Name: Beef Stock
Yield: Makes about 7 cups
Ingredients: 4 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil; 4 pounds meaty beef bones, such as ribs, shin, neck, or tail; 16 cups cold water; 1 onion, peeled and quartered; 1 carrot, peeled; 1 rib celery; 2 large cloves garlic, crushed; 2 sprigs fresh thyme; 1 bay leaf; 1/2 teaspoon salt

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Beef, veal, and pork bones are hard to come by, so ask your butcher to save any he removes for you. Take them home and freeze them for later use in stock. These days, the scarcest of beef products has to be the bones! In the old days, the butcher had plenty of bones to spare, but today's precut meat means fewer bones at the retail level.

Recipe notes

XO Sauce

Developed in the 1980s by a chef in Hong Kong, this sauce is all about umami.

Spice-Grilled Pork Chops

A pinch of sugar in the spice rub ensures picture-perfect grill marks with layers of flavor.

Île Flottante

Originally called omelette à la neige (snow omelet) in reference to the fluffy snow-like appearance of the meringue, île flottante (floating island) has a lengthy history that dates back to the 17th century.

Dulce de Leche

Make this versatile caramel at home with our slow-simmered method using milk and sugar—or take one of two sweetened condensed milk shortcuts.

Not-So-Secret Burger Sauce

Every sauce needs a few secrets. Ours is smoky, sweet, and savory—use it for burgers, fries, tenders, and more.

Grape Dumplings

Native American people made these with cornmeal dumplings, simmering them with wild grapes, which were harvested at their peak sweetness.

Fufu

Fufu is a dish that has been passed down through many generations and is seen as a symbol of Ghanaian identity and heritage. Making fufu traditionally is a very laborious task; this recipe mimics some of that hard work but with a few home-cook hacks that make for a far easier time.

Sofrito Bolognese

An ex-boyfriend’s mom—who emigrated from Colombia—made the best meat sauce—she would fry sofrito for the base and simply add cooked ground beef, sazón, and jarred tomato sauce. My version is a bit more bougie—it calls for caramelized tomato paste and white wine—but the result is just as good.