Oven fried chicken wings

Chicken wings are classic American bar food, but if you're like us you want to be able to eat chicken wings while still controlling the remote. It's easier than you think and a deep fat frier isn't required. Grab an extra napkin and [maybe] some celery and join us for hot wings.

Pulled pork (in the oven)

Pulled pork is the litmus test we use for barbecue and is a favorite to serve for large get togethers. Using a smoker is traditional, but buying a large dedicated device isn't necessary to have excellent results. We use a dutch oven which makes this recipe completely apartment friendly. It's so good your guests will be looking for your smoker in the backyard.

Pork carnitas

Pork shoulder (AKA Boston butt) is an under appreciated cut in American homes and we're out to change that. Pork carnitas is a classic Mexican pulled pork preparation that's unbeliveably delicious. We use carnitas in tacos, quesadillas, salads and if no one's looking all by itself.

Hershey Kiss cookies

Hershey Kiss cookies (AKA peanut butter blossoms) are one of our all time favorite cookies--peanut butter and chocolate are simply meant for each other. We grew up having these mostly around the holidays, but there is no reason why this delicious cookie has to be limited to a few short months. We haven't been to a summer picnic yet where these weren't the first dessert to be finished off.

Blackening spice mix

Blackening rub is great for adding a bold flavor to summer meals. We mix up a big batch up this blackening spice mix and keep it around in a shaker. It's great on chicken, fish and even vegetables. We'll be featuring recipes using this spice mix in the near future.

Perfect white rice

A perfectly cooked bowl of white rice is deceptively simple. With only two required ingredients, it's either make it or break it. Computerized rice cookers have become quite popular in recent years, but our kitchen is free from uni-taskers and we'd rather have our counterspace is always at a premium. We cook our rice the old fashioned way--steamed on the stovetop.

Chicken and yellow rice risotto

Chicken and yellow rice is one of our favorite Cuban comfort foods. In areas with large Cuban populations you can find yellow rice packages in the supermarket, but we prefer to make our own. This recipe departs from tradition in that it's technically a risotto, but keeps all the same great flavors (along with the texture that risotto is famous for). We add black beans to make it an entire meal in a bowl.

Pita bread

Pita bread is quick to make, versatile and most of all delicious. We utilize our no-knead refrigerator dough, but any high-ish moisture dough should work fine. What gives pita it's beloved pocket is steam, it starts out with lots of small bubbles and if you did it right ends up one giant bubble.

Strip steak

A perfectly cooked steak at home isn't as hard as it sounds. In fact it can be a lot easier than trying to get one at a restaurant (especially if you don't want to pay north of $40 for the hunk of cow). We first saw this technique on America's Test Kitchen and have only had success with it. It's not the only way to cook a steak, but if you don't have access to a grill or a restaurant grade broiler it's your best bet.

Dinner rolls

Light and fluffy, our dinner rolls are a fine accompaniment to a Sunday dinner and make killer sandwiches for Monday. While you can certainly make rolls with our no-knead refrigerator bread dough, this dough makes a lighter roll that is more traditional (no hard crust thanks to the lower baking temperature and fat content in the dough). Since bread can be a little tricky at first, we have meticulously documented the process with photos so you'll know what it should look like at all steps along the way.

Oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies

Chocolate chip cookies are in our minds the perfect American comfort food. Quick to make and hard to beat, our recipe is like what mom used to make (at least if you had a mom that made really good chocolate chip cookies). We use lots of oatmeal and large chocolate chunks which gives the cookies a great texture. Baked until just set, the resulting cookie stays chewy after it's cool. Make these for a party and you'll be a hero.

No-bake Ritz Cracker cookies

In a shameless attempt to rip-off the venerable Girl Scouts Tagalongs, we came across a deceptively simple technique to make cookies out of Ritz Crackers. We were skeptical, but how bad can a Ritz be with peanut butter and chocolate? After a taste test the verdict is in: these are killer.

Simple syrup

Simple syrup is our preferred way to sweeten cold drinks (iced tea, lemonaide, cocktails, etc). Sugar doesn't dissolve easily in cold water, but once it's dissolved it doesn't come out of solution. The trick is to dissolve sugar into hot water and then cool it down--that's all there is to it and is also why it's called simple syrup.

This isn't a standalone recipe (unless you're seriously addicted to sweets), so expect delicious drink recipes using simple syrup in short order.

Photo courtesy House of Sims

Pan-fried flatbread

Pan-fried flatbread is an easy and extremely fast way to use our versatile no-knead bread dough. It's quick enough to serve as a 2am snack and tasty enough to serve to guests at a more traditional hour. Our current favorite use for this recipe is as a delivery mechanism for turkey sandwiches--melted Swiss cheese, pickled peppers, a handful of spinach and a pile of turkey. Hard to beat.

Caramelized onions

Caramelized onions are one of our all time favorite toppings. Sandwiches, pizza, burgers, salads, crackers... You name it and caramelized onions will probably make it better. The secret is to go low and slow—too much heat and you'll be quickly left with scorched onions entirely unfit for consumption.

We usually take over an hour from start to finish, but the process can be somewhat truncated if you don't mind a drop in quality (they will still however be vastly superior to what is typically passed off as caramelized onions in restaurants).

Refrigerator friendly no-knead bread dough

Homemade bread is one of life's great pleasures. From the smell that it gives your home to the unbeatable taste, it's really hard to beat (even more so once you factor in cost, homemade bread is unbelievably cheap). Alas, like most of life's luxuries, there is a downside: time and effort. That's where our recipe helps out--mix four ingredients until they are just blended, let the mix rest over night and then store your dough in the fridge for up to a week. We make everything from flatbread, to pita to baguettes using dough from the same batch.