Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer

The best blue cheese for this is salty but creamy, not too sharp or funky.

This peach jam recipe makes enough to give a few jars away as gifts, or you could easily halve it.

How is this shortcake different from all others? Cake flour makes it extra-tender, for starters, then it’s baked in one big circle and bathed in tarragon-infused butter. You might never go back.

Make this once with measuring spoons and cups; the next time, just eyeball it, adjusting any or all of the ingredients to suit your palate. Then you can call it your classic.

This dressing is equally good drizzled over hard-boiled eggs or with crudité for dipping.

A lighter, brighter option for all you Caesar salad lovers.

The delicate flavor of rice vinegar along with the other Asian ingredients in this vinaigrette is ideal on tender greens like mizuna or mâche.

This corned beef hash is a two-step process, but nothing about it is difficult. 

The salmon absorbs more teriyaki flavor as it sits, making it even better (and breakfast that much quicker) if done in advance.

The mushrooms are not salted as they cook—this is intentional. The teriyaki sauce they’re tossed in adds plenty.

Breakfast is just the beginning. Use this teriyaki sauce in stir-fries, to marinate tofu, or to glaze chicken as it roasts.

Sesame oil will become bitter if it gets too hot, so cook over gentle heat.

When cooked with aromatics and rich tomato sauce, lentils are anything but bland.

The salty-sweet-sour umeboshi complement the earthy notes in the beets.

Beating the butter and sugar until light and fluffy is essential to this pound cake’s moist, tender crumb and the Grand-Marnier Poached Apricots add a boozy yet sweet kick.

Poach the figs in Calvados until just softened: Overcooking or intense boiling will render them a tough instead of lush addition to this chocolate torte.

For this braised chicken recipe, balsamic vinegar adds the sweetness needed to balance the sharp flavor of red wine vinegar.

Use mature flat-leaf spinach—the baby leaves lack flavor and texture.