Serves 6 to 8
Flap meat is sold in different configurations: as whole steaks, strips, and pieces. For this recipe, buy a whole steak and cut it into 2-inch pieces yourself. You’ll need a metal steamer basket and five 10-inch skewers.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Browning our Slow-Cooker Barbecued Beef Tips in a skillet not only improved the flavor and texture of the beef, but also created the foundation for a concentrated sauce that would become a main component of the dish. To get a grilled flavor, we needed to keep the meat away from the juices in the slow cooker. Elevating the steak tips on an inverted steamer basket kept them out of the liquid while they cooked, while skewering the meat ensured that it cooked evenly.

A mixture of tomato paste, soy sauce, and brown sugar seasoned the meat, and waiting to apply it until after we browned the beef ensured that the rub didn’t burn.

Makes 12 buns
You’ll need the juice and zest of one orange for this recipe. If the dough becomes too soft to work with at any point, refrigerate it until it’s firm enough to easily handle.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Instead of using complicated croissant dough for our Morning Buns, we switched to a quick puff pastry recipe. When we tried to incorporate the butter into our dough with a rolling pin, we wound up creating a mess. To streamline the process, we sealed quarter-inch butter slices in a zipper-lock bag with the dry ingredients before rolling everything right in the bag. We produced multiple layers in one step by rolling unfilled dough into a rectangle, then into a cylinder, and gently patting it flat. Better still: Cooling the butter required just one short rest in the freezer.

A packet of yeast and a little sugar added to the dry ingredients gave the cooked dough the yeasty flavor of a croissant. A blend of half brown and half white sugar added a subtle molasses flavor to the filling. Adding orange zest to the filling and orange juice to the dough provided a bright citrus aroma and flavor.

Serves 4
Other thin steaks with a loose grain, such as skirt or steak tips, can be substituted for the flank steak. If using a gas grill, grill the steak covered for maximum heat output.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
The idea is to get steaks “drunk" in a potent marinade of bold ingredients—typically soy sauce, Worcestershire, garlic, and of course, liquor—before grilling. We tried several drunken steak recipes, but the flavor was all over the place—some steaks were barely tipsy while others had us picking a designated driver. We wanted our recipe to fall somewhere in the middle of these two extremes. Loose-grained steaks, like the flank steak in this recipe, absorb more marinade, and thus more flavor, than tight-grained steaks. Scoring the surface of the meat with shallow slashes allows the marinade to penetrate into the steak without compromising the interior color or texture. The marinade’s sugar content (from the tequila and the sugar) encourages a crust to form on the steak when it’s grilled. Patting the steak dry before cooking also facilitates the formation of the crust. Since the flavor of the marinade is dulled a little during cooking, we refreshed the flavor by drizzling a bit of reserved marinade over the rested and sliced cooked steak just before serving.

SERVES 3 TO 4
If you like, substitute an equal amount of basil for tarragon and replace the thyme with rosemary, oregano, or sage. Do not use dried herbs, which lose potency during cooking and turn the dish gritty. For best flavor, buy a high-quality chicken such as Bell & Evans. The chicken should not exceed 5 pounds or it won’t fit in the skillet. The chicken may slightly overhang the skillet at first, but once browned it will fit.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
For a roast chicken recipe that gets the entire bird—not just the breast—seasoned throughout, we butterflied the chicken and made shallow cuts in the dark meat. A thick herb paste not only adhered to the now flat chicken but also penetrated the pockets created by the cuts, giving us the flavorful and aromatic chicken recipe we were looking for.

Serves 15
You can use 6 ounces of finely chopped semisweet chocolate in place of the chips.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
This no-bake dessert is typically made by layering a mixture of instant vanilla pudding and Cool Whip between graham crackers and topping it with chocolate frosting. We loved the convenience of these store-bought items, but our enthusiasm waned when confronted by their flavor. With a couple of easy techniques (a quick stovetop pudding, whipped cream, and a microwave-and-stir glaze) and very little active time, we produced a from-scratch version that easily trumped its inspiration.

Serves 4

Cook Time 35 minutes

Shopping Tip: Buying Whole Fish The key to cooking a whole fish on the grill is buying a whole fish that is unquestionably fresh. At the market, look for fish that smell clean and like the ocean, not fishy. Also, the eyes should be clear, not cloudy. We’ve found that fish larger than 2 pounds are hard to maneuver on the grill and are not good candidates for grilling. If the fish are a little larger than what we have called for (between 1 1/2 and 2 pounds), simply grill them a minute or two longer on each side. If the fish are smaller than 1 pound (whole trout, for example), use four whole fish (to serve four) and cut the cooking time down by 5 minutes or so.

Note: Snapper, bass, trout, mackerel, pompano, and bluefish all work well here. For added flavor, brush extra-virgin olive oil on the fish in place of the vegetable oil and fill the cavity of the fish with fresh herbs and lemon slices. You could also season the fish inside and out with a dry rub or a wet rub. To clean and oil the grill just before cooking the fish, dip a large wad of paper towels in vegetable oil, grab it with tongs, and wipe the grate thoroughly to lubricate and prevent sticking. This will also clean off any remaining residue from previous grilling.

Makes 14 biscuits

Do not underbake these biscuits or they will taste slightly gummy. Check for doneness by checking the bottom of a biscuit—it should be golden brown. Freeze the butter and cream cheese just until solid, otherwise, they will be difficult to cut into the flour mixture.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: Even without a slathering of butter or jam, an average biscuit can pack a pretty mean caloric punch. We lightened these by reducing the amount of butter by half and replacing the shortening with cream cheese. The whole-wheat flour gives these a hearty taste and a chewy, flaky texture.

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/bake-it-better/2013/06/secrets-to-whole-wheat-buttermilk-biscuits/

Serves 4

You can substitute low-sodium chicken broth for the vegetable broth. Serve over steamed white rice with sliced red or green Thai chiles, lime wedges, and cilantro.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: This curry recipe uses a variety of vegetables and gets all the bright flavors it needs from the green curry paste cubes, which stand up well to the coconut milk and can be made well in advance and stored in the freezer.

Makes 1¾ cups (or about 1 ice cube tray)

I like this curry paste made with eight green Thai chiles that I’ve stemmed and seeded; only add two or three chiles if you prefer less heat. Or for a spicier curry paste, add some of the reserved chile seeds. If Thai basil leaves are not available, you can substitute regular basil. Use some of these cubes in my recipe for Thai Green Curry with Sweet Potatoes.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: To make curry that tastes as bright as it looks, I rounded up a whole bunch of green stuff: cilantro, Thai basil, scallions, and Thai chiles. I then added other flavor-packed ingredients like garlic, ginger, coconut milk, and spices. By freezing the pureed mixture in an ice cube tray, I can use just what I need whenever the mood strikes.

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/do-it-yourself/2012/09/how-to-make-thai-green-curry-paste/

Serves 4 as a side dish
If you like, olive oil can be substituted for the butter depending on what you are serving with the pilaf. Soaking the rice overnight in water results in more tender, separate grains. If you’d like to try it, add enough water to cover the rice by 1 inch after the rinsing process in step 1, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it stand at room temperature 8 to 24 hours; reduce the amount of water to cook the rice to 2 cups. For the most evenly cooked rice, use a wide-bottomed saucepan with a tight-fitting lid.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
To make rice pilaf, rice is toasted or browned in fat to build flavor before being cooked through in liquid. The result should be rice that is fragrant, fluffy, and tender. Traditional recipes insist that for a truly great pilaf you must soak or at least repeatedly rinse the rice before cooking. We wondered if there was more to making perfect rice pilaf than this. The variables included the kind of rice to use, the ratio of rice to cooking water, and whether or not to soak the rice before cooking. Testing revealed that using basmati rice was preferable, as was using a lower amount of water than is traditional for cooking rice. The step of rinsing the rice was also important for grains that were more tender, with a slightly shinier, smoother appearance. We also sautéed the rice in plenty of butter before adding the water. After the rice was cooked, we covered it with a kitchen towel and a lid and let it steam off the heat.