BreadsCornbreadCornbread baked in a hot cast-iron skillet gets a crackling brown crust that no other pan gives you. This version sits in the middle of the long sweet-or-not argument, with a little sugar you can raise or leave out, and it teaches the hot-pan pour you'll use again and again.View recipe · 4 servings
SoupsRoasted butternut squash soupA smooth, golden soup that shows what the oven can do for a vegetable. Roasting the squash browns its sugars and deepens its flavor, and then the rest is balance: salt and a little acid so the sweetness tastes bright instead of flat. It also teaches you to blend hot soup safely and set its thickness at the end.View recipe · 4 servings
