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Jesse Szewczyk head shot - Epicurious

Jesse Szewczyk

Senior Test Kitchen Editor

Jesse Szewczyk is a food editor based in New York. He holds a degree from The Culinary Institute of America and has been a staff editor at The Kitchn and BuzzFeed Food prior to joining Epicurious as Food Editor. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Food Network, TODAY, Food52, The Washington Post, King Arthur Baking, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Allrecipes, Simply Recipes, Bake from Scratch, and several other publications. He was named a Forbes 30 Under 30 of Food & Drink and is the author of Tasty Pride (Clarkson Potter, 2020), a collection of 75 recipes and stories from the queer food community that raised $50,000 for GLAAD, as well as Cookies: The New Classics (Clarkson Potter, 2021), which was named one of the best cookbooks of 2021 by The New York Times and The New Yorker.

Lemon-Blueberry Quick Bread

A classic lemon-blueberry bread is a thing of beauty. Plush lemon cake studded with jammy, perfectly suspended blueberries gets coated in a glossy, dripping glaze.

Recipes & Menus

For Punchier Pantry Pasta, Add Peperoncini Brine

Using jarred peperoncini, brine and all, in your weeknight pasta is the pro move you didn’t know you needed.

Recipes & Menus

Peperoncini Pantry Pasta

This zesty pasta relies on a jar of peperoncini—including the brine—to do the heavy lifting.

The Secret to Level Cake Layers? Toothpicks

Build towering multilayer cakes with this stress-free technique.

Recipes & Menus

Smith Island Cake

This Smith Island Cake recipe boasts eight layers of yellow cake covered in a blanket of chocolate ganache.

Recipes & Menus

Crispy Fried Shrimp and Giardiniera

How do you make fried shrimp better? By adding giardiniera to the mix. Here the duo gets coated in a vodka-spiked batter to create a remarkably crisp exterior.

Recipes & Menus

Pecan Sandie Wedges

Tender, buttery, and pleasantly crumbly, these salty-sweet shortbread wedges studded with toasted pecans are a grownup version of the childhood favorite.

Recipes & Menus

Dirty Martini Chicken Thighs

This cheeky chicken recipe crams all of the iconic flavors of a dirty martini—olive brine, vodka, vermouth, and all—into a savory one-pan meal.

Recipes & Menus

Earl Grey Martini

Quickly infusing vodka with earl grey tea bags creates a distinct floral foundation for this fun (and caffeinated) take on a martini.

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Double Dark Chocolate No-Churn Ice Cream

This fuss-free ice cream doubles down on the chocolate flavor with a rich dark cocoa base and a glossy fudge ripple—no churning required.

How to Keep Your Rhubarb Cake From Getting Soggy

Rhubarb is juicy, which can spell disaster in a cake. Here’s how to bake one that doesn’t sog out.

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Rhubarb Cake

This rhubarb cake recipe keeps things simple and scatters thinly sliced fresh rhubarb on top of the cake

Recipes & Menus

You Don’t Have to Be a Cowboy to Love These Cookies

With chunks of chocolate, coconut flakes, and toasted pecans, cowboy cookies cram everything good into one bite.

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Cowboy Cookies

Cowboy cookies are like oatmeal ones, but packed with hearty mix-ins like coconut, pecans, and chocolate.

Recipes & Menus

Derby Pie Is Pecan Pie for Chocolate Lovers

This trademarked chocolate chip pecan pie has been the subject of countless lawsuits, but you can still make an ode to it at home.

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Kentucky Bourbon Pie

This nut pie recipe with chocolate chips and bourbon keeps things simple and honors the hallmarks of a classic Derby pie.

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One-Pot Pantry Orzo With Chickpeas

Staring down a bare pantry and fridge? This one-pot wonder—which pairs protein-rich chickpeas and briny olives and capers with tender orzo—will save dinner.

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This Oven-Grilled Chicken Brings Summer Flavor Year-Round

Grilling season starts now thanks to this one simple technique.

Recipes & Menus

Oven-Grilled Honey-Mustard Chicken

Juicy charred chicken, no grill required. For this broiled chicken recipe, you’ll use a quick marinade of mustard, honey, and mayonnaise.

Recipes & Menus

Baked Feta Meets Chickpeas in This One-Pot Pasta

Two popular recipes combine to create one comforting weeknight dinner.