Easy

Ask for a thick center-cut piece of halibut, which makes for the nicest presentation.

This slow-roasted pork shoulder comes out of the oven before it collapses into a shreddable texture; it will be succulent and tender but easy to slice.

Gigante beans have a nutty, buttery flavor and creamy texture, and hold together when cooked.

It’s just as tasty without booze but only as good as the chocolate you use, so shop accordingly.

Cream of tartar is optional, but it keeps the sugar from crystallizing, making this caramel foolproof.

A fun first course to serve to guests in the kitchen. By the time one batch has been devoured, the next one will be coming out of the fryer.

For a slightly more virtuous quick bread—more like breakfast, less like dessert—reduce the amount of granulated sugar to one cup. 

Loaded with fresh herbs and sturdy kale and then set off by a bright and spicy dressing, this salad from Hot Joy is an ideal counterpoint to the more decadent dishes on the table.

Jaew is a tart, smoky dipping sauce from Thailand, usually served with grilled meats and sausages. Hot Joy chef Quealy Watson takes it to a Tex-Mex place in this eggy, cheesy rice dish that might remind you of nachos (it works). Watch the step-by-step video here.

The intensely flavored soffritto is the foundation of this rich pasta; double the ingredients and freeze half for next time.

Onions are loaded with umami flavor, as are anchovies, mushrooms, and Worcestershire sauce. Together, they make this dip especially hard to resist.

In search of a classic tuna melt? This is the best we’ve tried. Palace Diner makes its own pickles, but of course you can start with store-bought.

Love to eat Good & Plentys? These licoricey meringues from Måurice are for you.

Chorizo adds smoky flavor to this vegetable-heavy frittata; use bacon if you prefer.

There are as many stromboli fillings as there are pizza toppings. Feel free to improvise, but don’t use too many wet ingredients in this stromboli recipe, or the dough will be gummy inside.

Not that this pulled chicken recipe is hard, but you can make it even easier by using a store-bought rotisserie chicken instead of the breasts called for here.

Think of this pasta from Tosca as a carbonara, but with tomatoes in place of the eggs.

The more chiles you use, the closer you’ll come to the tear-inducing flavor of the dish as it’s served at Thai-Khun.

Prefer a turkey, pork, or lamb sausage? By all means, use that instead.

This recipe from Thai-Kun makes a generous amount of sauce, which you may find yourself finishing (we won’t judge). Any leftover would be great on everything from white rice to noodles to…well, more bread.

Bright, herbal, and sharp, this comically simple condiment is just what you want alongside braised meat.

Because the dough for this pita bread recipe has a relatively short rising time, it can be made while the lamb braises. Turn up the oven and bake the pita while you’re reducing the braising liquid on the stove-top; the timing will come out perfectly.