White chicken chili is a fresher, lighter cousin of the thick red chili most of us know and love. Its appeal is not surprising because it is a healthier alternative and, when made well, packed with vibrant flavours and spiciness. All too often, however, this chili is lacklustre.
Incredibly rich and impossibly smooth, flourless chocolate cake is elegant, refined, and universally beloved. But recipes for this intense, deeply chocolate dessert typically require complicated techniques. Our take on this indulgent cake minimizes fuss without sacrificing flavour or texture.
Pancakes are a blank canvas, so bring out your inner artist. You can work your magic at the table with maple syrup, honey, confectioners’ sugar, cinnamon sugar, fresh fruit and/or softened butter. Or you can cook your artistry right into the pancakes by adding chocolate chips, chopped nuts, shredded coconut, sliced bananas, or raspberries instead of the blueberries.
Spinach dip can feel like the responsible, healthy choice on an appetizer buffet but that doesn’t mean it has to be bland or boring. For a spinach dip to really taste good, we found that both the ingredients and the method were key.
Risotto is a simple rice dish elevated beyond the prosaic by its voluptuously creamy texture. Of the many risotto dishes that dot northern Italy, risotto alla milanese is at once one of the simplest and most luxurious, because it’s flavoured with the most globally prized spice, saffron, which perfumes the dish with its floral aroma.
Traditionally, Italian porchetta is a whole pig that is spit-roasted to produce fall-apart tender, rich pieces of slow-cooked pork, aromatic with garlic, fennel seeds, rosemary, and thyme. It’s served with pieces of crisp skin on a crusty roll.
Naan is an Indian flatbread with a chewy texture and a puffed, slightly charred crust. Brushing the baking sheet with olive oil and then baking the naan on the lowest rack in a 400 F oven gives it a crispy texture—just like pizza crust. This recipe can be doubled. Follow this recipe with your kids.
PIZZA IN A FLASH
Servings: 1-2
Making holiday cookies—the rolled, cutout, and glazed butter-cookie variety—is everyone’s favourite December activity. Unfortunately, these cookies either look good but taste like cardboard or have buttery, rich flavour but lack visual appeal.
Shrimp scampi is rarely awful—it’s unusual for things to go terribly wrong when garlic, wine and butter are involved—but restaurant versions always make me wish I’d ordered differently. I have never been presented with the ultimate scampi, the one that I can almost taste when I peruse the menu: perfectly cooked, briny beauties in a garlicky, buttery (but not greasy) white wine sauce.
When it comes to pot roast, keeping it simple is sometimes best. We started with a chuck-eye roast, a well-marbled cut that is great for braising. Splitting the roast in two allowed us to trim excess fat and cut down on cooking time.
