What to Cook – FoodWatcher

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Braise & Roast Your Way Through Fall With These Cozy Recipes

As we exhale and enter fall, we become reacquainted with cooking again. Sturdy fruit and veg return on the scene, asking us to ply them with high-heat roasting and low-and-slow braising, showered with every aromatic to entice us back to our kitchens. Here is a collection of fall favorites for when you’re on the lookout for a quick lunch, dreaming up your holiday menu, and everything in-between, all guaranteed to elicit wows and bring comfort for colder days.

1. Honeynut Squash Frittata With Red Onion & Sage

This frittata is amazing. Make it as written with creamy honeynut squash for creamy, fluffy, golden bliss, or swap for other favorite fall-inspired ingredients (mushrooms, smoked fish, dark leafy greens—all tested by community members and work great). This one-pan wonder is equally terrific for your next brunch, or as the perfect breakfast-for-dinner.

The Secret to Better Blueberry Pancakes Year-Round

One of my daughter’s favorite Trader Joe’s buys is a bag of dried berries. (This likely correlates to another passion of hers, Starbucks, and the dried strawberry slices swimming in their “Refreshers.”) At home, these berries won’t find their way into …

But after listening to Julia Sherman on our podcast, Play Me a Recipe, I discovered a new, more interesting vehicle for dried berries: Pancakes.

5 Weeknight Dinners for When You Want Leftovers

In New York, we’ve just exited the ‘season’ named Second Summer, and it’s exactly what it sounds like: A weird period of time—mostly in early September—where temperatures fluctuate to briefly mirror the summery hell we just left behind. This ‘season’ (I say this loosely, as this is not an official time, just an observation by other New Yorkers) is bookended by False Fall (a brief reprieve from the heat, usually three to five days long), and Actual Fall. And Actual Fall is off to a cold, foggy, rainy start. Yay.

To get me through this weird week where I feel deeply unmotivated, but very hungry (always), I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite weeknight dinners I like to make while watching fall-themed rom-coms (Practical Magic anyone?) or hosting pals for a mid-week social boost.

Our 7 Favorite Pizza Dough Recipes

Not difficult, always worth it. That’s homemade pizza dough’s new tagline (I’ll send the invoice later). And unlike most slogans, it’s actually true. You don’t need any technical ability to properly make dough from scratch. You just need patience—and m…

Not difficult, always worth it. That’s homemade pizza dough’s new tagline (I’ll send the invoice later). And unlike most slogans, it’s actually true. You don’t need any technical ability to properly make dough from scratch. You just need patience—and maybe a bit of yeast. Other than that, there’s nothing to it. The best part? Most pizza doughs hold up in the freezer, meaning if you double or triple any of these recipes, pizza night can become a last-minute meal any night of the week.

To help get your pizza night (impromptu or not) started, we gathered seven of our best pizza dough recipes—all of which happen to be tested and approved by our Test Kitchen.

For the Perfect Fall Wine, Look to This French Region

With the help of our friends at Wines of Alsace, we’re highlighting four of the region’s most exciting wines—and ideas for how to pair them this fall.

As the weather cools down and the leaves begin to change, my taste in wine shifts from rosés and s…

With the help of our friends at Wines of Alsace, we’re highlighting four of the region’s most exciting wines—and ideas for how to pair them this fall.

As the weather cools down and the leaves begin to change, my taste in wine shifts from rosés and spritzes to light reds and bright, refreshing whites. I get out my tableware and start planning autumn dinner parties, food pairings, and wines that will bring us together.

5 Weeknight Dinners I’m Making Instead of Ordering Takeout (Again)

I moved into a new apartment a little over two weeks ago, and as anyone who’s ever moved knows, the process involves eating a lot of takeout—all your knives are in boxes, you don’t have any groceries, and you’re working in an unfamiliar, not-yet-home k…

I moved into a new apartment a little over two weeks ago, and as anyone who’s ever moved knows, the process involves eating a lot of takeout—all your knives are in boxes, you don’t have any groceries, and you’re working in an unfamiliar, not-yet-home kitchen. It’s a solid excuse for the first week or so post-move, but by now, I’m more or less settled into my new place. However, I’m still finding it hard to break the ol’ Doordash habit.

So, this week, I wanted to pick recipes that would get me cooking again. The main objective? Keep the stakes as low as possible: The recipes will be easy. The ingredients will be (relatively) few. Almost everything will be cheap, vegetarian, and rely on lots of pantry staples. I know these descriptors don’t sound exciting—that’s because they’re not—but they’re the kind of recipes that are ultimately the most reliable and comforting. Here’s what I'm making.

Magical Candy Bars That Anyone Can Bake at Home

I’ve long sought a grown-up candy bar, and think I’ve finally found it. The Lübeck Marzipan on the dessert menu at Koloman, a French restaurant in Flatiron, has the scent of an almond cake, the crunch of brittle, the chewiness of a great macaroon, and …

I asked Emiko Chisholm, the pastry chef at the restaurant, to come by our test kitchen to show me how to make this magical confection.

40 Years Later, This Plum Torte Is Still the Best Ever

There’s never been such a humble recipe with so much gravitas as the Purple Plum Torte, a tender cake dotted with sunken soft sweet Italian plums. First published in The New York Times in 1983, the recipe, which came from Lois Levine and was written about by Marian Burros, became so wildly popular among Times readers that the paper published it annually for several years running, something they’d never done before or since. When I started working on the first edition of The Essential New York Times Cookbook in 2006, I surveyed Times readers for their favorite recipes, and the plum torte won by a landslide.

What is its secret? What has enabled it to hold up for decades, unscathed by food writers who love to iterate and tweak and transform classics? As I wrote in my book:

The 3 Things You Need to Host the Ultimate Backyard Tailgate

We’ve teamed up with Zatarain’s® Smoked Sausage to make sure your game days are packed with flavor. From Blackened Seasoned Chicken Smoked Sausage to Andouille Smoked Sausage, their sausages add smoky depth and fiery zest to any dish at your tailgate.
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When I’m hosting a tailgate, I want my guests to be fed, relaxed, and informed. To feel all three things at the same time, it’s important to have the right snacks, cold drinks, plenty of seating, and a clear view of the game. Here’s everything you need for the perfect backyard tailgate.

40 Thanksgiving Cake Ideas to Try This Year

If there’s anything Thanksgiving is known for, it’s pie. And we’re not complaining—we love Thanksgiving pies, whether they’re filled with a classic ingredient like apple, pumpkin, or pecan or something more unexpected, like matcha custard or tahini mou…

If there’s anything Thanksgiving is known for, it’s pie. And we’re not complaining—we love Thanksgiving pies, whether they’re filled with a classic ingredient like apple, pumpkin, or pecan or something more unexpected, like matcha custard or tahini mousse. That being said: We don’t think pies are the only dessert that can (or should) appear on your Thanksgiving table. The same flavors that are so delicious in this season’s pies—warm spices, caramelized sugar, tart fruit—work just as well in cakes.

Here, we’ve gathered 40 of our favorite Thanksgiving cake ideas in one place. We have tons of easy, simple recipes for those looking to make dessert as speedy and stress-free as possible, along with more involved options like layer cakes for those seeking a challenge. In either case, your dessert is guaranteed to be the highlight of the meal.