Some dishes earn their place at the table by being complicated. This one earns it by being the opposite: spaghetti, butter, garlic, and a serious amount of Parmesan, baked until the top turns into a golden crust you have to break through with the edge of a spoon. What makes it work is the contrast. … Read more
There is a specific kind of disappointment that comes from baked chicken tenders. You do everything right, the smell is incredible, and then you bite into a coating that is pale, soft, and vaguely damp. The chicken is fine. The crust is a letdown. This recipe fixes that with one small step most people skip: … Read more
This baked mac and cheese is built around a proper stovetop cheese sauce, folded through pasta and browned beef, then finished under the broiler until the top blisters into golden and dark brown patches. It is the version that comes out of the dish in thick spoonfuls rather than as a dry, sliceable block. The … Read more
Salisbury steak is usually a skillet dish, and the skillet is where it goes wrong. Six patties crowded into one pan steam instead of browning, and the gravy gets thin from all the liquid they release. Baking solves it. The patties are browned quickly first, then finished in the oven under a creamy onion gravy … Read more
Thin white fish fillets rolled around a crab and panko stuffing, stood upright in a dish, and baked in garlic butter until the tops turn golden. They look like something plated in a restaurant and take about twenty minutes to put together. Standing the rolls upright rather than laying them flat is what produces the … Read more
Beer brats done properly are grilled first and simmered second, and getting that order right is the whole recipe. Grilling gives the casings their char and snap, and the beer-and-onion bath afterward keeps them hot, juicy, and endlessly servable. This is how it is done at tailgates across Wisconsin, in a disposable foil pan set … Read more
These BBQ Beef Sweet Potato Rounds use roasted sweet potato slices in place of bread, topped with seasoned ground beef, barbecue sauce, and melted cheddar. They come off the pan looking like little open-faced sliders and eat like a cross between a nacho and a loaded potato skin. The sweet potato does something bread cannot. … Read more
These Grape Jelly BBQ Meatballs are the party recipe that refuses to be replaced. Three ingredients go into a slow cooker, and four hours later you have glossy, sticky meatballs coated in a sauce that is sweet, tangy, and slightly smoky all at once. The combination sounds strange until you taste it. Grape jelly does … Read more
This Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole layers crisp golden tater tots under seasoned ground beef and melted cheddar, then bakes until the cheese pools into the beef and the tots underneath stay firm. It tastes like a cheeseburger and eats like a casserole. The order of the layers is what separates a good version from a … Read more
This Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole layers crisp golden tater tots under seasoned ground beef and melted cheddar, then bakes until the cheese pools into the beef and the tots underneath stay firm. It tastes like a cheeseburger and eats like a casserole. The order of the layers is what separates a good version from a … Read more