From the test kitchen
VegetablesThe tomato salad that taught us when to salt
Salt a sliced tomato 20 minutes ahead and it makes its own dressing. We tested four timings to find the window, then built a late-summer salad around it.
Read the storyHome cooking, tested
We roasted the same potatoes five times. You're welcome.
We do the repetitive tests and the extra dishes, then report back with what actually made a difference. You get the crisp edges without the trial runs.
Latest recipes and notes
Pantry
A pantry map for 20-minute dinners
Twenty shelf-stable ingredients, sorted into bases, flavor and finish, and the six dinners they make between them. Plus how to restock without overbuying.
Baking
Sourdough discard crackers you'll make on purpose
A thin, crackly seeded cracker that uses a full cup of starter discard. Why a low oven matters, how thin to roll, and how to keep them crisp for weeks.
Weeknight
Sheet-pan chicken thighs with a pan sauce from the drippings
Crisp-skinned chicken thighs, onions and lemons roasted on one tray, plus a five-minute pan sauce made from what's left behind. Dinner in 50 minutes.
Kitchen tests
How salty should pasta water be? We measured four pots.
Forget 'salty as the sea.' We cooked spaghetti at four salt levels, weighed everything and found the range that seasons pasta without ruining the sauce.
Weeknight
A 35-minute red lentil dal that tastes like it took all afternoon
Split red lentils, a pot of water and a two-minute tempering of spices in hot ghee. Why the tadka goes in last and why it matters so much.
Technique
Brown butter, and the eight places we now put it
How to brown butter without burning it, why it tastes the way it does, and where it earns its place: pasta, vegetables, cookies and cornbread.
Cook by topic
- Technique4The how and the why behind everyday cooking, explained so you can cook without the recipe.Browse
- Weeknight3Dinners on the table in about 45 minutes, with honest active and total times.Browse
- Kitchen tests3Side-by-side experiments where we change one variable at a time and report what happened.Browse
- Vegetables3Seasonal produce, roasting, salads and how to make vegetables the part of dinner people fight over.Browse
- Pantry3Lentils, grains, tins and jars: dinners you can cook when the shopping didn't happen.Browse
- Sauces2Pan sauces, brown butter and dressings that turn plain cooking into a finished plate.Browse