Author: Chef M

We modern-day witches and wizards lead a hectic life, especially when we live with humans who are unaware of our existence. That’s why sometimes we need to take it easy or wave our wands and, like Samantha, Darrin, and Tabitha, enjoy a good, satisfying meal at home as a family. In such cases, you simply can’t beat macaroni and cheese.

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We call Chef Jeff the vegan-soup whisperer. He has an uncanny ability to coax incredible flavor out of vegetables and fruits to make soups that make even the most ardent meat lovers swoon. This carrot ginger soup is one of our customers’ favorites. It starts with slow-roasted carrots and fennel, lots of grated fresh ginger, a little bit of apple for sweetness, and a touch of nutmeg at the end for depth. I strongly suggest finding a whole nutmeg and grating it fresh for this soup; the aromatic deep flavor of freshly grated really makes a difference. I showed Chef…

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‘Sofrito, or sofregit, is one of the Catalan mother sauces, made from slow-cooked onions, tomatoes, and olive oil. It is the base of too many dishes to count, without countless recipes that begin with “first, make a sofregit”… Similar or equivalent sauces exist in almost all the Mediterranean cuisines.’

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For the macarons, substitute hazelnut flour for the almond meal and omit the vanilla bean. Omit the buttercream filling and use the ganache recipe below note that the filling must be made a day ahead.

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Pan Pizza is everything good about the toppings on a regular pie, with the addition of lots and lots of baked crust. The recipe makes enough dough for two pies. If you’re only making one pie, store the extra dough in a covered bowl or container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before using.

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This is a very traditional Puerto Rican dish that is especially popular during Lent and around the holidays. This is the version passed down in Milagros’s family. The word viandas describes the various starchy roots and tubers in typical Latin American cuisine.

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The best molasses spice cookies combine a homespun crinkled appearance with a chewy texture and a deep, gently spiced molasses flavor. We tested the three main kinds of molasses in our dough and liked two of them equally: light (or mild) and dark (or robust). Light molasses imparted a mild flavor, while dark had a stronger presence, so the choice is up to you. (We found blackstrap molasses overpowering and bitter.) A modest amount of dark brown sugar boosted the sweetness and added strong caramel notes. To complement these assertive sweeteners, we needed a powerful yet balanced team of spices. Cinnamon,…

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We wanted to build a healthier blueberry muffin using whole-wheat flour. Problem is, most whole-wheat  muffins are dense, bland sinkers that nobody wants to eat. Could we create a version that was tender and delicious? First, we needed to address the cardboard-like flavor that plagues so many whole-wheat muffins. We replaced part of the whole-wheat flour with ground toasted almonds and loved how their richness and nuttiness complemented the whole wheat’s own earthy, nutty flavor. But the muffins were still squat and dense. Switching gears, we combined two leaveners baking soda and baking powder. We were surprised to find how…

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