This is the dish that could define cha chaan teng: a fried pork chop, a searing orange tomato sauce, a pan of golden fried rice, luxuriant cheese melted and blistered on top. Making it the long way means understanding, finally, the extravagance that cha chaan teng cooks can serve in ten minutes.
These turkey meatballs go out to all the wannabe lentil haters, aka my kids and their friends. Trust me when I say this is a don’t-ask-don’t-tell kinda situation. I love mixing beans or lentils in with meat to stretch the portion as a budget hack. Plus, most of us could use a bit more fiber anyway. Add these meatballs to my Hidden Veggie Pasta Primavera (page 95), or serve them on their own with ketchup for dipping. I like to freeze half after cooking for a future meal, which I usually reheat in the air fryer from frozen.
I love using filo pastry in my cooking – it’s so satisfyingly crunchy, which means
it acts as a brilliant base for tarts like this one. Pastry is yet another one of those things that people swear off because it’s ‘bad’ for them. But in the context of a healthy diet, I’m a firm believer that there’s room for all the foods you love – and
I love this filo tart. Loaded with vegetables and topped with eggs, feta and pesto, this is just one combination that works. Feel free to get creative and try it with other ingredients, like tomatoes and mozzarella, or butternut squash and goats’ cheese. The filo world is your oyster.
These beautiful pastries can be found in many Chinese bakeries, particularly throughout Hong Kong. We’ll use the same fluffy dough as that of the sausage-filled Czech klobásník (page 112), but instead of leaving it whole like a pig in a blanket, the hot dog–filled pastry is sliced and twisted to form the shape of a flower before being topped with sesame seeds and scallions. Once baked, the flowers are glazed with sugar syrup to give them a nice sheen.
Though its exact origins are debated, this unique sweet and savoury sandwich, often packed with egg, cabbage and sugar, is now a ubiquitous sight on the streets of Seoul, and an iconic street food breakfast to fuel busy mornings. It’s the ultimate grab-and-go meal that perfectly captures the dynamic energy of the city.
There will be no buttercream in this book. I find it persnickety and overly sweet. Layer cake is an act of balancing flavor—if the base is sugary, as most cakes are, the fillings should introduce tang. Fruit is great for this purpose, but in winter, when fresh berries seem like a distant memory, or I’m sick of citrus, I turn to dairy for an acidic punch: cream cheese, labneh, or sour cream. Rather than relying on my unsteady hand to level the cakes, I bake three layers individually. I use Natasha Pickowicz’s stress-free method for building cakes, constructing the layers in a deep, sturdy cake pan or pot so the layers remain stable. Together, the tender chocolate cake, coconut custard, and dark chocolate cream cheese frosting taste like heaven. The addition of coconut flakes on the exterior adds a pleasing crunch and hides any crumb coat missteps. This base recipe also works beautifully for a single layer cake; just divide the recipe in half and bake it in a 9-inch (23 cm) round cake pan.
When I think of the foods that truly symbolize growing up on Long Island, one of them has to be the humble corn muffin. Bagel shop (or, as we call it, “bagel place”) and deli culture is something we Long Islanders take very seriously. Both establishments require great bagels, buttered kaiser rolls, bacon-egg-and-cheese sandwiches, thin chicken cutlets, massive slabs of crumb cake, overly sweetened iced tea lemonades (we call them half and halfs), and cakey corn muffins. No matter what you’re ordering, you always ask for the side-car corn muffin, which is cut in half, buttered, and toasted on the griddle. You’ll be handed a grease-stained brown paper bag with a massive, yellow corn muffin inside, with a quarter pound of softened margarine plopped in the center. The muffin is somehow moist yet dry. And most of the time only half of it ends up in your mouth because it shatters into a million bits on your lap. (I still think my parents are cleaning crumbs out of their cars from decades ago LOL.) Despite the mess, they are a sweet and savory staple and something I will forever crave. When creating this recipe, I wanted all the flavors of corn muffins past—but with a slightly less crumbly texture for an even more enjoyable eating experience.
I love crisping rice in a skillet: Simply cook it with butter until it turns deeply golden. It’s an easy technique that creates the most incredible crunchy bits to complement the fluffy softness of steamed rice. I’ve experimented with many different crispy rice bowls, but this version with sautéed mushrooms is hands down my favorite.
The mushrooms have a subtle Asian flavor from the soy sauce and are finished with a splash of vinegar for a bright tang. The real magic happens when you break the runny egg yolk and mix it into the rice, adding a lush richness to every bite. It’s the kind of vegetarian dish that even a meat lover will devour.
This Cottage Cheesecake recipe originated from my great-grandmother and was a cheesecake my dad and Springfield Creamery co-founder, Chuck Kesey, loved to make. Delicious crust, easy to put together and the cottage cheese gives it a richer texture. The crystalized ginger on top is a favorite, but we have often topped with fresh berries as well - perfect!
These egg muffins are my homemade Starbucks dupe without the Starbucks price tag. I used to be a total cottage cheese skeptic, but once I blended it seamlessly with eggs, I was hooked—and now I’m living my best cottage cheese life! This little trick not only cranks up the protein, but it also nixes the heavy, curd-like texture for a silky bite. No wonder this is one of my most popular meal-prep recipes—low-sugar, low-carb, and packed with staying power to keep that midmorning crash at bay. Use the base recipe as a blank canvas for any chopped mix-ins you love!