Season 8

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  Grilled Cornish Game Hens

  We’ve always enjoyed roasting game hens and thought the grill might deliver even more flavor to the tender meat, grilling poultry is full of challenges—especially whole birds.

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  Fish on the Grill

  Fish fillets might look innocent, but once their delicate flesh hits the grill, there’s no getting them off without a fight—simply put, fish sticks. And because fish is delicate, in comparison to meat, the flesh easily dries out. We decided to take the fear out of grilling fish by tackling these two recipes: blackened grilled snapper and glazed salmon.

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  Kansas City BBQ

  It’s hard to choose a best-loved style of ribs, but we’d be willing to bet that smoky, sweet Kansas City ribs are a top contender. These meaty ribs are slow-smoked for their trademark flavor—and in traditional recipes they truly do take all day to cook. We wondered if there was a faster way.

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  Holiday Beef Tenderloin Dinner

  Add a rich stuffing to beef tenderloin, and you’ve got the ultimate main course, at least in theory. But making a tenderloin through can be a challenge—this is an expensive piece of meat, so you don’t want to risk overcooking it. We also wanted mashed potatoes so rich and decadent, not a drop of gravy would be necessary to enjoy them.

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  A New Way with Turkey

  Brining is the best way to guarantee a moist turkey, but it isn’t always the most practical way. We rethink our brine-at-all-costs philosophy and find that salting, a kind of “dry-brining” in which we rub the bird with salt and let it rest in the refrigerator for several hours, not only seasons the meat but also helps keep it moist.

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  White Chicken Chili Supper

  Chicken chili might sound like heresy—after all, isn’t chili supposed to be made with beef?—but this Southwestern dish is a light, bright alternative to tomato-rich beef chili. The key to chicken chili is finding the right cooking method so that the white beans become tender and the chicken doesn’t dry out and turn rubbery.