Peanut

This rendition of peanut brittle is enriched with butter and a dash of vanilla. The butter and baking soda make it opaque instead of clear.

This version of the all-time American favorite is crisp, chewy, and very peanutty. After trying it, you will probably never eat store-bought peanut brittle again.

These candies resemble the candy bars I used to buy at the movies when I was a child. They are nutty, crunchy, and coated with chocolate.

This is the ideal candy for peanut lovers!

Keep the pan of simmering water nearby to re-warm the chocolate as you are working. You will need about 30 1 1/2-inch and 12 2 1/2-inch paper candy cups; they are available at most baking supply stores.

You can make bite-size cookies by rolling the dough into smaller balls.

This recipe calls for natural peanut butter, which has less sugar than regular and gives the cookies a richer peanut flavor.

This is a great dish to serve at an informal lunch or dinner party. Set out all the ingredients, and let your guests assemble their own bundles. Store-bought roasted duck or chicken can be used; skip step 2.

Get hooked on this crunchy, low-salt snack mix and use it to replace high-sodium potato chips.

Barbecue has lots of definitions, but what it really means to us is lots of leftover piles of meat for new and different dishes. Barbecue dishes can be as versatile as you want them to be—they don’t have to include slaw and beans. Pulled pork that’s been lightly seasoned and smoked can go in any direction. R. B. is adamant about crisping the cooked meat in a hot skillet first. The meat takes on a new texture that’s great for sandwiches, tacos, and brunch hash. Here, soft tacos made with any cheater meat take on Asian flavors with a simple sweet-hot peanut BBQ sauce and some fresh fixings.

No matter how much you like to cook, everyone gets stuck in a rut. When you find yourself making the same old things, it’s time to cook out of your comfort zone. For us, this means a trip to any international market where one step inside we remember how much there still is to learn. The good news is that walking the aisles of the unfamiliar unlocks the secrets to many of the ingredients in our favorite restaurant dishes. The greens in the produce section alone will keep us busy for a year. We can’t shop when we’re hungry, so first we eat. Thankfully, the Vietnamese noodle bowls right next door energize and inspire our international shopping trips. Vietnamese noodle bowls are filled with contradictions in complete agreement—hot and cold, crunchy and soft, sweet and sour, rich and light. The bowls of warm thin noodles, cool leafy lettuce, bean sprouts, and herbs topped with any meat or seafood you like are perfect for leftover cheater meat. The sweet/salty/spicy dressing may appear way too complex for home cooking. It’s not. The international market has everything you need. Cooking out of your comfort zone will help you dissect the components and flavors of unfamiliar foods. Even if cooking Vietnamese at home sounds daunting, give this a try with leftover cheater meat just for the fun of better understanding how opposites get along.

A pleasing composition using a minimum of exotic ingredients, this traditional Asian dish becomes somewhat offbeat through the use of fresh tomatoes and basil.

Here is a pleasing variation on this popular Thai noodle dish. Though the dish is more than fine without it, do try to use fresh lemongrass if possible, as it adds a subtle flavor and scent. Many supermarkets now carry this once-exotic item. But don’t worry if you can’t find it; I’ve made the recipe with and without, and it’s good either way.

Salted nuts balance the sweetness of caramel in these candy-like cookies. These bars are quite rich, so feel free to cut them in half.

Stephen Harriman, a writer for the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, says, “For some reason, I was expecting the peanut pie to be a pecan pie look-alike. Instead it looked more like a lemon meringue or banana cream pie. If you like peanuts smooth, you’ll love this.”

Baked inside sugar cones, these cupcakes-in-hiding combine the best aspects of an ice cream sundae (all those great toppings!) in a no-melt treat. The cones are adorned with buttercream and topped with the usual fixings—whipped cream, colorful sprinkles, chopped nuts, melted chocolate, and even a cherry on top. Any leftover batter can be baked in mini muffin tins. An old-fashioned ice-cream-cone stand is a charming (and convenient) way to serve the cupcakes.

Addictive and easy, this is our version of a quick Asian-inspired sauce that we serve with Thai Balls (page 45). However, we also think it’s a smashing success alongside fresh-cut veggies as a crudités dipping sauce. Alternatively, try mixing a few tablespoons in with your next stir-fry or thinning it with water and serving it over Asian noodles. This sauce will keep for up to two weeks in the fridge.

Lucinda Scala Quinn, editorial director of food and entertaining for Martha Stewart Living, keeps this cookie dough on hand for casual get-togethers. After forming the dough into 1-inch balls, she flattens them slightly before freezing on cookie sheets until firm; the ready-to-bake pieces are then frozen in resealable plastic bags for up to one month.

Recipes for peanut butter cookies abound, but this one packs a particularly powerful punch. The dough is studded with whole salted peanuts for extra crunch. Sandwich a few with jelly for an afternoon snack. Or embellish them instead by piping melted semisweet chocolate into the lines of the cross-hatch pattern.