4 recipes
Soups
This soup is really a lesson in caramelizing onions. Three pounds of them cook down slowly until they're deep brown and jammy, and then broth, a splash of wine and a bubbling cheese crust do the rest. Once you can judge caramelized onions by color and smell instead of by the clock, you'll use them on burgers, in dips and on pizza too.
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Salads
A composed platter of potatoes, green beans, eggs, tuna, tomatoes and olives, pulled together by a mustardy vinaigrette. It teaches you to run one pot of water for three jobs and to season each part as you go, so every piece tastes finished before it reaches the plate.
View recipe · 4 servings
Soups
A few inexpensive ingredients, a little patience with the leeks, and a soup that tastes far richer than it is. It teaches you to clean leeks properly, sweat them to silky sweetness without color, and blend potatoes so they turn creamy instead of gluey.
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Pies
A crisp, buttery shell holding a barely set custard studded with bacon. Most of the time is the dough chilling and the quiche baking and resting, so it's a good weekend project that also works a day ahead. It teaches flaky pastry, blind baking so the bottom stays crisp, and baking a custard low so it stays silky.
View recipe · 4 servings