Recipes

Sam Sifton · NYT Cooking

Beef in dark, silky gravy composed of fat and reduced stout, flecked with tender vegetables, covered in pastry: This is a dish that delivers good cheer and contentment in equal measure. We built it out of advice and instruction from the British chefs Jamie Oliver (the stew) and Fergus Henderson (the pastry). Eating it — salty and rich, buttoned with sweetness — will occasion thoughts of a coming walk or a nap on the couch with the dog. You’ll want some red wine to drink. It's awesome. Sam Sifton

Sam Sifton · NYT Cooking

The British chef and cooking star Jamie Oliver once called this recipe, which is based on a classic Italian one for pork in milk, “a slightly odd but really fantastic combination that must be tried.” Years later he told me that that characterization made him laugh. “I was hardly upselling its virtues,” he said. The dish’s merits are, in fact, legion. You sear a whole chicken in butter and a little oil, then dump out most of the fat and add cinnamon and garlic to the pot, along with a ton of lemon peel, sage leaves and a few cups of milk, then slide it into a hot oven to create one of the great dinners of all time. The milk breaks apart in the acidity and heat to become a ropy and fascinating sauce, and the garlic goes soft and sweet within it, its fragrance filigreed with the cinnamon and sage. The lemon meanwhile brightens all around it, and there is even a little bit of crispness to the skin, a textural miracle. It is the sort of meal you might cook once a month for a good long while

The New York Times · NYT Cooking

Beans have been a staple in the human diet for more than 4,000 years, and in recent history, they’ve formed the foundation of countless vegetarian burgers. There are white bean burgers, kidney bean burgers and a plethora of other veggie burgers. Most have two things in common: beans and binders. This version from the chef Jamie Oliver’s new book “Ultimate Veg” (Flatiron Books, 2020) combines black beans, rye bread, fresh mushrooms and ground coriander. Mr. Oliver tops his burgers with tangy yogurt, mangoes and salsa, but these crisp, oven-roasted patties are equally delicious with just lettuce and ketchup. The New York Times

Marian Burros · NYT Cooking

The sausages were often served for breakfast with scrambled eggs. Marian Burros

Molly O’Neill · NYT Cooking

Molly O'Neill

Molly O’Neill · NYT Cooking

Molly O'Neill

Molly O’Neill · NYT Cooking

Molly O'Neill

Amanda Hesser · NYT Cooking

Amanda Hesser

Amanda Hesser · NYT Cooking

The trick to good baked beans is cooking them very slowly with indirect heat. This recipe calls for baking them in a tightly sealed casserole in an oven barely hot enough to toast bread. As the hours pass, the beans drink up a broth flavored with brown sugar (or molasses), mustard and pepper. The gentle cooking prevents the beans from breaking up and becoming mushy. By the time they're done, the pork is falling off its bones and the beans are the classic rusty brown. Be sure to season them amply with salt so the sweetness has a sturdy counterpart. Beard's recipe calls for dark brown sugar. The alternative is to use molasses, which will render a final flavor and color more familiar to canned-bean devotees. The recipe itself requires no great cooking skills — if you can peel an onion and boil water, you're all set — but it will easily take up an afternoon. Plan it for a day when you're at home. Amanda Hesser

Marian Burros · NYT Cooking

Marian Burros

Julia Moskin · NYT Cooking

This recipe, which is adapted from “Julia and Jacques at Home” by Julia Child and Jacques Pépin and was featured in a New York Times article about roast chicken, makes delicious use of leftovers (it would be excellent with the Thanksgiving turkey remainders as well). It is rich, but packed with vegetables. You can substitute dried tarragon for fresh, but use less than a tablespoon, and season to taste. Julia Moskin

Jeff Gordinier · NYT Cooking

A proper French omelet is all about (you guessed it) technique. Luckily, Jacques Pépin is the master. Note that Mr. Pépin cracks eggs on his cutting board, not against the rim of the mixing bowl. (This prevents any bacteria on the surface of the shells from getting into the bowl.) In the pan, Mr. Pépin maintains a kind of Tilt-a-Whirl shaking and spinning and scraping of the pan, keeping the eggs constantly in motion. Jeff Gordinier

Jeff Gordinier · NYT Cooking

Jeff Gordinier

The New York Times · NYT Cooking

The New York Times

Sam Sifton · NYT Cooking

Here is an easy version of coquilles St.-Jacques, the classic French preparation of scallops in a creamy sauce, under a crust of bread crumbs and cheese. It comes from Ina Garten, the celebrated cookbook author and television star, who has been cooking it for dinner parties, she told The Times, practically since the start of her marriage to Jeffrey Garten in 1968. It makes for a beautiful entree that matches well with a green salad, flinty white wine and good conversation. It can be made the day before serving and heated through in an oven while guests gather. “A lot of dishes taste better after they sit for a while,” Garten said. With its whisper of curry powder in the rich, unctuous sauce, this is one of them. You can make it in a casserole, but little gratin dishes are better and come in handy far more often than you might think. One per guest. Sam Sifton

Julia Moskin · NYT Cooking

Trust Ina Garten to take two big food trends — cauliflower and toast — and combine them into something completely fresh. This recipe, adapted from her 2018 cookbook, “Cook Like a Pro,” is a bit like an open-face grilled cheese sandwich with a nutty layer of roasted cauliflower, and spiked with nutmeg and paprika. We made it vegetarian by leaving out the prosciutto, and also lightened up on the cheese. It makes a vegetarian dinner with soup and salad, or a good snack with drinks. Julia Moskin

Ina Garten · NYT Cooking

Of course, you could buy fresh cranberries and clean them carefully, but if you start with canned whole berry cranberry sauce and add some fresh ingredients, it will taste just as good!

Ina Garten · NYT Cooking

My friend Antonia Bellanca taught me this old fashioned recipe, which I featured in “The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook” (Clarkson Potter, 1999). These are simple, flavorful and come together quickly. Use an electric mixer and don’t peel the potatoes!

Ina Garten · NYT Cooking

Mashed potatoes are an essential Thanksgiving side dish but can be time consuming. Instead of starting with raw potatoes, then peeling, cutting and boiling them, start with these prepared potatoes and no one will know you didn’t make the dish from scratch. I tested many varieties of prepared mashed potatoes and Bob Evans refrigerated potatoes were the best.

Ina Garten · NYT Cooking

This is a classic Kentucky Derby Pie in half the time.

Ina Garten · NYT Cooking

One of the most stressful things about Thanksgiving is the turkey: timing it, carving it, keeping it hot. As I mentioned in my book “Make It Ahead” (Clarkson Potter, 2014), I discovered that I could roast the turkey early in the day, carve it and arrange it on a layer of gravy on an oven-to-table platter. It changed my Thanksgiving game plan. I prepare the platter, set it aside at room temperature, then reheat it all before dinner. Delicious turkey without the stress!

Ina Garten · NYT Cooking

For a delicious and festive holiday drink you can make quickly, simply combine the ingredients in advance and shake them up when guests arrive.

Ina Garten · NYT Cooking

Bread pudding is my go-to alternative to traditional stuffing, which tends to dry out your turkey. To make bread pudding, you need to dice the bread, season it and bake it until the cubes are nicely toasted. Here, I start with Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned cubed stuffing mix — be sure to buy the cubed mix! — and then add lots of fresh ingredients. Delicious bread pudding in half the time!

Ina Garten · NYT Cooking

This dessert, featured in “Barefoot Contessa Family Style” (Clarkson Potter, 2002), was inspired by a pumpkin mousse that my mother had made for years for Thanksgiving. It’s lighter and much more flavorful than that cloying old pumpkin pie. People really do go nuts for it.