Food Processor

Low-acid Meyer lemons make the citrus flavor of these bars especially vibrant.

Baking a batch of these classic Austrian sandwich cookies is a project—but totally worth it.

Using miso on the turkey is a great way to get wonderfully moist meat — always a challenge at Thanksgiving. The skin doesn't get as crisp as it would without, but we think the succulent results are well worth the trade-off. The miso won't give the turkey an Asian flavor, but it will add a rich meatiness to the gravy. Don't use a brined or kosher turkey for this recipe or the bird will be too salty (miso has a high sodium content).

Most butchers will remove the backbone for you; see left to learn how. Lots of guests? Roast two 12–14-pounders; spatchcocking anything larger will be harder and takes longer.

You will fight your own relatives for the bits of cheesy goodness stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Easy enough for a weeknight, but special enough for a dinner party.

Pea pesto is a condiment, a sauce, a flavor enhancer. I spread it on grilled skirt steak marinated in horseradish and on lamb chops. I sauce spaghettini with pea pesto (just boil the pasta in chicken stock and toss in the pea pesto and garnish with toasted breadcrumbs) and I dress cold roast chicken with pea pesto and homemade yogurt. I broil or grill seafood skewers and serve them on a pillow of pea pesto; I sauté scallops or swordfish in the pan with pea pesto; and serve poached eggs on an English muffin spread with pea pesto. For extra zing, you can add a tablespoon of horseradish to every cup of peas.

This showstopping dessert has a few components and requires some chilling time, but it's surprisingly easy to put together and can be done well ahead of time. Making the caramel layer is the only involved step, and if you want to skip this step, just use a good jar of dulce de leche instead.

"Because it's cheese! And nuts! In ball form! Best of all, it's infinitely riffable, as these recipes demonstrate. Hurrah, freedom! Hurrah, cheese balls!"

Gently spiced pecans and a salty caramel topping give this morning treat a savory dimension.

Like some sort of drug dealer, Joe (aka the big boss) has been known to keep a small plastic bag of this addictive Mexican spice rub in his glove box. And indeed, it's never a bad thing to have on hand. Although the recipe has a few steps to it, it's well worth the effort. At the restaurant, we use it to season everything from corn on the cob to chicken to our Spring booty taco. When cooking with it, just beware that it's quite salty. Also, it keeps for a long time, which means that you may want to make a double batch.

This quintessential spring pie has the perfect combination of strawberries, rhubarb, cinnamon, and a delicate, flaky crust.

Watson, who's from Louisiana, grew up on his mom's dirty rice; that dish helped inspire this bastardized fried version. The chicken-liver base tastes very concentrated and intense on its own, but becomes nicely balanced in the finished dish.

We're now obsessed with this snail-shaped pasta (which is made from scratch at Tosca).

This super simple dough comes together in a food processor. For best gluten development and flavor, let the dough rest overnight in the fridge.

"Never met a fritter I didn't like, and I love this one." —Allie Lewis Clapp, food editor