Ayanna Fews, Recipe Tester

Booyah! We’ve found the secret to simple yet sensational fried chicken. And it’s as basic as can be. Just salt. Pepper. Flour. Water. Patience.

Seared steak. Caramelized onions. Warm ciabatta. Sounds like something we’re not going to want to share. (And yes, this works perfectly with that leftover steak you have in the fridge.)

Crisp at the edges. Chewy within. Peanutty through and through. A classic perfected. Pass the milk, please.

Soft. Supple. Ever so slightly smoky. And frugal thanks to grandma’s trick of saving the fat from breakfast bacon. One taste and you’ll understand our obsession.

A tuna melt is a tuna melt is a tuna melt, right? Uh, not exactly. This is a welcome departure from what we choked down as children.

Layers of vanilla cake take turns with oodles of coconut filling and the whole shebang is slathered with fluffy white icing. Uh, yes please!

This Havana-style black bean soup is gonna surprise you with just how intensely flavored it is despite calling for inexpensive everyday ingredients.

Fine-crumbed and sparely sweet, these sophisticated little cakes do wonders for white chocolate’s tarnished reputation. Confection perfection.

If you’re going to splurge on brownies, you may as well, you know, SPLURGE on brownies. But not in terms of effort or expense. Just taste. These brownies handle it splendidly.

Easy, authentic, and awesome any time of day, whether accompanied by steaming hot coffee in the morning or cold cerveza any (other) time of day. One of our recipes folks rave about most.