanilla flavor to this simple cake, and its boozy edge cuts the sweetness. Use an Irish cream liqueur that tastes good on its own, because its flavors will shine through. A simple crumb mixture, flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg and chopped pecans, forms both the streusel topping and a spiced ribbon running through the cake. The cake isn’t complete without the Irish cream glaze. Cut this coffee cake into big squares and serve with coffee; extra Irish cream is optional.

Lidey Heuck · NYT Cooking

This colorful, meal-of-a-salad from Lidey Heuck’s cookbook, “Cooking in Real Life” (S&S/Simon Element, 2024), is inspired by two dishes: classic Greek salad (also known as horiatiki) and fattoush, the Lebanese salad of vegetables and pieces of fried pita. The ingredient list may look long at first, but each ingredient contributes to the harmony of the salad: bell pepper and cucumbers for crunch; shallot, olives and capers for a bit of tang; chopped tomatoes for sweetness. Pan-fried halloumi adds richness and heft, but you can skip the searing process and instead opt for a 6-ounce block of feta, if desired. To save even more time, you can add a large handful of crumbled pita chips instead of making your own.

Lidey Heuck · NYT Cooking

In this one-pot dish from Lidey Heuck’s cookbook, “Cooking in Real Life” (S&S/Simon Element, 2024), fresh clams cook together with garlic, white wine, shallots and tomatoes to form a deliciously fragrant sauce that’s perfect for mopping up with a piece of bread. As the clams open, they release their briny liquor, which gives the broth a salty, savory complexity. While this dish is particularly well-suited to a summer evening, you can make it any time of year; the tomatoes will sweeten and burst as they cook. The fregola or couscous gives this recipe enough heft to be a main course, but it can easily be stretched to serve 6 as a part of a larger spread.

Lidey Heuck · NYT Cooking

This beginner-friendly chicken recipe from Lidey Heuck’s cookbook, “Cooking in Real Life” (S&S/Simon Element, 2024), is inspired by spices often used in shawarma, and uses several easy tricks to ensure juicy meat with a nice char. The chicken breasts are pounded slightly, just until they are an even thickness throughout, so they cook quickly and uniformly. (You can skip this step if you’re using thighs.) The yogurt in the marinade does double duty: It tenderizes the chicken and adds a layer of protection between the chicken and the hot grill. The chicken is served with a sprinkle of fresh herbs, a squeeze of lemon juice and a quick, creamy tahini-yogurt sauce that pairs nicely with the warm spices. Should you have any leftover chicken, it would be delicious packed into a wrap with cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce and extra tahini-yogurt sauce.

Lidey Heuck · NYT Cooking

Canned tuna is a complementary addition to the punchy, briny flavors of puttanesca. It’s also a logical way to add protein to the dish when you’re already reaching into the pantry for the majority of the other ingredients. Though shallots aren’t typically included in puttanesca, thinly sliced shallot deepens the flavor of the garlic and adds a note of sweetness to balance the acidic flavors of the sauce. You can use canned tuna or tuna jarred in olive oil here; canned tuna will break apart and become distributed throughout the sauce, whereas jarred tuna will remain in larger pieces. Serve the pasta with a generous sprinkle of parsley and crushed red pepper on top, and a glass of chilled red wine on the side.

Lidey Heuck · NYT Cooking

This colorful, Mediterranean-inspired orzo salad is a crowd-pleasing side dish for a picnic or potluck, and can be a satisfying, vegetable-packed lunch. The trick to a flavorful pasta salad is adding the dressing while the pasta is hot, so it can soak up plenty of flavor as it cools. This recipe takes that method a step further by tossing the hot orzo and dressing with the chickpeas, tomatoes and olives, giving the ingredients ample time to marinate. If olives aren’t your thing, try adding diced roasted red peppers or marinated artichokes for a burst of briny flavor in each bite. If preparing for a larger gathering, this recipe doubles easily, and leftovers keep well in the refrigerator, making it a good choice for meal prepping.