Cookbook/Sample

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Our kitchen

6 recipes · assembled on Recipedius

For Mom, who never measured anything.

Contents

Mornings

Buttermilk pancakes25 min

Banana bread1 h 15 min

Sweets

Lemon bars1 h 10 min

Classic shortbread50 min

Suppers and sides

Lemon and garlic roast chicken1 h 30 min

Tomato basil soup40 min

Chapter

Mornings

Mornings

Buttermilk pancakes

The acid in the buttermilk wakes the baking soda and softens the gluten; that is the whole trick.

2 cupsAll-purpose flour

2 tbspGranulated sugar

2 tspBaking powder

1 tspBaking soda

1/2 tspKosher salt

2 cupsButtermilk

2 Eggs

3 tbspButter, melted, plus more for the pan

1. Whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl and the buttermilk, eggs and melted butter in another.
2. Pour wet into dry and stir only until no dry streaks remain. Lumps are fine; a smooth batter is a tough pancake.
3. Rest 5 minutes while a skillet heats over medium. Butter the pan lightly.
4. Ladle ¼-cup rounds. Flip when bubbles break on the surface and the edges look dry, about 2 minutes; cook 1 minute more.

Serves 4 · 25 min · contributed by Dan F.

Mornings

Banana bread

A melted-butter quick bread, which makes it the friendliest recipe in the book for substitutions: oil, yogurt, honey and flax all have a place here.

3 Bananas, very ripe, mashed

1/2 cupButter, melted

3/4 cupGranulated sugar

1 Egg

1 tspVanilla extract

1 tspBaking soda

1/4 tspKosher salt

1 1/2 cupsAll-purpose flour

1. Heat the oven to 350°F and butter a 9×5 loaf pan.
2. Stir the melted butter into the mashed bananas, then the sugar, egg and vanilla.
3. Sprinkle over the soda and salt, then fold in the flour just until combined.
4. Bake 55–65 minutes, until a skewer comes out with moist crumbs. Cool in the pan 10 minutes before turning out.

Serves 10 · 1 h 15 min · contributed by Dan F.

Chapter

Sweets

Sweets

Lemon bars

A press-in shortbread base and a filling that sets to a clean, shining custard. Four lemons’ worth of zest is not a typo.

1 cupButter, cold, cubed

2 cupsAll-purpose flour

1 3/4 cupsGranulated sugar, divided: ½ cup for the crust

1/4 tspKosher salt

4 Eggs

4 Lemons, zest and juice (about ¾ cup juice)

1. Heat the oven to 350°F and line a 9×13 pan with parchment.
2. Rub the cold butter into the flour, ½ cup sugar and salt until it holds together when squeezed. Press into the pan and bake 18–20 minutes, until pale gold at the edges.
3. Whisk the eggs with the remaining 1¼ cups sugar, the zest and the juice until smooth. Pour over the hot crust.
4. Bake 20–22 minutes, until the center no longer jiggles. Cool completely, then chill an hour before cutting.

Serves 16 · 1 h 10 min · contributed by Marta O., Fair Oaks

Sweets

Classic shortbread

Three ingredients and a hot oven. Everything depends on the butter, which is why the substitution rules get cautious here.

1 cupButter, softened

1/2 cupGranulated sugar

2 cupsAll-purpose flour

1/4 tspKosher salt

1 tspVanilla extract

1. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, 3 minutes. Add vanilla.
2. Stir in the flour and salt until a soft dough forms. Do not overwork it.
3. Press into an 8-inch square pan, prick all over with a fork, and chill 20 minutes.
4. Bake at 325°F for 30–35 minutes, until barely gold. Cut into fingers while warm.

Serves 24 · 50 min · contributed by Community · 14 versions

Chapter

Suppers and sides

Suppers and sides

Lemon and garlic roast chicken

Salt the bird the night before if you can. Lemon halves in the cavity steam it from the inside and perfume the pan juices.

1 Whole chicken, about 4 lb, patted dry

2 Lemons, halved

6 Garlic cloves, cloves, smashed

1 Yellow onion, quartered

2 tbspOlive oil

2 tspKosher salt

1. Heat the oven to 425°F. Season the chicken inside and out with the salt.
2. Squeeze one lemon over the skin, then tuck both halves, the garlic and half the onion into the cavity. Scatter the rest of the onion in the pan.
3. Rub the skin with the oil. Roast breast up, 70–80 minutes, until the thigh reads 165°F.
4. Rest 15 minutes. Squeeze the second lemon into the pan juices and spoon over the carved meat.

Serves 4 · 1 h 30 min · contributed by Marta O., Fair Oaks

Suppers and sides

Tomato basil soup

Canned tomatoes, sweated onion, and cream stirred in off the heat. The cream is the one place a dairy-free swap works with no penalty.

2 tbspOlive oil

1 Yellow onion, diced

3 Garlic cloves, cloves, sliced

3 1/2 cupsCrushed tomatoes, one 28-oz can

1 tspKosher salt

1/2 cupFresh basil, leaves, torn

1/2 cupHeavy cream

1. Warm the oil over medium-low. Sweat the onion with a pinch of salt until soft and sweet, 10 minutes. Add the garlic for the last minute.
2. Add the tomatoes, 2 cups of water and the salt. Simmer 20 minutes.
3. Blend smooth. Stir in the basil.
4. Off the heat, stir in the cream. Taste for salt and a pinch of sugar if the tomatoes were sharp.

Serves 6 · 40 min · contributed by Community · 9 versions