ArcaMax

I am a sucker for shrimp. I grew up with an uncle who mastered the art of cooking seafood. He made his way from Nayarit, Mexico, to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he is now the chef and owner of homeandleisure/recipes/varietymenu/s-3698009">Read more

When you need to throw something together for a fast and easy weeknight meal, tacos are often a busy cook's first choice.

That's because you can stuff almost anything inside a hard or soft tortilla — including leftovers — top it with some shredded lettuce and/or crunchy veggies, add a generous sprinkling of cheese and feel like a total ...Read more

We can’t help ourselves. We are, after all, merely apes — or at least close enough relatives to share 98.7% of their DNA.

Apes like sugar. So it is only natural that humans, too, are drawn to sugar.

I recently read a long and funny article in the New York Times by Caity Weaver where she made this very argument.

“How My Trip to Quit ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — My Japanese grandmother lived on the opposite coast when I was little. I only met her a couple times, but she would annually send a box of homemade Japanese treats, including red bean-stuffed buns.

As a kid growing up in a New York suburb, these were not exactly something I yearned for. I probably — no, definitely — would ...Read more

Boxed pasta is an easy sell for so many reasons.

For starters, you can find it just about everywhere. Even the tiniest grocery or camp store in the teeniest, out-of-the-way town is bound to stock it.

It's also really easy to prepare (just boil!) and even without a cookbook to guide you, pasta is incredibly versatile, lending itself to sauces ...Read more

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, here's a quick and delightful recipe that you can whip up in under 10 minutes.

This shrimp salad is served in a bowl made from fresh, tender Bibb lettuce — small, round, and crisp, and part of the butterhead variety. I always keep frozen shrimp on hand for a quick meal, as they defrost in just a ...Read more

Let’s admit it, whole wheat pasta is misunderstood.

It’s different from the white, semolina pasta — nuttier, denser and toastier — and delicious when allowed to shine in its own right. Don’t use it as a one-to-one swap; rather, lean into its nutty flavor and grainy texture. It’s a perfect match for savory, earthy and/or oniony ...Read more

Fajitas are a sizzling spectacle, but we wanted a recipe that was more about flavor than theater and used only one baking sheet.

We chose flank steak, preferred by tasters for its beefy flavor, tenderness, and availability. Since we couldn’t sear it on a baking sheet in the oven (even at a hot 475 degrees), we relied on a potent, dark-colored...Read more

The classic combination of strawberries and rhubarb is delicious in this easy cake, but you can substitute 3 cups of any ripe fruit you like. Yogurt adds a creaminess that pulls the whole cake together.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake with Yogurt

Serves 12

Active Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

1 1/2 cups sliced rhubarb ...Read more

Chewing gum in one form or another has been around for thousands of years. For centuries, gum consisted of the latex, called chicle, of the sapodilla tree. After World War II, a variety of waxes, plastics, and synthetic rubber mostly replaced chicle in chewing gum. Today, chewing gum is made of a few basic ingredients: a gum base, flavorings and...Read more

The other day I invited my 2-year-old grandson to come over so we could make a dessert. Oliver is a typical toddler who is a very picky eater, but when it comes to combining strawberries and chocolate together, he couldn’t wait.

Strawberries are at their prime now, so I thought it would be fun to make chocolate-covered strawberries. I worked ...Read more

Seeing the local, bright-green fresh asparagus at the market makes my heart beat faster (and healthier). Pencil-slim or thick and sturdy, it’s all good.

After eating our fill of gently steamed and lightly salted spears, I look for swankier cooking methods and flavor additions. Roasting vegetables proves a perfect technique for medium-thick ...Read more

Classic English muffins are perfect when you want a base for breakfast sandwiches or lots of nook and crannies to trap ...Read more