Stand by the pot as the sauce cooks—once it starts to thicken, it will stick to the bottom of the pan if you don’t stir it constantly. And once the bottom scorches, the flavor will permeate the sauce. If the sauce does stick and burn, immediately transfer it to a clean pot without scraping the bottom. Check the sauce, make sure it doesn’t taste scorched, then continue. Don’t let these warnings scare you away from cooking the sauce enough, though; there is nothing worse than the taste of raw flour on your tongue.
This classic 15-minute sauce is your secret weapon for homemade mac and cheese, chowder, lasagna, and more.
Originally called omelette à la neige (snow omelet) in reference to the fluffy snow-like appearance of the meringue, île flottante (floating island) has a lengthy history that dates back to the 17th century.
The silky French vanilla sauce that goes with everything.
Palets bretons are oversize cookies that feature butter, and because they’re from Brittany, they’re traditionally made with beurre salé, salted butter.
An ex-boyfriend’s mom—who emigrated from Colombia—made the best meat sauce—she would fry sofrito for the base and simply add cooked ground beef, sazón, and jarred tomato sauce. My version is a bit more bougie—it calls for caramelized tomato paste and white wine—but the result is just as good.
Native American people made these with cornmeal dumplings, simmering them with wild grapes, which were harvested at their peak sweetness.
A quick-fix dinner thanks to store-bought tortellini and chicken broth.
Developed in the 1980s by a chef in Hong Kong, this sauce is all about umami.