Tucker Shaw

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“Fun-Size” Lemon Cheesecake

Plan ahead: This cheesecake needs to cool and chill for at least 3 hours before serving. Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

By The Editors Published April 6, 2026

Ras el Hanout

Ras el hanout blends change from kitchen to kitchen, cook to cook, product to product, town to town. The idea is to create a flavorful, savory, complex blend that brings warmth, energy, and color. Use this home version as a baseline, then tinker to your taste. Store in a cool, dark place to help it maintain its pungency for a few months.

By The Editors Published March 16, 2026

Braised Drumsticks in North African Spices

Inspired by traditional tagines, but with a little input from other points along the Mediterranean. Feel free to substitute chicken thighs here; choose small-to-medium thighs, about 4 to 6 ounces each, and trim away excess far and skin. And if cilantro is not your thing, substitute parsley.

By The Editors Published March 16, 2026

Cooking for One: The Best Way to Do It Is to Trick Yourself Into It

The best way to ensure you’ll switch on the stove and grab a knife for a homemade supper is to trick yourself. To give yourself a leg up ahead of time. A little boost to avoid having to start from scratch. In the recipe here, that means a marinade.

By The Editors Published March 16, 2026

Tarting Up Your Pound Cake

Pound cake is a perfect—and increasingly rare—expression of culinary clarity. It is what it is (butter, sugar, flour, eggs), and it is nothing more. It doesn’t need to be. The one exception? The simple addition of kefir.

By The Editors Published February 16, 2026

Citrus Pound Cake with Kefir

If citrus flavors aren’t your thing, leave out the zests and just call it a pound cake. If you love almond flavor, substitute almond extract for the vanilla. This cake is delicious still warm from the oven, but even more flavorful the next day. It will keep, tightly wrapped at room temperature, for about three days. You can also freeze it for longer storage, up to a month or two. Consider slicing it first, and slipping a piece of parchment between each slice before tightly wrapping and freezing. That way, you can easily pop off a slice at a time. This recipe makes one pound cake.

By The Editors Published February 16, 2026

Crumb Cake Shouldn’t Equal Heartbreak

I’m genetically unequipped to say no to crumb cake; I just don’t have it in me to refuse. But still, I believed there had to be a better version. And after some trial and error, I found it.

By The Editors Published February 2, 2026

Rumble-Tumble Crumble Cake

You can use a stand mixer or hand mixer if you like, but this batter comes together pretty easily with a minimum of elbow grease. This recipe was developed with a gold-tone metal pan; for glass or ceramic, you may need to increase cooking time by a few minutes. Be sure to let the cake cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes before removing, or you might break the cake as you lift it out of the pan. (If this happens, simply serve crumbled crumble cake over ice cream and call it “deconstructed.”)

By The Editors Published February 2, 2026

The Rich History Behind Searching for the “Best” Food

Before Bourdain, before Fieri, there was…Clementine.

By The Editors Published January 12, 2026

Mrs. Caldwell’s Burnt Sugar Cake

This cake is a project, so book a couple of hours. Do yourself a favor and prepare the cake pans with butter and flour before you start. I use a medium saucepan to cook the sugar. It takes about 12-15 minutes or so to cook—(and do go just a moment or two longer than you think you should, to ensure those bitter notes come through in the end)—but watch it carefully and take it off the heat as soon as it reaches a deep caramel-brown color. And be prepared to beat the frosting for longer than you ever imagined you’d have to—it takes time to reach its optimal creamy state. This cake is delicious with a cup of coffee. Makes one 9-inch layer cake. – Tucker Shaw

By The Editors Published January 12, 2026

Clara McCracken’s Skillet Cabbage

Both green and red cabbage will work here. With apologies to Mrs. McCracken, I prefer this without the tomatoes, and I recommend cooking an additional 5-10 minutes, uncovered, for deeper color on the cabbage. – Tucker Shaw

By The Editors Published January 12, 2026

Mildred Rutherford’s Cheese Muff

Mrs. Rutherford suggests pairing this with a green salad for a light luncheon. I say good luck. — Tucker Shaw

By The Editors Published January 12, 2026

Cooking for One, Bistro Edition: Steak Frites

I decided I had a taste for steak frites, which is something I’ve made for a crowd before (people never believe it when you slide a big pile of hot fries onto the table in front of them), but never thought to do for myself. It seemed too, I don’t know, fussy to cook for just one. But steak frites is what I wanted, dammit, and so I went shopping.

By The Editors Published January 5, 2026

Steak Frites with Onion Jam for One

You can make the onion jam up to three days ahead. The cold-oil method for cooking fries allows you to time this out perfectly so that they’re just out of the oil as you sit down to eat. Feel free to use a smaller or larger steak, or substitute a ribeye or flank for the strip steak. Just adjust cooking times to fit the meat.

By The Editors Published January 5, 2026

Maple-Caramel Popcorn and Peanuts

This recipe is inspired by Crunch ‘n Munch, Cracker Jack, and Fiddle Faddle. You can use any plain popped popcorn you like—stovetop, microwave, or store-bought. Just make sure you discard any un-popped kernels.

By The Editors Published November 10, 2025

​Happy Thanksgiving, the Charlie Brown Way

Popcorn! Pretzels! Jelly beans! Ice cream! What a gorgeous holiday fantasy. Why can’t we do that too? Why can’t we fill our Thanksgiving table with good stuff like that? People, if they want to, are free to turn traditions on their head. All it takes is deciding to do it.

By The Editors Published November 9, 2025

Sandkage

From “Danish Home Baking” by Kaj Viktor, Kirsten Hansen, and Karen Berg (1957). The authors write, “Everybody in Denmark eats sandcake, every body bakes it and it is sold not only by all bakers and confectioners, but also by all grocers, all dairies, and even by a certain number of enterprising greengrocers. It rears its fluffy yellow head on the service counters of all railway station restaurants, all coffee bars, and all village tea-shops. Despite its somewhat uninspired name it can be very, very good, even the railway station variety, which is saying something.” – Tucker Shaw

By The Editors Published November 3, 2025

How to Use Yeast to Up Your Flavor Game

In recent months, I’ve added a packet of yeast to commercial cake mixes, with surprisingly flavorful results. I’ve added a packet of yeast to a basic banana bread recipe, a move that produced a grown-up product that called for forks and plates. I’ve added a packet of yeast to a batch of Toll House cookies—this was less impressive, because Toll House cookies are already perfect.

By The Editors Published November 3, 2025

The Cerulean Cookbook

In 2001, Ebury Press published Living and Eating by John Pawson and Annie Bell. It was a quiet release, not much splash. The book is still not very easy to find. But in the last quarter century it’s achieved a certain cultish status among contemporary cookbook collectors—and has inspired a thousand lookalikes.

By The Editors Published October 29, 2025

Cooking for One: Fried Chicken!

This super-simple stovetop method, inspired by katsu-style chicken and other similar dishes, nets you flavorful, juicy chicken breast with a super-crunchy exterior, and it comes together quickly—plus, it only needs three tablespoons of vegetable oil to cook, most of which is left behind in the pan.

By The Editors Published October 20, 2025