Uh, because I’m not Southern and I can’t even try to fake it with our readers? Well my dear ole dad found a recipe for grits he couldn’t pass up. The recipe is by the wonderfully talented chef Virginia Willis in her book, Bon Appetit, Y’all: Recipes and Stories from Three Generations of Southern Cooking. These grits were so good he made the recipe twice! What I have learned in researching grits is that people who grew up eating them are passionate about how they like them — white corn, hominy grits, with syrup for breakfast, etc....

There are all sorts of culinary uses for sriracha, check out these mean buffalo wings with sriracha sauce from my friends Diane and Todd. For an experiment we thought we would jack up the humble hot dog with this sauce. We added a little Chinese mustard and topped the dog with asian coleslaw; it turned out great, we loved it! Even my dad, who tends to hold back on hot chilies gobbled up his....

Maybe you only needed a few sprigs for a recipe, but had to buy a whole bundle. Perhaps you have an herb garden with a harvest much bigger than you can use during the season or a neighbor who shares their bounty. When you only need a tablespoon chopped here and five leaves there when cooking, it’s easy for big bundles to be forgotten as they wilt away in the fridge....

So why not work it to your advantage? Everything we say here goes for lasagna and most any other casserole. This whole process is very adaptable. Think of it as a choose-your-own-adventure in meal prep! Can You Freeze Cooked Lasagna? Yes! In fact, you can freeze most casseroles unbaked, or bake them first, then freeze. Why choose one over the other? Convenience, mainly. You might have time to put a casserole together, but not time to bake and cool it....

Not only do you save money because you don’t have to buy boxed stock, the stock itself is so much healthier for you because of all the iron, collagen, and vitamin-rich marrow from the bones. There are several ways to make chicken stock. Three of our favorite methods are presented here. How to Make Chicken Stock from Roasted Bones The first method uses the leftover bones from a chicken carcass and vegetables (which means it’s practically free), and takes several hours of slow cooking....

The home bartender would be well-advised to practice and prepare the classics not only for his or her own sake, but because each is a jumping-off point for another fifty cocktails you can either find or invent for yourself. Start here and feel free to adjust or substitute any of the key ingredients. 10 Classic Cocktails for Beginners Sazerac: One of the first cocktails, and still one of the more sublime combinations of a spirit with light aromatics....

I realized a vegan kitchen has more in common with an omnivore one than I first thought. That night for dinner, I adapted my dinner plans (eggplant parm) and made an eggplant, lentil, olive, and tomato casserole instead. I also realized I could actually go the rest of the week without another trip to the store. I had oatmeal, canned beans, a crisper full of vegetables, pasta, rice, and more....

As the crouton sits in the broth, it becomes soft enough to break apart with a spoon, giving you cheesy, bready goodness in every bite. This pressure cooker version comes together in just over an hour (but if you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can also make Stovetop French Onion Soup). Even better, it’ll stay hot on your pressure cooker’s warming setting for hours, so you can prepare the soup any time of day that’s convenient, then add the cheesy toasts just before serving....

Every time I make rice, I achieve the same results: separate grains, with a pleasing, chewy texture. Pressure cooking does give rice a slightly different texture than stovetop cooking, and I have actually grown to prefer it prepared this way. Give it a try and see what you think! New to the Instant Pot? Check out our post How To Use an Instant Pot: A First-Timer’s Guide. Video: How to Make Easy Rice in the Instant Pot How Much Water Do I Add?...

In time, I made several journeys back to Ireland myself and developed a decided kinship to the land of my forefathers. Like every traveler, I was introduced to the full Irish breakfast accompanied by slices of brown bread slathered in thick slabs of butter. I aspired to master the art of the Irish loaf, and this year for St. Patrick’s day, I’d like to share the results with you!...

Kaju Katli has a similar consistency to fudge, and is often served in small, diamond-shaped pieces, with a layer of edible silver leaf on top, known as vark or varak. Its glimmery exterior, shaped like a diamond, reminded me of a lovely gemstone, and its soft, melt-in-your-mouth interior has just enough sweetness, with notes of rose water and cardamom. Every Diwali, my mom brought home a selection of sweets from the local Indian grocery store....

Brilliant! It was so incredibly good. Silky and savory like our sopa seca de fideo angel hair dish, but with little rice-shaped orzo pasta. The browning of the orzo adds a toasty nutty flavor to the pasta. So, I thought I would step the idea up a notch and make something akin to arroz con pollo, except with pasta instead of the arroz. It would be “Orzo con Pollo.” It’s a winner!...

If you don’t know where to start with making cocktails at home, start here! You can’t go wrong with one of these greats.

This recipe is a variation on one found in a lovely way out-of-print cookbook from the Concord Museum: “An Olde Concord Christmas.” Preheat the oven to 350°F.