Classic steak dinners are far from the only show in town when it comes to cooking an impressive Valentine’s Day dinner at home. In fact, I’ve pulled together a meat-free menu for two I’m really excited about and I’m certain my husband will adore. The name of the game is fast and fancy, with a generous dose of veggies and a decadent chocolate dessert. What else could you want?
At Kitchn, our editors develop and debut brand-new recipes on the site every single week. But at home, we also have our own tried-and-true dishes that we make over and over again — because quite simply? We love them. And we decided to start sharing some of our absolute favorites with you. Here’s a peek into what we’re cooking and eating in our own kitchens.
People often describe themselves as being a cake person or a pie person. Well, I’m a brownie person (with cake as a close second). And an equal-opportunity brownie person, at that. I love them whether they’re made from scratch or come from a box. But the thing I look for most in brownies is thickness — and big, bold chocolate flavor.
Because of the rich-looking centers and crackly top, I had my eye on these brownies from the second they were first published on our site back in 2017. It was also hard not to be intrigued by the short, budget-friendly ingredient list. Although the lack of actual chocolate anywhere in the recipe threw me off — could they possibly have the intense chocolate flavor I craved and be as impossibly delicious as they looked? The answer is yes and yes. And now it’s my go-to brownie recipe and the only one I make.
A good friend and her family just went dairy-free to see if they can clear up some skin and digestion issues in their littlest kiddo. The rest of the family is lamenting the loss of ice cream, but this mom is missing her family’s favorite dinners that used to make meal planning easy.
This week’s meal plan is a bit self-serving in order to help my own friend (but many readers are looking to go dairy-free too.) Still, I pinky promise that the recipes are easy and delicious as always. Here are five dairy-free recipes to try this week.
I have a personal rule when it comes to my kids: I always say yes when they ask to help with cooking. This doesn’t mean I’m inviting them to cook every meal with me, but when they ask I always oblige. Sometimes that means dinner takes 10, 15, even 20 minutes longer to get on the table, but we always learn something — even if it’s just to make sure the lid is tightly sealed on the paprika.
My 7-year-old has fully embraced being my sous-chef-in-training and cooks along with me two or three nights a week. Here are 12 of our go-to dinner recipes to cook together.
Growing up, I thought there was only one way to make a chocolate chip cookie. You started with the yellow bag of Nestlé Toll House chocolate morsels, followed the directions on the back, and nine to 11 minutes later you were rewarded with a tray of warm cookies. Simple as that.
Fast forward 20 years, and there are now more recipes for chocolate chip cookies than I’d ever have a chance to make in my lifetime (although I’d be down to try). To distinguish themselves from the competition, they all claim to be the best, whether that’s because they’re the easiest, or the most flavorful, or the chewiest, or the softest.
Some have even gone viral. There’s the version adapted from Jacques Torres in the New York Times, which was so thoroughly researched and tested that it likely is the most “perfect” chocolate chip cookie, although you have to wait for it (and pay for it), because science says a chill time of 36 hours yields the best cookie, as does 1 1/4 pounds of bittersweet chocolate disks.
Then there’s Alison Roman’s salted chocolate chunk shortbread cookies (aka #thecookies), in which she took all her favorite parts of the classic dessert and created something new altogether — a buttery, crumbly, salty concoction that proved just how far we’ve come since Toll House. Another Instagram favorite? The giant crinkled chocolate chip cookies from cookbook author Sarah Kieffer, featuring the unique (yet incredibly noisy) technique of banging your cookie sheet on the oven rack as the dough bakes.
But traditionalists, fear not, because some of the internet’s most popular chocolate chip cookies — from Alton Brown, Martha Stewart, and Joanna Gaines — don’t stray too far from classic versions. (We also tossed Toll House into the competition, to act as our control cookie.) There are no chocolate disks or flaky salt, no overnight chill or pan-banging — these are just good old-fashioned chocolate chip cookies. For consistency’s sake, I tested each with King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour, Nestlé Toll House semi-sweet morsels, and Domino sugar, and baked them all in the same oven, on the same cookie sheet, on the same day.
Here’s how they ranked, from my least favorite to the very best.
Around the World in 30 Soups: This month we’re collaborating with chefs, cookbook authors, and our own Kitchn crew to share a globetrotting adventure in soups from countries and cuisines around the world. Today’s stop: Thailand.
Tom kha kai is easy to make. If you can smash things, cut things, and boil water, you can pull off this classic on the first try. The hardest part? Getting your hands on the essential fresh seasonings. Galangal (the ‘kha’ in tom kha kai), kaffir lime leaves, and lemongrass have come to define tom kha kai. Some people will tell you that you can substitute ginger for the galangal, but that is not the case. In fact, the two ingredients are not even close to being interchangeable in the minds of Thai cooks.
But if you cannot find the fresh galangal and kaffir lime leaves, either locally or online, you can use tom kha paste, which comes in small glass jars. Any brand from Thailand will do. Just follow the directions on the label. Most of the time, making the broth involves dissolving the paste in the coconut milk.
—Leela Punyaratabandhu, author of Simple Thai Food: Classic Recipes from the Thai Home Kitchen
Growing up, my mom kept the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies on hand at all times, so that on snow days or sick days, we could grab the bag of Nestlé Toll House chocolate morsels and have warm cookies on the table in less than 30 minutes. I never even considered using a recipe other than the one on the bag. In fact, I just assumed that was the only way to make chocolate chip cookies.
In a bake-off against the most popular chocolate chip cookie recipes, I knew Toll House would win points for nostalgia. But when it came to the most important criteria — taste, texture, dough-to-chocolate ratio — would they be able to hold their own? Here’s what I found out.
Get the recipe: Original Nestlé Toll House Chocolate Chip cookies
Kitchn’s Delicious Links column highlights recipes we’re excited about from the bloggers we love. Follow along every weekday as we post our favorites.
When I have friends coming over for dinner, I find it difficult to get excited because I worry that they won’t enjoy my food. That’s why I’m always on the lookout for no-fail dishes that are both easy to make (I don’t need to stress out over the cooking process, too!) and guaranteed crowd-pleasers.
I’m definitely adding this creamy chicken tetrazzini to my list.
Last night on Late Night with Seth Meyers, the host got to live the dream: he spent an afternoon day-drinking with the Barefoot Contessa herself. Seth gets drunk (or, at least, stage drunk), and Ina remains her composed, lovely self while crushing Seth at the drinking games he challenges her to and dropping info like what her favorite cocktail is.
If you’re currently following a high-protein diet, perhaps you’ve hit a chicken breast rut. How about a little weekend Power Hour session to break out of your routine and set yourself up for a week of feel-good meals?
This Power Hour Meal Prep Plan requires no more than two hours of your Sunday, and leaves you with a week’s worth of high-protein breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. What do we mean by high-protein? The average amount of protein most people need in a day is 50 grams. This meal plan sets you up with roughly double that — about 100 grams per day — divided between three daily meals.