Chris Kimball's Book Reviews

This issue, I have gone through my cookbook library looking for books that have, sometimes remarkably, stood the test of time.

By Chris KimballJuly 30, 2024

Teacups

Over time, teacups evolved to reflect each culture’s tea-drinking rituals

By Milk StreetJuly 30, 2024

Tomato Paste

Kitchen Cabinet

By Milk StreetJuly 30, 2024

Off The Air

Editors’ Answers to Milk Street Radio Questions

By Milk StreetJuly 30, 2024

Small Bites from Milk Street

“Pheasant? Forget it. Squab? Sorry, I can live without you. Chicken? Chicken is a vegetable. But ducks? Ducks are magic.” —Angie Mar

By Milk StreetJuly 30, 2024

Italians Really Do Eat Spaghetti and Meatballs

In Abruzzo, we learned the ancient origins of this all-American pasta

By JM HirschJuly 30, 2024

A New French Onion Soup

In Paris, Hortense Thireau at Bichettes is taking a fresher, lighter approach to bistro classics

By Chris KimballJuly 30, 2024

Hold the Tomatoes, Please!

At Rome’s Piatto Romano, chicken cacciatore is prepared with wine, rosemary and vinegar— and nary a tomato

By Chris KimballJuly 30, 2024

For Better Brussels Sprouts, Try a Deeper Char

A high-heat oven isn’t enough. You also need a blistering-hot pan

By Milk StreetJuly 30, 2024

The Cheese-Crisped Secret to Better Salads

Baked with Parmesan until crispy, cauliflower becomes a savory crouton.

By JM HirschJuly 30, 2024

Season Them While They’re Hot

Priming roasted vegetables to sop up more flavor is easier than you think

By Milk StreetJuly 30, 2024

The Invisible Apple Cake

A disappearing trick? Ultra-thin apple slices turn “invisible” as they meld into the custardy batter of this French loaf cake.

By Chris KimballJuly 30, 2024

For the Easiest Cake, Don’t Mix It, Blend It!

This easy cake comes together in the blender—no careful creaming needed.

By Milk StreetJuly 30, 2024

Rice Cookers

Tool Test

By Milk StreetSeptember 1, 2024

Ginger Graters

Tool Test

By Milk StreetSeptember 2, 2024

Kitchen Insider

Tips and Tricks From Our Kitchen

By Milk StreetJuly 30, 2024

Chili Crisp

Taste Test

By Milk StreetJuly 30, 2024

Persian Barley-Lentil Soup with Spinach

This hearty vegetarian soup was inspired by a recipe in “Bottom of the Pot” by Naz Deravian, who explains that she created the dish by combining two classic Persian soups: lentil and barley. She uses dried limes common in Persian cuisine to infuse the

Chicken Traybake with Poblano Chilies, Tomatoes and Onions

Family-friendly chicken fajitas inspired this easy dinner on a baking sheet. We add the ingredients in stages to ensure each cooks perfectly. First, we cook earthy poblano chilies and onions until tender. Then sweet-tart tomatoes join the mix, followe

Curried Potato and Green Pea Frittata

This simple frittata, studded with warmly spiced peas and potatoes, takes inspiration from Indian samosas. We bloom curry powder and whole cumin seeds in oil, creating a flavor-rich base for cooking the vegetables. We start the cooking on the stovetop

Yellow Blender Cake

A tender all-purpose yellow cake that's almost as easy as a boxed mix, with a pure vanilla flavor you'd expect from a fancy bakery.

1-2-3 Frosting

American-style buttercream, made by beating butter with powdered sugar and a little milk, is one of the easiest frostings to make, but it tends to be cloyingly sweet, with a noticeable granularity from the sugar. This 1-2-3 formula—1 cup cream, 2 stic

French Onion Soup

Is there such a thing as “light” French onion soup? The answer is an herbaceous, brothy bowl served to Chris Kimball at Bichettes in Paris.

Thai Green Curry Chicken and Vegetables (Gaeng Keow Waan)

Bright and aromatic, Thai green curry, or gaeng keow waan, is brimming with complexly layered tastes and textures. Our version is an adaptation taught to us by home cook and food blogger Rawadee Yenchujit, who incorporates coconut water as well as coc

Blistered Tomato Orecchiette with Fresh Mozzarella

Tossed with olive oil, garlic and seasonings, cherry or grape tomatoes blister and soften in minutes under the intense heat of the broiler. We deglaze their caramelized juices with a little starchy pasta cooking water to create a simple, flavorful, no

Shrimp Tostadas with Orange and Avocado

These tostadas are all about contrasts—in flavor and texture, as well as color. Gently poaching the shrimp keeps them plump and tender, and using a skillet ensures quick, even cooking. We use extra-large (size 21/25) shrimp so there are fewer to peel

Harissa-Braised Cauliflower and Chickpeas

This one-pot braise combines hearty chickpeas and tender cauliflower for a speedy yet satisfying meat-free dinner. Harissa paste varies in spiciness by brand, so it’s a good idea to taste yours before deciding whether to add 1 or 2 tablespoons, or som

Twice-Baked Potatoes with Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Gouda

Our riff on twice-baked potatoes is inspired by Irish colcannon and French pommes de terre braytoises, which flavors potatoes with Dijon and tangy crème fraîche. We opted for more readily available sour cream and chose Brussels sprouts instead of colc

Agrodolce Red Onions

Italian sweet and sour onions—called cipolline agrodolce—typically are small whole onions simmered with sugar and vinegar. But Ristorante Barbieri in Calabria uses sliced tropea onions, a variety that is a specialty of the region. We apply their techn

Roasted Eggplant Salad with Tomatoes and Pine Nuts

This dish takes inspiration from salatit el-batinjan, a Middle Eastern tomato-eggplant salad. We tried a few techniques for cooking the eggplant. Broiling created a nice char but added little flavor. Roasting large chunks turned the salad slippery and

The Original Spaghetti and Meatballs (Pasta alla Chitarra con Pallottine)

In towns across the Abruzzo region in central Italy, we learned to make a local specialty: pasta alla chitarra con pallottine, the ancestor of Italian American spaghetti and meatballs. Pasta alla chitarra, the pasta used in Italy, is a long strand sha

Thai-Style Tan Tan Mian

At Bā Hào, a bar in Bangkok’s Chinatown, we were smitten with the tan tan mian, a soup that featured chewy wheat noodles in a rich, spicy-sweet peanutty broth, finished with bits of ground pork, shiitake mushrooms and sesame seeds. Sichuan pepper add

Roman-Style Chicken Cacciatore

Cacciatore, it turns out, is not always a chunky, tomato-heavy braise. At Piatto Romano in Rome, we learned how to make the Roman version—an elegant, minimalist dish bright with the acidity of white wine and vinegar and heady with rosemary, garlic and

Oven-Charred Brussels Sprouts with Chipotle Chilies and Peanuts

Brussels sprouts, like many other Brassicas, are delicious deeply charred, when their vegetal overtones give way to nuttiness and bittersweetness. We employ a couple techniques to achieve deep, flavorful charring. First, we put a heavy baking sheet on

Shaved Carrot and Parsnip Salad with Gingery Hazelnuts

Shaving carrots and parsnips into ribbons transforms the fibrous root vegetables into a tender, sweet salad base. The long, thin strips have ample surface area to soak up flavors and support contrasting ingredients, such as crunchy chopped nuts. They

Malaysian Beef Stew with Toasted Coconut and Lemon Grass (Beef Rendang)

Beef rendang is one of Malaysia’s best-known dishes. The stew features tender chunks of beef in a rich coconut sauce that’s aromatic with red chilies, lemon grass, shallots, garlic and turmeric. Coconut milk or cream is used for simmering, but the ste

Kale Salad with Crispy Parmesan-Cauliflower Croutons

Italian frico takes a couple different cheese-centric forms. One resembles a thick pancake that typically consists of potatoes and onions bound with an enormous amount of Montasio, a semi-firm cheese from the Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Veneto regions o

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Scallions and Lime

In this colorful side, the tartness of lime counters the natural sugars in sweet potatoes. We roast the chunked potatoes on a baking sheet, leaving them alone for the entire time so that the sides that are against the hot pan brown nicely and add note

Chinese Almond Cookies

These golden-hued cookies, meant to resemble coins, are believed to be a Chinese-American invention inspired by traditional Chinese walnut cookies called hup toh soh. The almond cookies sold in bakeries typically have a sturdy crispness throughout yet

Invisible Apple Cake (Gâteau Invisible)

“Cake” is somewhat of a misnomer for this elegant dessert. Instead of open, airy and crumby, the texture is rich and dense, with slices of sweet-tart apples set in an egg-rich batter. During its long bake in the oven, the fruit slices and custard-like

Caramel Sauce with Allspice

This spiced caramel is perfect with the apple cake, but also is excellent on ice cream (or even eaten with a spoon). It will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks; bring to room temperature before serving.

Brown Sugar Whipped Cream

Brown sugar and a little sour cream give this topping a more interesting flavor than a basic whipped cream. If you chill the mixer bowl in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or so before use, the cream will whip up more quickly.

Cumin-Spiced Tomato Rice

To make our version of South Indian tomato rice, called thakkali sadam, we use tomato in two forms: paste, which offers concentrated flavor and deep color, plus chopped cherry or grape tomatoes for freshness. The cooking starts with a tarka—that is, b

Slab Pizza with Sausage, Chard and Onion

This slab-style pizza boasts a pillowy, focaccia-like dough topped with garlicky tomato sauce, crisp sausage and silky sautéed greens. A flavorful cheese blend brings everything together. We recommend provolone and Asiago for their slightly funkier no

Pan-Roasted Pork Tenderloins with Apple, Sherry and Smoked Paprika

Our inspiration for a Spanish spin on pork and apples comes from “Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America” by José Andrés. Our version uses pork tenderloins that get a stovetop sear and finish in the oven on a bed of lightly sautéed onion and Granny Smith

Ají Verde

Ají verde is a popular Peruvian condiment. Creamy and spicy, with fruity acidity from lime juice, it’s the perfect accompaniment to pollo a la brasa. Ají amarillo is a spicy yellow Peruvian chili. Look for ají amarillo paste in Latin American markets,

Skillet-Roasted Peruvian-Style Chicken

Peru’s uber-popular juicy, crispy chicken, adapted for the skillet.