Jo Ann Brown, Recipe Tester

A list of all the recipes Jo Ann Brown has tested.

Pot filled with pastina with butter and milk and a wooden spoon all on a towel.

Pastina with Butter and Milk

We’ve got stars in our eyes…and our bowls…and our spoons. All thanks to pastina, the teensy star-shaped pasta that just may make the cutest supper in the solar system.

Two white bowls filled with red posole with pieces of tortilla and lime wedges on the side.

Red Chicken Posole

In Nahuatl, pozole means “make a big batch of this on the weekend and reheat during the week after soccer practice.” (Not really.)

A wooden cutting board with a carved grilled Greek chicken and a knife resting beside it.

Grilled Greek Chicken

Fresh herbs and a squeeze of lemon lend this chicken its effusive Greek accent. A foolproof grilling technique makes it irresistible in any language.

Easy Jewish Hanukkah doughnuts and doughnut holes covered with sugar, on a metal cookie sheet.

Easy Jewish Hanukkah Doughnuts

Don’t let the name mislead you. These doughnuts are cause for celebration in and of themselves, regardless of one’s occasion or denomination.

Spiced cider doughnuts and doughnut holes on a square metal tray with one in pieces beside a cup of coffee.

Spiced Cider Doughnuts

These doughnuts are certain to conjure memories, real or imagined, of crisp autumns, roadside farmstands, and grease-stained paper bags full of similar piping hot beauties.

Momofuku fried chicken pieces on a piece of brown paper, covered with Octo Vin, with chopsticks piled beside.

Momofuku’s Fried Chicken

This flour-free fried bird is contrary to everything we know about fried chicken. Or think we know. That’s exactly what makes it so darn genius.

A yellow Dutch oven filled with white bean and chicken chili, topped with pieces of bacon.

White Bean and Chicken Chili

Stop your scoffing. This may not be conventional chili, but it’s no sissy imposter. It’s just a little subtler, soupier, and smokier.

A metal sheet pan, covered with spread out tomato paste.

Homemade Tomato Paste

Never again tussle with that teensy tin can that always contains too much or too little paste for your recipe. Not with this mellow, caramelized homemade conserva.

Carnitas Tacos

A little pile of tasty meat cushioned by a warm tortilla and electrified by a little salsa. Life is good.

A white bowl filled with smoky gazpacho drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil, and a spoon resting inside the bowl.

Smoky Gazpacho

Sometimes a little unexpected tweak to tradition isn’t a bad thing. Nope. Not a bad thing at all…

Two barbecue pork burgers with slaw and barbecue sauce stacked on top of each other.

Barbecue Pork Burgers

A weeknight-friendly riff on slow-roasted pulled pork that juxtaposes tangy bbq sauce, succulent pork, and old-fashioned slaw, all in a jiffy.

Three burger buns topped with sesame seeds on a wooden surface.

Burger Buns

Beautiful burger buns. Were ever three words joined in such harmony? There are a lot more lovely things to be said about these pillowy specimens of bread awesomeness.

A few pieces of grilled kale stacked on a white plate.

Grilled Kale

Summer’s answer to the kale chip. Chewy, nutty, smoky, healthy, and unfathomly impossible to resist.

Spinach falafel on a cutting board with some tucked into a pita, and a bowl of parsley tahini sauce.

Spinach Falafel

Crisp on the outside, tender on the inside, and at home in a pita. That’s our fave definition of falafel. And this unconventional and healthful riff is our fave incarnation of it.

Several small salt-roasted potatoes surrounded by a bed of browned salt.

Salt-Roasted Potatoes

This recipe turns out obscenely aromatic, ridiculously moist spuds the likes of which you ain’t ever seen before. And you thought potatoes were boring.

Eight beef empanadas on a rectangular platter with a bowl of relish on the side.

Beef Empanadas

Savory little somethings with a surprise for those of you unfamiliar with the flamboyant flavors of Latin America.

Steak sandwich pieces side-by-side and stacked on top of each other on a wooden table.

Steak Sandwich

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.)