75 mom recipes

Mom's peppered ham: poached ham shank coated in cracked black peppercorns and dried in a low oven for paper-thin deli-style slices. Old-school deli cooking at home.

Old-fashioned homemade chili sauce simmered for hours from fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, brown sugar, and warm spices including cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. A classic American canned condiment recipe.

Mom's hush puppies made with pancake mix and yellow cornmeal for crispy, golden deep-fried cornbread balls. Just four ingredients and ready in 20 minutes.

Ginger barbecue chicken baked in a homemade sauce of tomato paste, fresh ginger, dark brown sugar, soy sauce, and liquid smoke. Sweet, tangy, and smoky.

This fork-tender, well-seasoned roast everyone loves slices of and its savory gravy.

Mom's apple cake loaded with five fresh apples, crushed nuts, and cinnamon in a one-bowl oil batter. No eggs, no butter, and incredibly moist. Swap applesauce for oil for a lighter version.

Mom's brown stew with beef cubes simmered for two hours in a Worcestershire and lemon-spiked broth with potatoes, carrots, and pearl onions, finished with a flour-thickened gravy.

Mom's homemade apple pie pairs a flaky shortening crust with canned apple filling for a from-scratch taste in half the time. Brushed with milk and dusted with sugar, the top crust bakes up golden and crackly.

Mom's French toast soaks white bread slices in cinnamon-vanilla egg substitute, then griddles them golden in margarine. A lighter take on the breakfast classic without sacrificing the crisp-edge, custardy-center texture. Six ingredients, 30 minutes.

Two-ingredient ham glaze: peach jam stirred with chopped candied ginger and thinned with water. Sweet, gingery shine that caramelizes into a sticky lacquer over baked ham.

Stuffed tomatoes filled with anchovy-spiked toasted bread cubes, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and the reserved tomato flesh. Classic Italian-Mediterranean side dish baked in a shallow water bath.

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.

A thin-crust homemade pizza baked on hot tiles for a crisp base, with garlic oil, tomato sauce, mushrooms, peppers, onions, and cottage cheese in place of mozzarella. A lighter, vegetable-loaded family-night pie.

Creamy cauliflower soup made with skim milk and a light roux base, finished with white pepper and nutmeg. Lower-calorie, silky, and ready in an hour.

Thick, vegan split pea soup made with just dried peas, carrots, onion, celery, and bay leaf. A no-ham, no-stock version that proves simple ingredients make the best comfort food.

Swedish sotsoppa (fruit soup) with tapioca pearls, prunes, golden raisins, boysenberries, orange, and cinnamon. Served warm or cold as a traditional Scandinavian dessert.