to review, a hotdish is: a meat, a vegetable, creamed soup, and a starch. hotdishes make up a subset of casseroles that are a very hearty meal in a pan. they're like creamy meat pies that are everything you could ever want when it's cold, and they're also great make-ahead meals. the battle for most classic hotdish usually comes down to wild rice versus tater tot, and because i have a kick butt recipe for wild rice hotdish that i’ll be posting a little bit later, in time for you to make it with all of your thanksgiving turkey leftovers, we’re starting here with tater tot.
when i think of snickers bars, i think of nougat and caramel and when i think of nougat and caramel i think of candy thermometers and time-sensitive things and too many pots and then having to scrub too many pots of sticky stuff and it strikes fear! but it turns out that there’s a perfect hack for the nougat, which is marshmallow fluff. marshmallow fluff + nut butter + sugar = snickers nougat but better because you can use any nut or seed butter you want and you just mix it up in one bowl, no thermometer needed. and with the caramel thing, i’ve decided i’m probably only using store bought caramel from now until bernie and any future younger siblings of hers go off to college. another thing that’s fun with these is that you can change up the nuts, as long as they are salted and roasted since they need to balance out the sweetness of the nougat and caramel.
here is the recipe for this sea salty chocolate rugelach, inspired by my mom’s. i love rugelach because the dough isn’t too sweet, and it’s just like a pie dough that’s been enriched with cream cheese. to help get those pie dough-like flakes, you want the ingredients to stay cold and you don’t want to over-mix the dough (some clumps of butter and cream cheese are a good thing). also, the refrigerator is your friend while you’re making these, so clear some space. since the dough is not too sweet, you can control the sweetness based on the kind of chocolate you use. i love using milk chocolate, but for a less sweet option, go with semisweet or darker.
Hello all! I hope you’re enjoying your holidays!! Bernie and Nick and I are on our beautiful Italian fake-cation and I left my computer behind! But I wanted to leave you with this fairy bread-inspired overnight baked french toast because I cannot imagine a better New Year’s brunch dish. Can you???
This is Molly’s Korean-inspired meatloaf sandwich…it fuses American comfort food with Korean flavors in one juicy, succulent sandwich and works perfectly. The meatloaf is covered in a spicy-sweet umami coating of gochujang and ketchup and layered between two slices of soft white bread; it’s a dreamboat combination of flavors and textures.
This idea came about when Molly experienced a grilled cheese with a lot of kale in it which seemed like a fun new way to shovel kale into her mouth. It has crispy sourdough, salty meat, creamy white beans, and hearty vegetable. It’s a delicious combination of flavors and it can be made in a flash!
This is Molly’s version of the noodles her Mom would have on hand for her every time she flew home from college – they’re super nostalgic for her. Molly says slicing the bok choy into really long thin strips makes them eat nicely with the noodles and this dish is great at any temperature!
mum has been making this sauce for sesame noodles since i was a little nugget {long before i even liked anything that wasn't mac and cheese}. now a little ramekin of those sesame noodles, garnished with scallions, regularly accompanies her to the airport to pick me up whenever i fly home.
Potato bagels were my first love, years before the everything bagel became my go-to. I would get them at the Einstein Bros. in my suburb back in the early 90s when it first opened and had this cool industrial vibe and really tasty cakey black and white cookies. I loved the potato bagels because they
A highlight of the cookbook "Molly on the Range" is Ms. Yeh's playful takes on classic dishes, like this simple recipe for savory Spinach & Feta Rugelach.
flavor-wise, think of this dish as rice pudding made with noodles! and baked! or, ok, a slightly sweet, a teensy bit sour, and kind of soufflé-like mac and cheese. and for all of the times i’ve made fun of eggboy for having sweet cookie salad alongside the main course of his meal (as opposed to as dessert), i now owe him an apology because kugel, in all of its dessert-leaning glory, is part of the main course.
when i think of snickers bars, i think of nougat and caramel and when i think of nougat and caramel i think of candy thermometers and time-sensitive things and too many pots and then having to scrub too many pots of sticky stuff and it strikes fear! but it turns out that there’s a perfect hack for the nougat, which is marshmallow fluff. marshmallow fluff + nut butter + sugar = snickers nougat but better because you can use any nut or seed butter you want and you just mix it up in one bowl, no thermometer needed. and with the caramel thing, i’ve decided i’m probably only using store bought caramel from now until bernie and any future younger siblings of hers go off to college. another thing that’s fun with these is that you can change up the nuts, as long as they are salted and roasted since they need to balance out the sweetness of the nougat and caramel.
Hii!!!! How are you and how was your Halloween and are you in the holiday spirit yet?? We had such a fun first Halloween with Bernie!! She had a Halloween feast of squash (cause it’s orange!) and then donned her fleece lemon costume to trick or treat at Aunt Ethel’s building where she made friends w
I fell in love with banh mi, Vietnamese sandwiches, while living in New York, and they have been a favorite of mine ever since. The combination of the crusty baguette, crunchy pickled vegetables, fresh herbs, salty meat, and all of the sauces is a bright party of texture and flavor, and I cannot get enough. This version plops some juicy meatballs into the filling and they are dangerously good!
These are Molly’s version of the Swedish meatballs you get at the big Swedish furniture store; sometimes she’ll go there just to eat the meatballs. Swedish meatballs are typically small and have warm spices like allspice and nutmeg. They’re served with gravy and lingonberry sauce, which is tart and sort of like cranberry sauce. The combo of the meat and the lingonberries is a delicious match made in meatball heaven!
Matzo brei is traditionally a Passover dish made with soaked matzo and eggs, but I like to eat it year-round. If you don’t have matzo, you can use pita chips, crackers or bagel chips…you can really brei anything! I grew up eating my mom’s savory matzo brei, but this is my fruity, cinnamon sugar version that hits the spot when you’re craving a quick sweet breakfast situation.
after making a bunch of adam and ryan’s potstickers for meal prep, i got on a potsticker kick and wanted to make more! even though my very puffy pregnant hands made pleating a little bit difficult, i spent two extremely pleasant afternoons sitting at the kitchen table, folding dumplings while ice skating was on (this was back in february during the four continents competition). it also made me feel like i was in the dumpling scene in crazy rich asians. for this second round of dumplings, i wanted a super low maintenance filling that would also pack some protein, so i went with a classic- egg and chive! the soft fluffy filling could not be easier and it’s so easy to adjust if you want a little more ginger or heat or whatevs. i also like that since it’s totally cooked before going into the dumplings, it makes for a kid-friendly project where you don’t have to worry raw meat getting everywhere. so, bernie, when you’re ready, say the word and we’ll get pleating!!!
oy, my legs are entirely too sore from walking around the city yesterday (apparently my power walks around the super target didn't get me in shape for this?) but i am about to eat cold keste pizza for breakfast before booking it to rehearsal, so it is all good! my family's potsticker recipe is up o
I love baklava and I love blondies…so here they are combined into one dessert, stealing the chewy, cakey texture from a blondie and infusing it with the nutty texture and honey-heavy flavor of baklava. They come together so easily and they last for a good few days in the fridge (I can't resist a cold chewy blondie)!
continuing on with my list of foods that i plan to stock in our freezer for my maternity leave, i have to share this soup with you that is the best kept secret of the upper midwest. knoephla soup is right up with tater tot hotdish as my favorite new food that i’ve learned about since moving here. knoephla (neh-fla) are little chewy dumplings that made their way to this area with german immigrants and are most commonly enjoyed in creamy potato soup, but can also be sautéed with sauerkraut and sausage or put into hotdish. they are kind of like plumper smoother spaetzle and the frozen store-bought ones look a lot like mochi bits. knoephla soup is traditionally made without meat, just potatoes, vegetables, a bit of cream, and my favorite (from dakota harvest, r.i.p.) had the most warming hit of nutmeg. the texture of the dumplings and the pure comfort of it all makes this the kind of soup that i just shovel into my mouth with abandon. we had it at our wedding and for years now i’ve wondered why it hasn’t seemed to pick up that much popularity outside of the upper midwest.
Molly originally made this type of no-bake cake shortly after her second daughter was born. This is her variation of an English Tiffin, which is a no-bake dessert made from prepared ingredients like cookies, nuts, and dried fruit all tossed together then it sets in the fridge. Molly is swapping the dried fruit for gummy worms to get some extra cool mom points!
When Molly first experienced Korean corn dogs, she was floored and thought they were incredible. The skewered combination of a fried hot dog and string cheese felt like a mozzarella stick and a corn dog made a delicious baby. This is her take on recreating that recipe: deep-fried and crispy all-beef hot dogs and cheese, dusted in sugar to finish, with ketchup and mustard for dipping. They’re sure to send anyone to corn dog heaven.
A smorgastarta is a savory, Swedish sandwich cake that’s made with sandwich fillings and bread of your choice, and it is constructed just like a sweet layer cake. Molly’s version has layers of Pullman bread stacked up with egg salad and salmon salad between them with the whole thing covered in a smooth cream cheese topping and colorful fresh decor. She’s obsessed with this entire concept.
These recipes Molly Yeh has shared with Food & Wine include options for fast weeknight dinners, hearty breakfasts and lunches, and desserts we can't get enough of.
Smashing cucumbers is a delicious and rustically beautiful preparation that is common across Asia. Smashing them creates a variety of different textures, and draining them concentrates the flavor. This is a simple-to-prepare dish but it packs personality!
This time last year when I was a million months pregnant, I got the wildest craving for Stollen, the yeasted spiced Christmas cake that has a bunch of tasty mix-ins (most notably, marzipan). This craving came out of nowhere because I don’t think I’d even ever had Stollen before?! I guess I wanted al