Savory Pies

Savory pies date back to at least 3000 B.C., when Mesopotamian cooks made extensive use of grains to create breads filled with savory ingredients.

Polenta, Grits or Cornmeal?

Kitchen Cabinet

Off The Air

Editors’ Answers to Milk Street Radio Questions

By Chris KimballOctober 21, 2024

Small Bites from Milk Street

“I suppose there are people who can pass up free guacamole, but they’re either allergic to avocado or too joyless to live.” —Frank Bruni

By Milk StreetOctober 21, 2024

The Search for the Original Sweet-and-Sour Pork

The secret was hidden in the sauce

By JM HirschOctober 16, 2024

Chris Kimball's Book Reviews

Get a taste of what Christopher Kimball is reading at Milk Street.

By Chris KimballOctober 21, 2024

The Art of the Swirl

A classic chocolate babka with a sesame twist

By Ari SmolinOctober 21, 2024

Ragù Cilentano: Our Favorite Walkaway-Easy Pasta

For this pasta sauce, the less you do, the better!

By JM HirschOctober 21, 2024

Forget What You Know About Pulled Pork

The cooks of Colima, Mexico, have a better idea

By Chris KimballOctober 21, 2024

In Romania, Polenta Is More Than a Side Dish

A layered casserole of polenta, cheese and sour cream turns a basic side dish into a top-notch supper

By Chris KimballOctober 24, 2024

Northern Italy’s Meaty-Cheesy Dumplings

Canederli: The brothy bread dumplings that saved an Italian city

By JM HirschOctober 24, 2024

Sausage Risotto with Herbed Breadcrumbs

Cremona is known for its music. We went for the risotto.

By JM HirschOctober 24, 2024

Putting Pastry Cream in Its Place

At Amazonia in Paris, Stéphane Jimenez taught us to bake pastry cream in a deep tart shell to create a surprisingly light Paris flan

By Chris KimballOctober 24, 2024

Fat Separators

Tool Test

By Milk StreetOctober 14, 2024

Potato Mashers

Tool Test

By Milk StreetOctober 14, 2024

Baking Spray

Tool Test

By Milk StreetOctober 14, 2024

Kitchen Insider

Tips and Tricks From Our Kitchen

By Milk StreetOctober 14, 2024

Sherry Vinegar

Taste Test

By Milk StreetOctober 14, 2024

Potatoes Boulangère

Pommes à la boulangère is a humble French potato gratin that turns a few basic ingredients into a satisfying side dish. We embellish our version with smoky, salty bacon and a few cloves of garlic. To prevent the potatoes from oxidizing, prep them whil

Chicken Rogan Josh

The rich, highly aromatic Kashmiri dish known as rogan josh typically is made with lamb. We use bone-in chicken thighs that have had their skin removed before cooking to prevent the sauce from becoming too greasy. Butter and warm spices flavor the dis

Kale Salad with Za’atar, Feta and Pita Crisps

We tenderize sturdy kale by massaging it with salt and letting it rest in the dressing for this Mediterranean-inspired salad. Lemon zest and za’atar add tang while spicy-sweet Peppadew peppers bring bright notes. If you can’t find them, Italian sweet

Two-Hour Turkey

Chris Kimball's method makes roasted turkey the easiest dish on the Thanksgiving menu.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Harissa and Pistachios

In this recipe, sweet potatoes are enriched with browned butter, then are roughly mashed. We add spice with harissa, but balance it with cooling yogurt. A sprinkle of chopped pistachios adds contrasting color and texture. Serve as a side to roasted or

Parisian Flan (Flan Pâtissier)

Parisian flan is not the quivering, caramel-doused custard of Spanish origin. Rather, it’s a tart with a cheesecake-like stature.

Chocolate and Tahini Babka

Jewish-style babkas originated as a way to utilize leftover challah dough. To keep the pastry kosher, no dairy was allowed, so both the dough and filling typically were oil-based. These days, bakeries across the globe have reinvented the classic, craf

Linzer Bars

Linzertorte is from Linz, Austria, but these more casual bars were inspired by ones we tasted in Frankfurt, Germany. Whereas the classic dessert requires a tart pan, a lattice top and deftness with delicate doughs, this bar cookie comes together easil

Cheesy Mushroom-Thyme Fettuccine

Inspired by the fettuccine con funghi we tasted in Italy, we developed this recipe for creating a quick yet elegant dinner using supermarket ingredients. Be sure to use dried fettuccine or pappardelle made with egg; this type typically is sold coiled

Romanian Baked Polenta with Sour Cream and Cheese

In Romania, mămăligă cu brânză și smântână, or polenta with cheese and sour cream, can be the center of a meal or served as a side to roasts and braises. We prefer the robust texture and flavor notes of coarse polenta or stone-ground yellow cornmeal.

Pasta with “Fake” Sauce

In Italy, we learned about Tuscan sugo finto, or “fake sauce,” so called because the vegetables—onion, carrot and celery—are minced, then gently cooked in fat to the point where they resemble, in both appearance and texture, bits of long-simmered meat

Cantonese Sweet-and-Sour Pork

In Hong Kong, we sought out true Cantonese sweet-and-sour pork, predecessor of the gloppy, overly sweet versions served in many Chinese American restaurants. After sampling dozens of versions, we created our recipe by combining the attributes of the b

Slow-Cooked Short Rib Ragù with Pasta

At Tenuta Nonno Luigi, a restaurant in the town of Bellosguardo in Italy’s Campania region, chef Giuseppe Croce taught us how he makes ragù cilentano, a unique dish not well known outside of the area. The tomato-centric sauce gets its intense flavor a

Buttery Hazelnut and Winter Squash Tian

This winter squash side comes together easily. It takes its name from a classic French Provençal dish of vegetables baked in a shallow, round earthenware vessel called a tian. Either a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate or an 8-inch square baking dish works f

Sausage Risotto with Herbed Breadcrumbs

The unusual signature dish at Osteria Pane e Salame in Cremona, Italy, pays homage to the restaurant’s name. Risotto pane e salame, or risotto with bread and sausage, is a delicious carb-on-carb creation that pairs the velvety creaminess of risotto wi

Canederli in Brodo (Bread Dumplings in Broth)

Stale country-style bread is the base for canederli, the rustic, generously sized dumplings that originate in the Alpine regions of northern Italy. Our version is based on the recipes we learned in the city of Trento from Mauro Pisoni and Pietro Gambo

Cheesy White Beans and Kale

If you’re used to draining canned beans before use, take note that in this 30-minute skillet dish, we use the liquid from one can for braising the greens. Either cannellini or great northern beans work, and mashing a small portion at the end of cookin

Black Pepper-Cumin Chicken and Onion Traybake

This baking-sheet dinner was inspired by musakhan, a Palestinian chicken and onion dish seasoned with sumac and warm spices. The broiler makes quick, easy work of cooking while also delivering flavorful browning. The onions, arranged under the chicken

Green Beans with Spanish Almond Sauce

Dairy-based sauces tend to dull the flavor of fresh produce. We prefer Spain’s salsa de almendras, or almond sauce. The nuts are blended to create a sauce with creamy richness, but none of the heft of dairy. We pair it with tender-crisp blanched green

Colima-Style Shredded Braised Pork

The state of Colima on the western coast of Mexico is home to the pork dish called tatemado de Colima. Dried chilies, spices and aromatics, all blended to a smooth puree, are key flavorings, but a defining ingredient, other than the pork itself, is vi

Jamaican-Style Fish Stew

This simple skillet stew is rich with Caribbean flavors. It’s inspired by a dish called Jamaican run-down, which simmers mackerel in coconut milk, along with tomatoes, thyme and aromatics. The cooking liquid reduces to a luxurious sauce with spiciness