ArcaMax

Our crisp, juicy, well-browned pork tonkatsu starts with 3/4-inch-thick boneless chops with a thin fat cap. We cut slits in the fat to prevent the chops from buckling and then sprinkled them with salt. We revamped the bound breading process so that a triple dip — first in flour, then in egg, and finally in panko — coated the chops with the ...Read more

For grilled boneless, skinless chicken breasts that are juicy, savory, and well browned, we started by pounding them 1/2-inch thick so that they cooked through evenly. Soaking the chicken for 30 minutes in a potent “brinerade” seasoned it and added moisture; we spiked the salt water with just enough umami-rich fish sauce to add savory depth ...Read more

A cilantro and jalapeno paste added verdant flavor and subtle spice to black beans and rice as well as a creamy avocado sauce.

Ancho-Rubbed Flank Steak and Cilantro Rice with Avocado Sauce

Serves 4

1 cup long-grain white rice

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed

1 (2-pound) flank steak, trimmed and cut into 4 equal steaks

1 tablespoon ...Read more

We were after a stately, impressive cake comprising intricate layers of delicate crepes and vanilla-scented cream. For the crepes, we went with a batter relatively low in flour, which ensured that it was loose enough to fully cover the bottom of a skillet. We added plenty of sugar for flavorful browning (and to keep these crepes firmly in sweet ...Read more

The long-standing popularity of this dessert dates to the 1860s, when the advent of egg beaters with rotating parts made whipping the egg whites for the batter easier. For bold citrus flavor, we steeped a generous 2 tablespoons of zest in the milk and cream for the batter to extract both its water- and fat-soluble compounds. Baking the pudding ...Read more

The chicken achieves a perfectly roasted hue and crispy skin from cooking first in the skillet, and once the chicken is moved to another dish to finish cooking in the oven (a must for bone-in chicken breasts to cook evenly), the skillet is left with a savory fond that is ideal for either making a rich pan sauce or flavoring pan-roasted ...Read more

Peruvian arroz con pollo originated in the seaside city of Chiclayo as arroz con pato, where it featured native duck and chicha de jora, a fermented corn beer that dates to the Inca Empire. Over time, Peruvians adapted to the lack of, or expense of, these ingredients by swapping in chicken and malty beer. The one-pot meal of succulent chicken ...Read more

The worst thing that can happen when digging into a layered dip — which is typically built in a deep bowl that showcases all the layers — is losing your chip in the dip. For this recipe, we rethought the architecture a bit and chose to build our dip on a platter. By layering store-bought hummus, rich Greek yogurt, and a mixture of Greek ...Read more

These thinly pounded steaks smothered in a rich, flavorful gravy are quick to come together. Minute-steak recipes originally used high-quality cuts of beef (most commonly sirloin) that were hand-pounded and flash-seared in a hot skillet. In some cases, the dish has evolved to include more affordable cuts of beef; here we prefer top round, bottom...Read more

For a peach ice cream that screams peach, a no-custard base was essential to let the delicate fruit flavor come through. A combination of fresh and cooked peaches yielded juicy peach aroma and flavor that permeated each spoonful. Using half-and-half gave the base a creamy consistency while tangy sour cream complemented the natural piquancy of ...Read more

To produce a facsimile of falafel with much less work, we streamlined the chickpea mixture from our popular falafel recipe. By pulsing chickpeas, aromatics, and spices in a food processor, we easily created a cohesive blend that we shaped into disks and pan-fried. A quick sauce of yogurt, tahini, lemon and mint beautifully complemented the ...Read more

We found that trying to add fresh strawberries, whether chopped or pureed, directly to the filling compromised the creamy texture of the cheesecake layer and prevented the bars from setting up correctly. Instead, we pureed the fresh berries and stirred them into a sweetened sour cream topping that we spread over the almost-done filling. After ...Read more

A food processor makes quick work of chopping not just the fish but also our fresh bread crumbs for these salmon burgers. We use just enough bread and mayonnaise (plus some choice flavorings) to bind the burgers together while letting the salmon still shine through. Broiling the salmon burgers on a sheet pan in the oven allowed us to prepare a ...Read more

A two-step technique for grating potatoes yields latkes that are crispy around the edges but still creamy in the center, with serious potato flavor.

Thick and Creamy Potato Latkes

Makes approximately 14 3-inch pancakes

2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes or russet potatoes, peeled

1 medium yellow onion peeled and cut into eighths

1 large egg

4 ...Read more

Breakfast burritos first appeared on a menu in 1975 at Tia Sophia’s in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but now they’re beloved around the United States as a handheld, hearty, and customizable morning meal.

For our version, we wanted potatoes that stayed extra-crispy. Frozen tater tots, thawed and then smashed flat in the skillet, did the trick. Along...Read more

We recently found that our nostalgia for frozen tots, like many kid-friendly foods, outshone the reality. Determined to right this wrong, we hit the kitchen in search of potato tots with a golden, crunchy exterior and light, fluffy interior.

Many recipes simply mix coarsely ground potato with flour and egg, but these tots fried up into raw, ...Read more

To make a creamy, smooth, and quick bean soup, we started by briefly simmering canned great Northern beans and their seasoned canning liquid with softened aromatic vegetables and herbs. Heating the beans caused their starches to hydrate, which made the soup especially creamy. Blending the beans with a small amount of liquid helped their skins ...Read more