Meal Prep

Natural dyes work best in royal icing or buttercream frosting, not cake batter.

I like to make a batch of Lebkuchen Spice Mix—a mixture of all the “usual suspects” in wintertime baking—in early fall so that I’m ready for the Christmas baking season. The mixture below is a great all-purpose one. But you can also tinker with the amounts if you want to highlight one flavor or another.

Also known as advieh, this aromatic blend comes from Persian cuisine. It’s fragrant, a little sweet, and gently warming. It is delicious mixed with sugar and sprinkled over baked goods, donuts, and rice pudding or added to dried fruits that are cooking into jam. It straddles the sweet and savory world because it’s also great for flavoring rice pilaf with toasted nuts, lentil soup, lamb meatballs, braised chicken, or vegetable stew. It’s a blend that is shared by chefs and pastry chefs. Use it to make Persian-Style Carrots and Black-Eyed Peas.

From here grow all other vinaigrettes. Use your instincts to vary the basic recipe. My everyday dressing almost always includes a bit of mustard which helps emulsify the dressing while adding tang.

Digging into these wet nuts is like getting the best part of the ooey-gooey pecan pie: the rich brown butter brings out the nuttiness of the pecans and walnuts, and tangy orange juice helps balance the sweet filling. Serve them over ice cream, with chocolate mousse, or with our Build-Your-Own Thanksgiving Pie Bar.

If you have jumped on the Sriracha bandwagon, this is the salt for you. Use it on anything that could use a spicy punch— popcorn, fried potatoes, ramen noodles, grilled seafood, and sliced tropical fruits. I like to use a big flaked salt for this one, but it works with any salt you choose.

If you like lox, bacon, or anchovies, you should thank salt—and time. That's all that it takes to turn supermarket limes into this pleasantly salt-tart-funky pantry staple, the sibling of preserved lemons.

To answer your question, yes, homemade is way better. This sauce pairs perfectly with Buxton Hall's Hushpuppies. This recipe is from Buxton Hall, one of Bon Appétit's Hot 10, America's Best New Restaurants 2016.

There are many different styles of barbecue and more than one kind of barbecue sauce. This one originated in Alabama, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll dip your fried chicken in it.

Chop these Calabrian-style chiles into pasta sauce or sprinkle onto pizza.

Combined with coconut milk, it’s the base for your next Thai curry.

There are a lot of aioli recipes out there. This one uses a coddled egg instead of raw, and the blender method ensures a successful emulsion.

Known as "SC Grenadine" at Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco, this fresh, two-ingredient grenadine syrup is perfect for tiki drinks or mocktails like a Shirley Temple.

There are three distinct, fundamental steps here: 1) weigh, 2) mix, and 3) chill. Once you've chilled your dough overnight, you can proceed with rolling, panning, pre-baking (if needed), and finishing your pie.

Try this mayonnaise on a BLT, egg salad sandwich, or as a dip for crunchy summer veggies.

When late-season and bruised tomatoes show up at the market, stock up.

Why buy this classic steak rub when you can make it yourself? Inspired by the flavors of pastrami, this rub is good on more than just steaks—try rubbing it on chicken, salmon, or even broccoli before grilling or pan-roasting.

An unbeatable basic dressing that's equally delicious on a rice bowl, a pile of wings, or a crunchy carrot salad.

Serve this easy Japanese sauce with summer rolls, sushi, or dumplings.

Japanese shichimi togarashi is a blend of seven seasonings including chile, orange zest, and sesame seeds that can be found at Asian grocers.