These Chocolate Peppermint Shortbreads are tender cookies decorated with a glossy coat of chocolate topped with crunchy peppermint candies. They come together quickly with little fuss—just make the dough, chill, slice, bake, and decorate. These cookies are quick enough to crank out on a weeknight or as a fun weekend family project. How to Make Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Make the shortbread dough, consisting of flour, butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and peppermint extract....

The result is a salty, crunchy, chocolate-covered treat that’s nearly impossible to stop eating. What Is Christmas Cracker Candy? Constant stirring as you make the caramel mixture gives you a finished candy that’s closer to the texture of pralines than English toffee. You have a deep caramel flavor, but the bites are fairly soft and easy to chew. The crispiness comes from the crackers themselves. Ways to Top Your Cracker Candy You can get fancy and sprinkle nuts, coconut flakes, or holiday-colored sprinkles on top if you want, but I’m a purist when it comes to my Christmas cracker candy....

Start by slicing the avocados in half and setting aside the pits. If you are not serving the guacamole immediately, keep some of the pits to leave in the bowl to keep it from turning brown. Slice the inner pieces of the avocado vertically and then horizontally to form medium-sized pieces and then scoop them out of the shell into a bowl. Next, just slice up the rest of the ingredients and add them to the avocado, squeeze in the lime juice, add the seasonings and mix everything together....

During colder months, soups played a prominent role in my cooking saga. I remember when my roommates and I spent the morning preparing pho, and the day I learned to make chicken tortilla soup. One soup recipe that stuck with me through the years is this creamy coconut and carrot soup. The sweet, earthy flavor of carrots paired with nutty coconut milk offered a myriad of possibilities for adaptations. I tried a coconut carrot soup with lime, crushed peanuts, and chili sauce, and a version with paprika and brown sugar....

It’s comforting to know that Szewczyk is a food stylist and that he was adamant about working with one particular photographer on the book: Chelsea Kyle, whose food photos are hyper-stylized and hyper-appealing. In other words, this showstopper isn’t the work of mere mortals, but professional artists working their magic. It is also comforting that despite the next-level art that would make “Cookies” a killer coffee table book, the recipes are truly approachable....

How to Make Sweet Potato Soup We adapted this recipe from one in an old issue of Bon Appétit, changing it up slightly—ditching the maple syrup the original called for (the sweet potatoes are sweet enough), and cutting back on the cream. We start the soup by cooking a base of onions, celery, and leeks in butter. Then we add sweet potatoes, chicken stock and spices, simmer for 20 minutes, and purée until smooth....

Curry Powder Makes a Beautiful and Tasty Dish Curry powder, which consists of turmeric, coriander, cumin, and ginger gives this chicken salad its beautiful golden color— mostly because of the yellow turmeric in the blend. In this recipe, we’re adding the curry powder to the mayo used to make the salad rather than adding it to the chicken itself. Curry can sometimes taste bitter when added to a dressing like this, so the secret is to mellow the powder first in hot oil, just for a minute....

Making Pork Chops on a Smoker This is truly a no-fail method to follow for smoked pork chops. Here’s how: If you like this recipe, try our easy smoked burgers and perfectly smoked meatloaf! Recipe Tips This recipe works best with thick cut, bone in pork chops. If you use thin cut or boneless, reduce the smoking time as noted in the recipe.If you don’t want to use the homemade seasoning, just sprinkle on your favorite seasoning mix....

This simple slaw is made with thinly sliced fennel and radicchio, fresh dill, and seasoned rice vinegar. It actually tastes better after sitting in the fridge for a day or two! Because the vinegar in the dressing is so pale, the vegetables won’t discolor as they marinate. In fact, the radicchio brightens from a muted burgundy to a bright magenta. The fresh dill enhances its warm-weather appeal, as the herb is commonly used in summer dishes like potato and cucumber salads....

Chicken pieces are first browned and then slowly cooked in a sauce with ground toasted walnuts and pomegranate molasses. You might not normally think to make a sauce with walnuts and pomegranates, but it’s a perfect combination! Video: How to Make Persian Pomegranate Chicken The toasted walnuts are rich and warm and the pomegranate molasses sharp and berry toned. Cooked slowly with the chicken, the sauce is spectacular. Bowl-licking good....

Here is a salmon salad using freshly poached salmon that is restaurant-worthy. It’s light, cool, and wonderfully flavored with dill, capers, and lemon. Perfect for a brunch or light lunch! How to Make Salmon Salad To make this salmon salad, we first salt the fillets and chill them. This gives time for the salt to penetrate the fillets a bit and give them more flavor. Then we lightly poach the salmon fillets for just a few minutes in salted water with a slice of lemon....

The ingredients are mixed together, frozen, broken up into slushy chunks, and topped with more beer. Then all you need is a straw that will allow you to mix the slushy periodically while drinking. Hazy Origins of the Paloma When researching the history of the paloma cocktail, I noticed there is quite a bit of misinformation. In 2009, some bartenders falsified the cocktail’s Wikipedia page. The origins are hazy, but it doesn’t seem to have existed prior to 2000....

Garlic knots are a pizzeria favorite, and in New Jersey, their presence was a sign that the pizza joint you just walked into was legit. Garlic Knots, a Thrifty Way To Use Dough Scraps Making knots is a thrifty way to use scraps of dough and the leftover garlic-butter-parsley sauce most pizzerias would use for their white pizzas or garlic bread. Over the years I’ve seen people make gigantic garlic knots the size of croissants, but that seems weird to me....

Though most well-known for serving French dip sandwiches, Maison Pickle’s pull-apart bread is equally delicious. My favorite variation features the soft rolls slathered with garlic parmesan butter, still warm from the oven. It is a rich, comforting appetizer ideal for sharing with friends and family. After leaving the city and moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts, I found myself craving these buttery rolls on the regular. So, naturally, I decided to create my own version inspired by the original....

Since then I’ve gotten my daily fix by savoring the corner of a chocolate bar or, on occasion, digging into something more special, like these Mini Chocolate Olive Oil Cakes. A Healthier Chocolate Cake These pint-sized cakes are undeniably decadent, so you might be surprised by the ingredients. While they don’t exactly qualify as “health food,” they’re healthier than your standard variety confection. That’s because they’re made with almond flour instead of all-purpose flour and olive oil in place of butter....

You’re probably asking yourself, “What is sugo?” and before you pause this story to Google it, do yourself a favor and don’t, because you might be misled. As a first generation Italian American, self-taught chef, cookbook author, and someone who almost became an Italian language teacher (sorry for wasting your money, mom and dad!), I was pretty shocked to see that most Google search results describe sugo as a tomato sauce....

Back when I tasted it in the early 1990s, St. Louis was not known for its farm-to-table, seasonal, and local food ethics. But this restaurant catered to a somewhat hippie clientele and the name “green goddess” seemed appropriate. The dressing was bursting with herbs and salty flavor—which I later found out was anchovies—and I fell in love with it! What Is Green Goddess Dressing? Of course, the name Green Goddess is evocative of a statuesque woman, a sort of princess of mother Earth, so it makes sense that it would be packed full of fresh grown herbs....

This recipe is great for a summer barbecue or when you want a quick and easy sweet treat. It is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser! The Best Peaches for Grilling For this recipe, use peaches that are ripe but firm. The peaches should not be mushy—there should be some give when you press them gently with a finger. I prefer yellow peaches over white peaches since they are more tart. They aren’t overly sweet, especially with the brown sugar mixture sprinkled on top and the ice cream on the side....

Grilled shrimp is best fresh from the fire, but it is still tasty at room temp. A food processor makes quick work of the chermoula, which I use as both a marinade and a sauce on the side. While the shrimp marinates you can prepare some couscous (seriously, boil water or stock, stir in the couscous, cover and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes). Oh, you could also toss together a tomato and cuke salad....

How to Air Fry Mushrooms It’s really very simple, that’s the beauty of the air fryer! Here’s what you’ll do: Looking for more? Check out all of our healthy side dish recipes! How long to air fry mushrooms Depending on the size of mushrooms used, the cooking times will vary a little bit. At 400° Fahrenheit, it will take around 10 minutes to cook the mushrooms. Some notes: Cut the mushrooms in half if you’re using larger cremini or button mushrooms....