From pasta to cake, potatoes to pie, comfort food reigned supreme over the past year. Here are our 20 most popular recipes of 2021. It was a year of delicious dishes.
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Korean-Style BBQ Ribs
Korean-style BBQ ribs are sticky, sweet, and tangy. Ginger, honey, brown sugar, and vinegar come together to infuse juicy ribs with Korean flavors. They're cooked in foil so the cleanup is easy-peasy, too.
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My travels in Italy taught me that Roman cuisine doesn’t come from Rome, but from the trade routes that brought foods from all over Italy to the capital.
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With the onset of winter, the carrots at the market are much sweeter and deep orange in color. Candied ginger hits the grocery stores because all the holiday baked goods need a whiff of warm ginger in them. These muffins also have sweet pineapple because it complements the carrots and candied ginger really well, which I simply love.
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Sweet tea brined fried chicken is a succulent combination of lemony sweet tea and classic fried chicken. A 24-hour brine ensures that the chicken stays juicy, tender, and exquisitely flavored. Perfect for Sunday supper.
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Perfect for a leisurely afternoon cook, this is one of those soups where you throw everything in the pot and simmer until pau (finished). Usually, the strong seasoning of homemade sausage is enough to flavor the broth, but if you’re using a milder store-bought variety like I often do, you can supplement the warm flavor with a little pumpkin pie spice.
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This cake is neither too sweet nor too rich, with a deeply chocolatey mousse-like center, beneath a thin crackly layer of cocoa-dusted meringue. What’s not to love?
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White chocolate offers the double advantage of velvety, melt-in-the-mouth texture and, because of white cake's gentle flavor, a definite whisper of cocoa butter. This special flavor blends well with a lemon buttercream or, of course, David's pistachio buttercream.
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Cedar-plank grilled eggplant Parmesan is nothing short of genius. The eggplant slices are grilled then added as layers to the Parmesan. Best of all: all that flavor is imbued with the smokiness of the cedar.
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If you love French onion soup, with its rich, beefy broth, sweet, deeply caramelized onions, and that luscious, nutty and gooey layer of cheese-laden toast, you’ll love this galette. All the flavors of the classic soup have been distilled into a galette for ease, but also for fun!
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Challenged by dear childhood friends who wanted the perfect gluten-free chocolate chip cookie, I developed this recipe and got a true test of how successful it was when I took a batch to a Super Bowl Party. Everyone demolished the entire batch of cookies without knowing they were gluten-free and told me they were the best they had eaten. When I revealed they were gluten-free, all of the party-goers were shocked!
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The Grand Marnier (an orange liqueur) gives the cake a pleasant kick that plays beautifully with cranberry. Making this tender, buttery cake provides a perfect excuse to share a slice over the backyard fence, maybe with someone who’s short on their own cranberry source.
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This clam dish is a classic. It has a long history in Portugal and for good reason: It's delicious. Portuguese home cooking is distinguished by its gutsy soulfulness. If you're the type who seasons liberally, taste first. This dish is plenty salty and full of flavor.
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Take the elements of French onion soup–beef broth, a hunk of bread, tons of caramelized onions, and a raft of cheese–and mash it up with perfectly seared chicken thighs, and you have French onion-skillet chicken. Sounds weird, I know, but I swear it works.
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This gratin takes the best flavors of French onion soup–melty cheese and caramelized onions–and pairs them with potatoes, mushrooms, garlic, and thyme for one helluva great side dish that will have you licking the spoon–even when guests are looking. It's that good!
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Butter basted fish with garlic and thyme from America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Illustrated is a crazy quick and indulgent way to put a healthful dinner on the table pronto. Here’s how.
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Shrimp with chorizo is startlingly simple, considering how impressive it is. Shrimp, smoky sausage, garlic, chile, and lemon come together in just about half an hour. Serve it as a main for 2, or share it as a tapas-style app.
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Waffle iron hash browns are the easiest and most delicious hash browns you’ll ever make. They’re really crispy on the outside and creamy inside—and the best part is no splatters on the stove!
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Though delicious on its own, pork can be wonderfully accepting of flavor enhancers—fruit is the surprising and undeniable favorite.
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This cake is an excellent keeper and, because it’s sturdy, a good traveler—make it for a friend or take it to a potluck. It’s good plain and good with whipped cream or crème fraîche. And if you want to dress it up, it takes nicely to a drizzle of chocolate ganache.
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These steak and ale pies, made with tender beef, Guinness gravy, and shortcrust pastry, are just like the kind you get at a British pub.
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Originally published December 31, 2021
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