America's Test Kitchen

There’s no bad option. But here are some ideas to get you started.

Since this ham is already cooked, there are not too many places to go awry: All you have to do is reheat the ham, glaze it with a sweet or tangy sauce, and you're good to go. But in the interest of bringing ham into the 21st century (and freeing up some oven space for you next holiday meal), we're here to make it even better and more foolproof. Reheating the ham sous vide guarantees that the meat is evenly heated from edge to edge, eliminating cold spots and the need to obsessively maul your beautiful ham with an instant-read thermometer. Since cooking sous vide all but eliminates evaporation, the meat stays moist and flavorful. But the best part? If your ham comes from the store in convenient vacuum-sealed packaging, you can just drop the whole thing in your water bath and forget about it—no extra-extra-large bag needed. To finish this holiday centerpiece, we lacquer our ham with a couple of coats of cherry-port glaze in a hot oven, which gives the exterior a rich mahogany sheen.

Lasagna isn’t usually a dish you can throw together at the last minute. Even with no-boil noodles, it takes a good amount of time to get the components just right. Our goal was to transform traditional baked lasagna into a stovetop skillet dish without losing any of its flavor or appeal.

We built a hearty, flavorful meat sauce with onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, and meatloaf mix (a more flavorful alternative to plain ground beef). A large can of diced tomatoes along with tomato sauce provided juicy tomato flavor and a nicely chunky texture. We scattered regular curly-edged lasagna noodles, broken into pieces, over the top of the sauce (smaller pieces are easier to eat and serve). We then diluted the sauce with a little water so that the noodles would cook through. After a 20-minute simmer with the lid on, the pasta was tender, the sauce was properly thickened, and it was time for the cheese. Stirring Parmesan into the dish worked well, but we discovered that the sweet creaminess of ricotta was lost unless we placed it in heaping tablespoonfuls on top of the lasagna. Replacing the lid and letting the cheese warm through for several minutes was the final step for this super-easy one-pan dish.

Including a pie chart that has nothing to do with math.

Mushrooms are inherently savory; have the ability to build fond, the rich-tasting browned bits that form on a pot’s interior surface; and offer a balance of tenderness and resilience that allows them to turn pleasantly supple when simmered without losing structural integrity. For all those reasons, they’re great for featuring in a luxurious, wintery braise such as bourguignon. Chunks of portobellos were meaty and satisfying, while dried porcini offered a heavy-hitting boost of umami along with savory supports such as miso, tomato paste, and soy sauce and classic aromatics and herbs such as carrot, shallot, garlic, and thyme. A modified roux made with olive oil and flour added the French classic’s requisite body and gloss while keeping the stew vegan, and a splash of wine at the end of cooking brought brightness.

Cookie presses are handheld gadgets that portion soft cookie doughs into a variety of shapes, from hearts and flowers to snowmen and turkeys. These cookies are typically called “spritz” cookies, from the German word spritzen, meaning “to squirt.” While you can use a pastry bag to pipe and shape dough, presses offer a variety of shapes and make it easier to create identical cookies.

We wanted to bring all the essence of Key lime pie to a Key lime bar, creating a bar that balanced a tart and creamy topping and a buttery rich base. For the base, we wanted something similar to shortbread: a crisp, buttery crust that could support the topping yet slice neatly and easily. We started with a classic shortbread recipe by mixing pieces of softened butter into our all-purpose gluten-free flour blend, along with sugar and salt, using a stand mixer to ensure a fine crumb. The flavor was exactly what we wanted, but without gluten this base couldn’t support the topping. Adding just 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum gave the crust the structure it needed to hold up and slice neatly without crumbling. As for the filling, it also had to be sturdy and sliceable. By adding cream cheese and an egg yolk to the usual sweetened condensed milk and lime juice and zest, we created a rich and firm filling.

Bryan's dispatch from New York City, where he spent time with the prolific restaurateur who values methods over recipes.

Using fresh spinach rather than frozen for this recipe for two allowed us to control the amount of water in the sauce, which could wash out flavor. We first cooked the spinach until it was wilted and then let it drain to remove excess liquid. We browned the chicken in the skillet before transferring it to a plate so that we could reuse the skillet to build a flavorful yet quick sauce. Adding the cooked spinach and any accumulated chicken juices back to the sauce warmed the spinach through and added more chicken flavor to the sauce. We topped the chicken with this flavorful spinach mixture, as well as some Parmesan cheese for an added salty punch.

Equally as good at home with a sleeve of saltines or melted on a burger or a grilled cheese sandwich, pimento cheese is a flavorful spread of cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, and chopped pimentos. We use sharp cheddar for its moderately intense flavor and creamy consistency (extra-sharp cheddar tends to be more crumbly) and shred it with both the large and small holes of a box grater to give the cheese a cohesive yet chunky consistency. A couple of tablespoons of cream cheese keep the mixture spreadable, even right out of the fridge, and a ratio of 2/3 cup mayo to 1 pound cheese adds a tangy punch and creamy texture. Some Worcestershire and lemon juice add brightness and depth without overpowering the cheese.

The street-cart and take-out staple of chicken shawarma is made by layering 30 pounds of meat onto a rotating spit and cooking the meat for hours. However, by using the broiler and boneless chicken thighs, we were able to create a home version. The intense heat generated by the oven's broiler ably bloomed the flavors of the cumin-paprika mixture we applied to the chicken and browned the meat's craggy surface. Opting for a quicker weeknight method, we gained the benefits of marinating by broiling lemons right alongside the meat. Squeezing the lemon juice over the sliced chicken right before serving lent it brightness and smoky depth. To round out the meal, we serve the shawarma with a cabbage slaw, diced cucumbers, sliced tomatoes, a lemony yogurt sauce, and pita.

For a sophisticated Thai beef recipe using available ingredients and requiring minimal cooking time, we turned to inexpensive blade steak, which offers both tenderness and robust flavor. With a marinade made of fish sauce, white pepper, citrusy coriander, and a little light brown sugar, the beef needed to marinate for only 15 minutes to develop full flavor. To add heat to our stir-fried Thai beef recipe, we introduced an easily controlled heat source—Asian chili-garlic paste—that also added toasty garlicky flavors along with heat.

The tangy cultured butter favored in Europe is pricier than the so-called sweet-cream sticks more common here. Fortunately, it’s easy (and cheaper) to make this complex, nutty-flavored butter at home.

Breakfast burritos first appeared on a menu in 1975 at Tia Sophia's in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but now they're beloved around the United States as a handheld, hearty, and customizable morning meal. For our version, we wanted potatoes that stayed extra-crispy. Frozen tater tots, thawed and then smashed flat in the skillet, did the trick. Along with the tots, we added fluffy scrambled eggs; sharp cheddar cheese; and Mexican-style chorizo, which imbued the rest of the burrito with its savory garlic and paprika seasonings. A potent chipotle sour cream sauce provided tang and heat without adding excess moisture, keeping the burritos neat and portable. Browning the rolled burritos in a hot skillet right before serving produced a crispy golden exterior and helped them stay sealed.

Tanabour, or spas, is a nourishing, filling, and thoroughly satisfying Armenian grain-and-yogurt soup. Though tanabour can be made using a wide variety of grains, ours uses pearl barley, since—lacking hulls—it cooks to a tender, plump consistency without breaking down entirely. We used Greek yogurt, since it gave the soup the requisite thickness and dairy richness without leaving it overly tart. We added an egg yolk to give the soup further richness and a silky consistency. Finally, we garnished the soup with cilantro and Aleppo pepper–infused melted butter.

Using convenience products such as canned chickpeas and jarred roasted red peppers made this a quick, hearty meal.