My 7 Essential Recipe Resources for Next-Level Cooking
If you’ve mastered my four unfuckupable favorites, it’s time to try this new round of flawless recipes.
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You know by now—because hopefully you read last month’s 4 Wildly Easy Recipes story—that I am a proponent of unfuckupable recipes. Low-fuss, high-impact cooking is my guiding principle for food, and while those four recipes are essential to my repertoire, I have a few other dependable resources I think are worth sharing.
Over the last 15 years, I’ve tried thousands of recipes and hundreds of cookbooks to find these superstars. In discovering my go-tos, I have made loads of outrageous mistakes and wasted time and money, but those errors are actually quite valuable. All that experimenting means that now I’m quite good at recognizing what will work for me and the way I like to cook. (Again, this is just my own personal take on things; if you have a style or way of cooking that works for you, great. There is no “better” here—only what makes you happy.)
As I mentioned in that recipe story, my big takeaway from all this research is that if you want to learn to cook and like it, it is critical to find the cooks and recipe writers who resonate with you. By that, I mean folks who like a similar flavor palette, who use ingredients you are already drawn to, and who explain things in ways that make sense to you.
And on that note, since you all were so kind about sharing salmon recipes for people who don’t really like salmon (that’s me), if you have an excellent go-to recipe you’d like to share, I would be HONORED to try it. Just leave a link or a screenshot in the comments below!
HK’s ESSENTIAL RECIPE RESOURCES
1. Two Dudes, One Pan by Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo ($20)
If you live in L.A. or pay attention to the city’s food scene, you no doubt know of chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, who are the masterminds behind Jon & Vinny’s, Animal, Son of a Gun, and more. It’s weirdly heartbreaking that they haven’t published a cookbook since Two Dudes came out in 2008, but if this is all they’re gonna give us, I’m okay with that because it contains two of my favorite recipes in the world. It’s a real gem, I use it on a regular basis, and I very much recommend getting a copy if you can find it.
Must-Cook Recipes
-Buttermilk pancakes: This is 100% the best pancake recipe I have ever used. Nothing comes close.
-Spaghetti Bolognese: No shade to the GOAT Marcella Hazan, but this Bolognese is beyond superb and seems to be a dupe for the excellent Bolognese served at Jon & Vinny’s.
See also: Their Fusilli alla Vodka With Basil and Parmesian recipe, which was published in Bon Appétit in 2015, is also perfect and the original spicy vodka pasta of which there are a thousand dupes on social and beyond.
2. The Food Lab by J. Kenji López-Alt ($28)
This New York Times best-selling and James Beard Award–winning cookbook is for nerds like me who love the science behind food, but it is also an absolutely indispensable reference for the home cook who just wants to make excellent food. Yes, it’s steeped in science, but it’s also totally relatable and practical and full of pictures. It’s an essential if you’re early in your cooking journey, and I still reference it all the time.
Must-Cook Recipes
-Super-Crisp Roasted Potatoes: The perfect roasted potato requires a tiny amount of work, but it’s worth it for the payoff. TikTok’s “internet-famous potatoes” are allegedly not inspired by this recipe, but you’ll definitely notice a similarity.
-Mexican Street Corn Salad: I’ve tried endless variations on this salad, but this is definitely one of the best.
See also: I am deeply in love with the Moist and Tender Brown Butter Cornbread, which also makes the most divine croutons if you’re trying to re-create Bandera’s Macho Chicken Salad at home, which is my current cooking challenge.
3. Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat ($17)
Another New York Times best seller and James Beard Award–winning cookbook, this one was a gift from my awesome sister-in-law, who was perplexed that I didn’t own it already. She was right; it’s absolute perfection from start to finish, as is the Netflix series of the same title. The book is full of sweet illustrations and is also just a delightful read, even if you’re not cooking.
Must-Cook Recipes
-Persian-ish Rice: This version of tahdig is divine, and I’ve made it at least 50 times with a 100% success rate. In addition to being delicious, it’s incredibly impressive and will make people think you are a genius in the kitchen. Secretly pretty easy, it’s a must-try recipe.
-Buttermilk Roasted Chicken: While you know my go-to chicken recipe, this exceptionally easy recipe is also pretty darn excellent and extremely juicy. If you have leftover buttermilk on hand from making Jon & Vinny’s pancakes, may I recommend using it here?
4. Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman ($24)
One of the things I love about Alison Roman’s recipes is they are accessible but also push me to be a better cook and to try new things. Because of her, I have rubbed an ungodly expensive prime rib with anchovies (it’s now my go-to Christmas-dinner main), attempted my first pork shoulder (rubbed in harissa and made with white beans and chard; it’s next-level), and made the most interesting chicken dishes of my life (more on that below), all of which are in Nothing Fancy. I like her first cookbook, Dining In, too, but Nothing Fancy is the one I turn to more often than not and always when I’m having a dinner party.
Must-Cook Recipes
-Sticky Chili Chicken With Hot-and-Sour Pineapple: I don’t know why this recipe isn’t talked about more because it is INSANELY delicious. I also found this pretty easy to make, though it’s definitely more of a weekend dinner for me, as there is a marinade and a longer cook time. But folks, when I say it’s spectacular, it truly is.
-Slow-Roasted Oregano Chicken With Buttered Tomatoes: This is the cover recipe, and it’s so wonderful.
-Frizzled Chickpeas and Onions With Feta and Oregano: I cannot control myself when it comes to this recipe and had to take a break from making it because I would straight up eat until I felt ill. So, warning: This recipe may make you eat more chickpeas than you knew possible.
-Sweet and Salty Cream Cheese Tart: Full disclosure, I like this recipe, but I love the small tweaks in the version published in The New York Times as a Citrusy Cheesecake even better. On social media, Roman one time mentioned using Lotus Biscoff Cookies instead of Ritz, Nilla, or graham crackers for the crust, and she is absolutely right. Also, I use mostly grapefruit juice and sometimes blood orange juice if they’re in season.
5. In the Kitchen With a Good Appetite by Melissa Clark ($25)
New York Times food columnist Melissa Clark is the woman who got me into cooking. She is wildly, exuberantly prolific and writes a weekly column for the NYT and has published over 30 books. This cookbook was the first one of hers I bought, and it remains my favorite, though I have collected many others since.
One note worth pointing out: Clark is a force and knows so much more about food than I do, but I’ve noticed that we differ in our preferences on garlic and chilis, so if you like those two ingredients, you might want to bump up the amount the recipe calls for. Again, just a personal preference on my part.
And yes, my son’s name is lightly inspired by her.
Must-Cook Recipes
-Raw Tuscan Kale Salad With Chilis and Pecorino: If you have ever eaten at my house, there is a good chance you’ve had this incredible salad, which I have made so many times I can do it with my eyes closed. The dressing is flawless and will make a kale lover out of anyone.
-Garlicky Sesame-Cured Broccoli Salad: I eat broccoli the same way I eat salmon: because I should, not because I crave it. But this version is very special and a pleasure, not a chore.
-Pasta With Burst Cherry Tomatoes: I made this sexy pasta dish for my husband when we were first dating, and it was a definite hit. The following week, I made it for some of my best friends, and they were just as into it as he was, so not a fluke. It’s remarkably easy and tastes like summer in a bowl.
-Chocolate Pecan Pie: This pie frequently turns up on my Thanksgiving dinner table, and it’s honestly delightful.
The wonderful, kind, funny, and just all-around joy of a human Tieghan Gerard is the brilliance behind the wonderful website Half Baked Harvest and two excellent cookbooks, Half Baked Harvest Cookbook and New York Times best seller Half Baked Harvest Super Simple. (She also has a new cookbook, Half Baked Harvest Every Day, coming out at the end of March!) I adore her website, and her social media is a must-follow, as it is relaxing, informative, beautiful, and just a breath of fresh air. I can’t even begin to count how many recipes of hers I’ve made over the years, and I very much depend on Super Simple on a regular basis.
Must-Cook Recipes
-Chipotle BBQ Shrimp Tacos: The entire recipe is great, but truthfully, I make the shrimp solo on a regular basis to eat in a simple green salad with avocado and tomatoes, or I serve the shrimp with the slaw and skip the taco piece of it. One recipe, three great ways to eat it! It has also become my go-to ranch dressing recipe, as it is easy, delicious, and egg-free, so my youngest (who has a mild allergy) can eat it. Also, did I mention you can do this whole recipe in 30 min? Yup.
-Crispy Lemon Feta With Spiced Chickpeas and Basil Orzo: If you’re looking for more meatless recipes that are super flavorful and cozy, I cannot recommend this one enough. I was nervous about the crispy lemon feta part, but it’s no big deal, and even if you mess it up a little, it still tastes excellent.
7. New York Times Cooking App ($40 annual, or $5 per month)
Of all the places I discover recipes, there’s really nothing that compares to the New York Times cooking app. It’s full of next-level recipes, excellent videos, and a virtual recipe box that allows you to save your favorites. I use it so much it’s on the homescreen of my phone. It’s worth the price simply for the holidays—the team goes all out for Thanksgiving, in particular—but honestly, I think I look at it almost every single day.
Must-Cook Recipes
-Sheet-Pan Chicken With Chickpeas, Cumin, and Turmeric: I do the marinade before going to bed and then bake the whole thing the next day. It’s wonderful and another Alison Roman hit.
-Sweet and Salty Grilled Steak With Cucumber Salad: Ugh, this is flawless. If you marinate the night before, you can have dinner on the table in under 30 minutes, and it will be straight-up divine. I use the leftovers to make tacos the next day, and they’re perfect.
-Crispy Chicken Schnitzel With Lemony Herb Salad: While I love excellent fried chicken as much as the next person, I do not love making it. This recipe offers a hint of that goodness but is much easier to execute. Folks always adore it. Thanks again, Melissa Clark.
-Sheet-Pan Gochujang Chicken and Roasted Vegetables: Yewande Komolafe is a food luminary and I love everything she makes. This gorgeous sheet-pan recipe is insanely flavorful, the first recipe of hers that I tried, and wow, it’s a winner. Also deeply into her Baked Tofu With Peanut Sauce and Coconut-Lime Rice.
Once again, if you have an excellent go-to recipe you’d like to share, I would be HONORED to try it. Just leave a link or a screenshot in the comments below.
As always, thank you for being here, and thank you for sticking around. If you have any questions or concerns, or want me to touch on any topics in particular, I’m all ears. Leave a comment on Hi Everyone’s Bulletin or DM me on Instagram—I’m @hillarykerr—my inbox is always open!