10,000 butter recipes

Mom's shepherd's pie: leftover lamb cubed and simmered with onion, red pepper, rosemary, and parsley under a mashed potato crust. The classic Sunday-roast reinvention.

Butter-browned veal loin chops simmered with quartered mushrooms, white wine, and chicken broth, then finished in a silky tarragon cream sauce. An elegant dinner for two in one hour.

Cost-effective version of the classic British Shepherd's Pie.

Jalapeño, raspberry and pecans blend beautifully in this thumbprint cookie from Anna Marie Bleich of California, Mo.

Chinese steamed honey sponge cake with almond powder and fluffy whipped egg whites. This traditional method produces a pillowy, moist crumb without an oven, and the cake resteams beautifully for leftovers.

Pumpkin nut cake (a.k.a. pumpkin dump cake) layered with spiced pumpkin custard, dry yellow cake mix, chopped nuts and melted butter on top. Bakes into a gooey-bottom, crisp-top fall classic.

Moist banana cake with buttermilk and cake flour topped with a double-chocolate glaze made from melted unsweetened chocolate and cocoa. Ripens overnight for deeper flavor.

Fudgy, chewy brownies packed with over a pound of chocolate: semisweet in the batter and Swiss dark chocolate chunks folded in and scattered on top. Walnuts add crunch. An overnight rest deepens the flavor and gives you clean-cut bars.

Golden onion and zucchini lasagna with slow-cooked onions, sauteed zucchini, nutmeg bechamel, and Parmesan. A refined vegetarian lasagna with no-boil noodles.

Fudgy cocoa brownies with a full cup of melted butter, four eggs, and optional chopped nuts. One bowl, no melting chocolate, and the edges pull away when done.

Flour-dusted chicken pieces browned in butter, then simmered with mushrooms, olives, garlic, tomato purée, and sherry. A classic Italian cacciatore that's on the table in 40 minutes.

A quick salsa tops this omelette stuffed with avocado and bacon and cheese.

Warm pear pudding cake with pecans, cinnamon, and cloves baked under a bubbling brown sugar caramel sauce. An old-fashioned comfort dessert best served hot with ice cream or whipped cream.

Loin of veal braised in butter with mushrooms, tomatoes, and marjoram, finished with a truffle sauce made by soaking chopped truffles in cognac for 1-2 hours. Serves 8.

Pressure cooker sweet potato soup with grated apples, celery, onions, and orange zest in chicken broth. A chunky-smooth soup done in just 4 minutes under pressure.

Classic old fashioned pound cake with lemon extract, fresh lemon juice, and zest baked in a tube pan. Dense, buttery, and rich with six eggs and evaporated milk.