These eminently satisfying pinto beans from Smitten Kitchen‘s new cookbook are baked with bacon, onions, garlic, tomato paste, and plenty of spices for a rich and satisfying side dish or dinner. Truly, once they’re topped with creamy avocado, tangy sour cream, a piquant onion-jalapeño-cilantro relish, and whatever else you like (cheese, tomatoes), all you need are fresh-baked tortilla chips to make it an easy, filling meal everyone will love. And feel free to leave out the bacon if you don’t eat meat; there are so many other flavors, it’s not at all necessary for a delicious feast. For more perfect pinto beans, get our Chipotle, Beef, and Bean Chili recipe, and our Warm Cheesy Bean Dip recipe.

This recipe is brought to you by our friends from Stella Artois. These Oysters with General Tso’s Cabbage and Furikake from chef Sam Talbot of Pretty Southern, is a fun, delicious twist on an old favorite—and on oysters, too. The crunchy deep-fried cabbage is dressed in an umami-rich sauce with sweet, sour, and spicy notes from pineapple juice, lemon juice, honey, and chili vinegar, then topped with freshly shucked oysters for a briny, minerally contrast. The furikake garnish is a traditional Japanese mix of sesame seeds, seaweed, salt, and sugar, as well as some sort of dried fish, often bonito, which is sprinkled over rice, vegetables, and other dishes for an extra boost of sweet-savory flavor. If you can find a version made with shrimp (which may be labeled “ebi” furikake), use that in this recipe. Also, Blue Point oysters are the chef’s choice, but you should choose the freshest oysters you can find in your area. If you’re not up for deep-frying cabbage, the oysters, sauce, and furikake make elegant appetizers on their own. Get Sam’s Pimento Mac and Cheese recipe, and read more about his Southern food philosophy.

The Queen of Sheba cake was popularized by Julia Child in her first book, The French Chef. This modernized, healthier take on the classic dessert, from the new cookbook, The Sweet Spot, reduces the added sugar by 75% and replaces the butter with silky mashed avocado. What you get is a rich, voluptuous, dark chocolate cake (first made in Queens, NY, hence the punny name), served with a beautiful Blackberry Whipped Cream. You can purchase ready-made blackberry powder at health food stores and online, but you can also simply blend freeze-dried blackberries to a fine powder in a food processor or blender and use that in the recipe. NOTE: To cut parchment to fit a round pan or bowl, fold a rectangular sheet of parchment in quarters and then into quarters again, as if making a paper snowflake. Cut the folded wedge to a length equal to the radius of your pan (half the diameter), them trim the open end into a curved shape. Unfold the parchment and place in the pan or directly on the mixture as instructed.

Packed full of beguiling flavors and textures, this quinoa tabbouleh salad is uniquely tasty and compels you to keep eating til the very last bite. The quinoa is fragrant with rosemary, garlic, and Meyer lemon, and makes a fluffy base for luscious dashi-infused shiitake mushrooms, firm ahi tuna marinated in a white soy sauce-lime vinaigrette, and a creamy bonito-rosemary aioli. Parsley brings freshness and a fried quinoa-pumpkin seed mixture adds crunch. And while, yes, there are a lot of ingredients—and several steps—to this recipe, you can make most parts of it in advance and spread the work out over a few days. For more inventive State Bird Provisions dishes, try their Black Butter-Balsamic Figs with Basil and Fontina Fondue recipe and Porcini Fried Rice with Balsamic Spring Onions, Ramps, and Porcini Aioli recipe.

An elegant but vibrant dish from Rasika, this sea bass is steamed in banana leaves to help it stay moist, and sparked with a brilliant green chutney that is sour, sweet, fresh, and spicy from ginger, garlic, green chile, mint, cilantro, and grated coconut. Any leftover chutney is great as a dipping sauce or sandwich spread, and if you can’t find sea bass, you can use flounder, sole, skate, or any thin white fillet instead. The banana leaves can be found at Asian or Latin grocery stores. You’ll want to trim them into roughly 9-inch square portions, but check the exact size against your longest fish fillet. The square of leaf should be large enough to wholly enclose the fish when folded in half, with a 1-inch border to ensure the chutney doesn’t ooze out. For more Rasika recipes, try this Crispy Fried Spinach with Tomato, Onion, Tamarind, and Yogurt recipe and this Indian Spiced Sautéed Mushrooms and Green Onions recipe. And for more ways to serve sea bass, get our Whole Grilled Bass with Olives, Onion, and Artichoke recipe, and our Roasted Fish with Thai Pesto recipe too.

This quick, satisfying sauté combines cremini mushrooms with green chili, fresh ginger, cumin, and deggi mirch (an Indian chili powder blend) for a spicy, earthy, and fragrant dish with freshness from chopped tomatoes. A little lemon juice adds bright acidity to augment the stir fry, which works equally well as a side dish or a vegan main. For more Rasika recipes, see their Crispy Fried Spinach with Tomato, Onion, Tamarind, and Yogurt recipe and their Steamed Sea Bass in Banana Leaf with Coconut-Mint Chutney recipe. Mad about mushrooms? Try our Marinated Mushrooms recipe, and our Mushroom and Chorizo Pizza recipe too.

These Vanilla Cupcakes with Peanut Butter and Jelly from Melissa Ben-Ishay transform classic PB&J into a portable dessert. The sweet vanilla cake is filled with grape jelly (but you can certainly use your favorite flavor; just be sure to buy a high-quality brand). The frosting is simply smooth, creamy peanut butter piped on top—so again, be sure to buy a great-tasting brand, preferably natural, but not too runny at room temperature. Check out Melissa’s Chocolate Chip Pancake Ice Cream Sandwiches recipe and her Doughnut Cake with Matcha Glaze recipe too. For more PB&J desserts, get our Peanut Butter and Jelly Fritters recipe, and our Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars recipe.

With their snowy coating of confectioner’s sugar and rich red velvet showing through the cracks, these red velvet crackle cookies are perfect for the holidays. The key to getting the stunning wintry effect is to coat the balls of dough in a lot of powdered sugar before gently flattening and baking them. The flavor of these tender brown sugar and butter heavy cookies is nice and chocolatey from Dutch processed cocoa and melted semisweet chocolate too. For two more beautiful holiday cookies, see Elisabet der Nederlanden’s Hot Chocolate Cookies with Aleppo Pepper recipe, and her Red and Green Icebox Pinwheel Cookies recipe. And for another colorful confection, try our Red Velvet Cake recipe.

These gorgeous icebox pinwheel cookies look like edible Christmas ornaments and would be a perfect choice for a holiday cookie platter, or giving as gifts, if you can bear to part with them. If at all possible, use a kitchen scale to measure out perfectly equal portions of the dough before coloring them. The intensity of your red and green dough will depend on how much food coloring you use and what kind. Here, Elisabet der Nederlanden used 1/8 teaspoon green gel food coloring and 1/4 teaspoon red gel food coloring to achieve vibrant results. She also has fantastic recipes for Red Velvet Crackle Cookies and Hot Chocolate Cookies with Aleppo Pepper. For more graphically appealing baked goods, try our Checkerboard Cookies recipe, and our Linzer Sablés recipe.

Don’t be daunted by this Braised Short Rib Dumplings recipe from the new Myers + Chang cookbook. The steps can be spread out over several days, and the meat and the chili oil both keep for a while. The braised short ribs are succulent and wonderfully spiced with garlic, ginger, star anise, soy, sesame oil, and a little sugar; you can use the meat in sandwiches, bao, and tacos if you’re not up for the task of folding dumplings, and you can even freeze the meat to keep on hand for last-minute meals. Similarly, the spicy, tongue-tingling Sichuan chili oil keeps for up to 2 weeks in the fridge, and is good drizzled over all sorts of other food. The synergy of the soft, juicy, meaty dumplings with the vibrant oil is pretty hard to beat, though. The Sweet Potato and Chinese Sausage Fritters with Sriracha Aioli recipe and Beef and Chinese Broccoli Chow Fun recipe from Myers + Chang are clear winners as well. Once you get the hang of folding dumplings, you’ll also want to try our Har Gow Shrimp Dumplings recipe, and our Steamed Vegetable Dumplings recipe.

This recipe is brought to you by our friends from Stella Artois. This dessert from Michelin three-star chef Antoine Westermann looks simple, but is richly textured and flavored: smooth, cold, luscious beer ice cream and warm, tender, fragrant glazed pears join crisp-crusted brioche that’s battered in beer and cream before being caramelized in a pan. You will need an ice cream maker, and will want to prepare the beer ice cream well in advance so it has ample time to freeze. You can also soak the pears in their citrus, vanilla, and cinnamon scented bath ahead of time, then glaze them with brown sugar and butter when you’re ready to assemble dessert, just before you toast the beer-and-cream-soaked brioche. While a pale ale or Belgian pilsner like Stella Artois will make for a nice light, clean flavor, you can certainly play around with your favorite style of brew for this recipe. For a main course from the chef, try his Baeckeoffe (Chicken Casserole with Artichokes and Tomatoes) recipe.

You may not think Indian flavors and queso go together, but this dip from The Homesick Texan‘s new cookbook proves it’s a brilliant idea. Processed cheese really does melt perfectly, and combines seamlessly with the spices here: cumin (which regularly shows up in both Indian and Mexican cuisine), paprika, and cayenne. The spicy chutney is heavy on garlic, cilantro, and jalapeño, with a hint of ginger and unsweetened flaked coconut, plus lime juice for brightness. You could try dipping pappadams into this in place of tortilla chips. And why not try Chilled Chile con Queso with Avocado and Spinach Queso Blanco too?

This Spinach Queso Blanco from The Homesick Texan’s new cookbook brings some green into the mix via baby spinach sautéed with garlic and roasted Anaheim chiles. Buy a chunk of white American cheese from your grocery store deli for the best flavor and meltable texture. Fresh pico de gallo brings a little juicy crunch to the warm, gooey queso, and avocado lends extra silkiness. Tortilla chips are mandatory for dipping. Try Chilled Chile Con Queso with Avocado and Indian Queso with Jalapeño Chutney too.

This beautifully buttery and decadent cake from the cookbook Sweet: Desserts from London’s Ottolenghi is striking for its rich flavor and texture and shiny, syrupy dark chocolate glaze, but also because it happens to be gluten free. Finely shredded coconut and vanilla bean seeds perfume the rich almond meal cake, which is topped with a thin, glossy, and intense chocolate ganache that runs gorgeously down the golden sides. This tastes even better served at room temperature the day after baking, and will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container, if it lasts that long. For more sweet treats from Ottolenghi, get their Middle Eastern Millionaire’s Shortbread recipe and their Chocolate, Banana, and Pecan Cookies recipe too. Looking for more gluten-free desserts? Try our Pavlova with Lemon Curd and Fresh Berries recipe, or our Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies recipe.

Pumpkin naan from chef Navjot Arora of Indian soul food restaurant Old Monk is certainly a novel way to use fall’s favorite fruit, and an inspired autumnal spin on an Indian classic. The pumpkin puree lends a hint of earthy sweetness and a subtle orange shade (which you can bump up with a pinch of red food coloring) to the soft, puffy flatbread. If you’re short on time, you can always used canned pumpkin puree instead of making your own. And if you don’t have a tandoori oven, not to worry. Just make sure your cast iron pan or wok has a heat-safe handle, because the whole thing will be going into a very hot conventional oven. For another recipe from chef Navjot, get Old Monk’s Honey Chili Chicken recipe. Since you won’t need all of your pumpkin puree for this naan, put the rest to good use in our Pumpkin Garam Masala Latte recipe, or our Pumpkin Spice Milkshake recipe. And for something to serve with your pumpkin naan, try our Pumpkin Curry recipe, or our Chole Masala recipe.

This Obituary Cocktail is a little unexpected, and a lot satisfying. Basically a killer Martini with a splash of absinthe, this would certainly be a great choice of deathbed drink, but let’s hope you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy many more. Since there are only 3 ingredients and they come together in a flash, you certainly won’t die of thirst. For more tipples with just a trio of components, try Jackson Cannon’s Jack Rose and the Gold Rush too. And for more wickedly delicious ways to use absinthe, try our Death in the P.M. cocktail recipe, and our Sazerac cocktail recipe.

The glow in this Halloween punch isn’t a photography trick. It naturally comes from the bitter alkaloid quinine, which also gives tonic water its characteristic bitterness. Because the quinine in the tonic is UV reactive, it will glow an eerie (but edible!) blue when exposed to a standard black light. But it does take a good amount of tonic to get a nice bright glow: Our test kitchen found that tonic water had to make up at least 50 percent of the volume in the recipe. To balance that bitterness, we mixed it with sweeter pineapple juice, Cointreau, pisco, and lime juice, in a riff on Pisco Punch. And in a Martha-inspired moment, we also created glowing “severed hands” by freezing tonic water in latex gloves to give the punch an extra-creepy look and keep it cold. Make sure to place the punch bowl right underneath a couple of black lights to get the maximum luminescence. What to buy: Pisco is a brandy distilled from South American white Muscat grapes. It can be found at well-stocked liquor stores or online. Special equipment: You will need 2 medium or large powder-free latex gloves and 2 rubber bands to make the glowing hands. To get the glowing effect, you will need a few black lights. Game plan: To quickly flatten the tonic water for the severed-hand ice cubes, place it in a container and agitate until bubbly. Repeat several times until almost no bubbles remain. Alternatively, pour it into a container, loosely cover, and let sit overnight at room temperature. The severed hands will need to freeze overnight, so be sure to make them at least 1 day before you plan to serve the punch.

Does Cheeseburger Pudding sound unappetizing? Then follow the suggestion in The Culinary Bro-Down cookbook and call it “crustless cheeseburger quiche” instead, or maybe bread pudding with beef and cheese. The burgers—beef, cheese, buns, and all—are chopped up and bound with eggs, milk or cream, and extra cheddar (or whatever queso you’ve got), then gently mixed with sacred ketchup for a kind of ingenious dish perfect for brunch, dinner, or devouring right in the kitchen after you’ve had one too many. If you’re making this spur-of-the-moment some Friday or Saturday at 3 AM (as is wholly appropriate) and you don’t have any frozen burgers but you do have a Golden Arches walk-up window nearby, maybe try it with some Happy Meal cheeseburgers or quarter pounders instead. You should also try Josh Scherer‘s recipes for Cap’n Drunk Pancakes and the Ramelette. For slightly fancier beef-and-cheese options, get our Bacon Cheddar Meatloaf recipe, or our Cheeseburger Pie recipe.

This recipe is brought to you by our friends from Stella Artois. These unexpected appetizers from chef Theo Friedman are a beautiful balance of flavors and textures, and are far easier than you’d expect from the impressive results. Grated zucchini and onions are cooked down to a jam-like consistency with garlic, white balsamic, and thyme. The mixture melts into crunchy grilled sourdough toasts that are topped with smoked feta, fresh zucchini, and fragrant basil, plus halved Mexican sour gherkins for an extra pop. These gherkins taste like lemony cucumbers and look like tiny watermelons, but if you have trouble finding them, you can substitute small pieces of English cucumber squeezed with a little lemon juice, or simply leave them off. See more from Theo Friedman here, and check out all the mouthwatering details from our farm-to-table dinner event hosted by Stella Artois and Feastly, where these toasts were first made. If you’ve got a surplus of zucchini and are pressed for time, try our Zucchini Carpaccio with Feta and Pine Nuts recipe, and if you’ve got some left over for dessert, get our Zucchini Layer Cake with Tangy Buttercream Frosting recipe.

Crisp, lightly sweet, and buttery, this classic pastry crust is an elegant base on which to build an entire repertoire of tarts. It’s easier to make than flaky pie pastry, too—just stir melted butter with sugar and a bit of salt, then blend in all-purpose flour to form the dough. With your fingers, press it into a tart pan (no rolling necessary!), and let it hang out in the fridge for half an hour before pricking the bottom and baking. Fill the baked and cooled crust with anything from Easy Chocolate Ganache topped with Easy Whipped Cream, to Lemon Curd and meringue, or Vanilla-Buttermilk Pastry Cream and fresh fruit. Jazz up the tart shell by adding the seeds from a vanilla bean or a tablespoon of citrus zest, or just follow the recipe for our Ricotta and Honey Tart or Chocolate Ganache Tart. Special equipment: You’ll need a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.

Red Velvet Cake is the pride of bakers in the South, and with reason. Imbued with an alluring deep red hue, a fine grain, and an abiding moistness, it’s one of the glories of the American pastry kitchen. Combine that with the sweet tang of cream cheese frosting, and it’s far too tempting to ignore. For a simpler option, check out our Red Velvet Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. And for a different kind of formal chocolate layer cake, try our Chocolate Cake with Whipped Fudge Filling and Chocolate Buttercream. This dish was featured as part of our Valentine’s Day Recipe All-Stars.

Two South Philly neighbors kitty-corner from one another, Pat’s King of Steaks and Geno’s Steaks, battle it out 24 hours a day for cheesesteak domination. And while native Philadelphians have strong opinions about what toppings to add and even how to order (Whiz-wit or wit-out), both steak shacks essentially serve the same thing: seared strips of steak, sautéed onions, and plenty of cheese on a crusty hoagie roll. CHOW’s version starts with onions and optional peppers and mushrooms that are cooked till tender, then pushed to one side of the pan to make room for searing thinly sliced rib-eye. The vegetables are piled up right on the steak, slices of provolone are melted on top, and the whole mess is served in a toasted hoagie roll. Make sure to have plenty of napkins on hand, especially if you drop the provolone for some Cheez Whiz. Game plan: Don’t forget to chill your rib-eye before starting this recipe—it’ll make the steak much easier to slice.

Lasagna is such a comfort food. But making it can seem like a long, complicated process to the uninitiated. Take the first step to homemade lasagna glory with this simple recipe. Remember, these are the basics. Feel free to improvise after you’ve made this recipe once as-is. This easy lasagna recipe is made with layers of creamy ricotta and spinach filling, tomato sauce, Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Making a proper lasagne is all about a harmonious ratio of filling, cheese, sauce, and noodles. For this spinach and cheese version, we’ve skipped the béchamel sauce found in traditional lasagna recipes to make the dish fast and easy to assemble. Bake until browned and bubbly, and serve with a simple salad or vegetable side for a cozy vegetarian meal. For dessert, we recommend following up with another easy comfort food classic like our Rice Pudding recipe.

Alfajores are soft, delicate cookies from South America made, surprisingly, with cornstarch. The cornstarch gives the dough a smooth, satiny texture that makes it a dream to work with and produces a tender, crumbly cookie. Creamy Dulce de Leche holds the cookies together. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can take these to the next level by rolling the edges of the finished cookies in flaked coconut or covering them in chocolate. Special equipment: A plain or fluted 2-inch round cutter is needed to portion out the dough. This recipe was featured as part of our Argentine Grilling menu.