10,000 bitter recipes

Late making dinner? Try this dish that can be served with potatoes or rice.

Foolproof cheesecake with a graham cracker crust, creamy filling blended smooth in a food processor, and a tangy sour cream topping. No water bath needed, no fussy technique.

A hearty vegetarian barley stew simmered in sweet carrot juice with shiitake mushrooms, kale, and a hit of ginger. Toasted barley cooks risotto-style into a cozy, warming, fiber-rich bowl.

Babe's Surprise Apple Pie skips the top crust and crowns thinly sliced apples with a buttery brown sugar crumble topping instead. Cinnamon, lemon juice, and a hot oven do the rest.

Old-fashioned raisin nougat made with hard-crack sugar syrup, marshmallow cream, and cocoa butter. A vintage homemade candy with chewy raisins folded throughout.

Gnocchi al Gorgonzola with a creamy sauce of melted Gorgonzola, butter, Parmesan, and warm cream. A rich Italian classic that comes together in minutes.

Fresh mushroom soup with butter-seared mushrooms, sweet onion, and skim milk thickened with arrowroot. A lighter, creamier take on the canned standby in under 30 minutes.

Bacony creamed spinach folds finely chopped spinach into a half-and-half béchamel built on bacon-fat sautéed onion, garlic, and a flick of cayenne. Crispy bacon crumbles stirred in at the end. Steakhouse-style side at home.

Lemon-paprika tilapia with potato rutabaga mash pairs paprika-dusted fish with a buttery Yukon-rutabaga mash, finished with a wine-shallot cream sauce laced with lemon peel.

Ground beef patties shaped like filet mignon with a butter center, wrapped in foil collars, pan-seared and served with a red wine rosemary sauce and mushroom caps.

A refined French-style red wine reduction sauce with sauteed shallots, balsamic vinegar, fresh thyme, and veal or beef stock. Rich, glossy, and built for grilled steak or veal.

This is basically my grandmothers recipe with a few of my own ideas.

Red Snapper in Artichoke Butter cooks entirely in the microwave - garlic butter with artichoke hearts, mushrooms, lemon, and cayenne poured over fillets and done in 30 minutes.

Jam and oatmeal squares with raspberry jam between a buttery oat-walnut base and a crumbly golden topping. A simple bake-sale bar cookie with just eight ingredients.

A slow-braised Swedish beef chuck roast with an unexpected twist: anchovies, whiskey, vinegar, and brown sugar build a deeply savory pan sauce. Fork-tender after 2 hours. Add cream to the pan juices for a silky gravy.

Butter-seared chicken breast simmered in white wine, heavy cream, and chewy sun-dried tomatoes with a hint of Cajun spice. Ready in 40 minutes, serve over pasta for a rich weeknight dinner.