ArcaMax

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

For a light and airy, slightly sweet Easter bun, we added plumped raisins to a simple, water-based yeasted dough and gave it plenty of time to rise. Butter and eggs added richness, and an egg wash gave the buns a gorgeous golden-brown sheen once baked. To decorate our baked buns, we opted for a simple icing, which we piped in long continuous ...Read more

A 12-inch cast-iron skillet can handle just about any meal, from breakfast to dessert — and brownies are no exception. The best ones have crispy, chewy edges and rich, fudgy middles.

A combination of Dutch-processed cocoa powder and unsweetened chocolate created complexity, and a little vanilla added more depth. To achieve that perfect ...Read more

For a light dinner with the convenience of a one-pan meal, we paired a Mexican staple (green rice) with fresh, flaky fish. The trick to perfectly cooked fish and rice all in the same dish? Staggered cooking.

To start, we pureed cilantro, spinach, and a jalapeno in a blender to form a bright, piquant base for cooking the rice. Then we sprinkled ...Read more

This classic, comforting dish is ready in less than an hour — perfect for a weeknight dinner. We seared bratwursts, and after building our pan sauce of butter, onion, beef broth, and stout, returned them to the pan to cook through, bumping up the sauce’s meaty flavor. We thickened the gravy with a bit of flour and finished it with more ...Read more

After testing numerous combinations of dairy and eggs for our best quiche recipe, we settled on a medium-rich custard with a smooth texture, fine taste, and a good set, combining two whole eggs with two yolks, 1 cup of milk, and 1 cup of heavy cream.

We found that a baking temperature of 375 degrees was low enough to set the custard gently and ...Read more

We wanted a waffle recipe that produced crisp-on-the-outside, creamy-on-the-inside waffles. We found that a thick batter lets the outside of the waffle become crisp, while the inside remains custardy. Buttermilk made our batter extra thick.

Because crispness is so important in waffles, we tried substituting cornmeal for a bit of the flour in ...Read more

We amped up the “meatiness” in this vegetarian pasta sauce by using a full pound of savory cremini mushrooms and a hefty amount of tomato paste.

Rigatoni with Quick Mushroom Bolognese

Serves 4

1 pound rigatoni

3/4 teaspoon table salt, plus salt for cooking pasta

1 pound cremini mushrooms, trimmed and quartered

3 tablespoons extra-...Read more

Torta caprese is an Italian flourless chocolate cake that contains finely ground almonds, which subtly break up the fudgy crumb. Our version of torta caprese contains melted butter and bittersweet chocolate as well as vanilla, cocoa powder, and salt that boost the chocolate’s complexity.

Instead of grinding almonds in a food processor, we use...Read more

Orange juice and zest reduced down to make a sweet-sour-savory pan sauce to coat crispy-skinned chicken thighs.

Orange-Rosemary Chicken Thighs with Brussels Sprouts

Serves 4

8 (5- to 7-ounce) bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed

1 3/4 teaspoons table salt, divided

1 1/4 teaspoons pepper, divided

1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved...Read more

Meaty roasted mushrooms and creamy cauliflower make an unexpectedly delicious taco filling. Roasting the mushrooms and cauliflower in the oven created flavorful browning and varied textures; adding canned chipotle in adobo for the last few minutes added heat and depth to the vegetables. The microwave made quick work of pickling the red onion for...Read more

Who says nachos can’t be dinner? When they’re loaded with seasoned ground beef and pickled jalapeños, they’re sure to be plenty filling.

We made a simple microwave cheese sauce, so you don’t even need to turn on your oven to make these easy nachos.

Ground Beef Nachos with Sweet Pickled Jalapeños

Serves 4

4 jalapeño chiles, stemmed...Read more

When you’re winding down after the holidays, the last thing you want to do is spend hours in the kitchen making a meal. This dish will come together in less than an hour, making it the ideal dinner for your family after surviving a jam-packed schedule.

The secret? Roasting the vegetables while cooking the pork. It’s all about multitasking. ...Read more

We started our Champagne cocktail with an Angostura bitters-soaked sugar cube in the bottom of a chilled flute. Then we filled the glass with Champagne and garnished it with a lemon twist. These four ingredients interacted to form a cocktail that evolved from sip to sip.

Bursting bubbles aromatized lemon oils from the twist to make the first ...Read more