There is no substitute for a truly ripe mango. The juice starts running down your hands as soon as you make the first slice, and you'll find yourself wanting to lick the bowl when the last piece is gone. Here's the best way to slice a mango for fruit salads, salsas, or eating straight from the skin. More

It's not for nothing that couscous is one of our biggest staples for quick weeknight dinners. This grain-like pasta cooks in the blink of an eye and is absolutely foolproof. If you can boil water, I guarantee you can make couscous. More

The perfect baked potato is crispy on the outside and pillowy in the middle. Cracked open and still steaming, it's ready to receive anything from a sprinkle of cheese to last night's stew. Here's how to make them. More

However the first quick breads came about, I am grateful. When else do we get to essentially dump ingredients in a bowl, stir, bake, and then be rewarded for our minimal efforts with a warm golden loaf of bread for the table? Here is the basic recipe I've settled on over the years, with plenty of variations for just about any occasion you can think of. More

Mushrooms have a permanent place on my shopping list. I don't always have a plan for using them, but I know that after a week of slipping them into frittatas and stir-fries, I'll be ready to buy more. For longest shelf-life, I use two different methods for storing my mushrooms. More

Rice is rice, right? Not quite. Short-grain Japanese rice is quite different from long-grain basmati or jasmine rice, so achieving the right texture — glossy and tender but not sticky — calls for a particular cooking method. A fancy rice cooker makes the process easy, but it isn't a necessity. Making perfect Japanese rice on the stove is simple, requiring only a good pot and careful listening skills. More

Aside from making your kitchen smell like a buttery wonderland, clarifying butter removes the solid particles suspended in the butterfat. Ghee takes it a bit further by simmering out more of the water. The resulting liquid gold is useful for all kinds of kitchen projects, from curries and stir-fries to pastries and hollandaise sauce. Yum. More

Are you roasting a whole turkey for the first time this year? Or perhaps you've done this many times before, but you want a quick refresher to brush up on the basics? We'll help you make your mama proud with these step-by-step instructions for roasting a delicious turkey. Here's our super basic, super simple, super easy tutorial for roasting a super beautiful turkey this Thanksgiving. More

The deeply browned and greasy scrapings from the bottom of the roasting pan might not look like much when you first take the turkey out of the oven. But those drippings are Thanksgiving manna. Let's make some gravy. More

I find a bowl of egg drop soup to be one of the most soothing and comforting dishes ever invented. You really only need three base ingredients to make it, two in a pinch. And yet breathing in that steamy broth and savoring the first spoonful of silky egg curd, all my troubles immediately fade away. More