Sour oranges pack a tart punch, and their juice makes a refreshing and bright dessert when it’s incorporated into a custard pie. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to find these oranges outside of Florida and a few other tropical locations. For a sour orange pie that would be accessible to cooks in any part of the country, we made a comparable substitute for the tart juice by combining lemon juice and orange juice concentrate. An animal cracker crust provided a sweet, crunchy contrast to the creamy, tangy citrus filling.
If sour oranges are available, use 3/4 cup of strained sour orange juice in place of the lemon juice and orange juice concentrate. Minute Maid Original Frozen is our favorite orange juice concentrate. Depending on the brand, 5 ounces is between 80 and 90 animal crackers.

Nicely charred grilled broccoli is a summertime barbecue treat, but most often it is overly charred or not cooked through. To avoid toughness and promote even cooking, we peeled the stems and pared the broccoli crowns down to florets measuring 3 to 4 inches wide and stems ½ to ¾ inch thick. To cook the broccoli through without charring, we wrapped it in aluminum foil “hobo packs” and let it steam first on the grill (flipping the packs halfway through to ensure even cooking). We then removed the spears and placed them directly on the grill to char. Grilled lemon halves added brightness and grill flavor while shredded Parmesan provided a salty bite.

A cookie in a skillet? We admit this Internet phenom made us skeptical. . . until we tried it. Unlike making a traditional batch of cookies, this treatment doesn’t require scooping, baking, and cooling multiple sheets of treats; the whole thing bakes at once in a single skillet. Plus, the hot bottom and tall sides of a well-seasoned cast-iron pan create a great crust on the cookie. And this treat can go straight from the oven to the table for a fun, hands-on dessert—or you can slice it and serve it like a tart for a more elegant presentation. What’s not to like? We cut back on butter and chocolate chips from our usual cookie dough recipe to ensure that the skillet cookie remained crisp on the edges and baked through in the middle while staying perfectly chewy. We also increased the baking time to accommodate the giant size, but otherwise this recipe was simpler and faster than baking regular cookies.

To achieve the perfect smashed texture for this Southern potato salad, we cooked soft-skinned Yukon Gold potato chunks until just tender; then we coarsely mashed a portion of the potatoes before combining them with the remaining pieces. Adding a splash of vinegar to the potatoes while they were still hot added deep flavor. The mayonnaise-based dressing got its tangy punch from yellow mustard and cayenne pepper. To round out the salad, we added chopped hard-cooked eggs, celery, and onion. Chopped sweet pickles added unexpected sweetness and crunch.

For flavorful ribs from the slow cooker, we cut the St. Louis-style ribs in half crosswise, coated each half liberally in a spice rub (a mix of paprika, brown sugar, salt, pepper, onion powder, and granulated garlic), arranged them on end (exposed rib side down) around the rim of the cooking insert, and let them slowly cook until tender. To get that signature shiny, sticky finish, we made an easy barbecue sauce that we brushed onto to the ribs before broiling them.

Sazón is a spice blend common in Latin American cooking. We developed this recipe with Goya Sazón with Coriander and Annatto (or con Culantro y Achiote). It can be found in the international aisle of most supermarkets; however, other brands will work. (One tablespoon of Goya Sazón equals about two packets.) If you can’t find sazón, use our homemade version. You can substitute 3/4 cup of chopped green bell pepper for the Cubanelle pepper. Allow the rice to rest for the full 15 minutes before lifting the lid to check it. Long-grain rice may be substituted for medium-grain, but the rice will be slightly less creamy.

Use a Dutch oven that holds 6 quarts or more. Mince the garlic with a knife rather than with a garlic press