Season 3

We turn soggy nachos and candy-sweet sangria into serious party food.

Less is more when it comes to hearty soups.

We rescue two favorite vegetable dishes from the clutches of the cafeteria.

A taste of real French cooking—without spending all day in the kitchen.

The perfect steakhouse dinner—salad with creamy blue cheese dressing and seared filet mignon—is often a fantasy. In the real world, the lettuce is limp, the dressing gluey or watery, the steak overcooked or not properly browned, and the sauce characterless. The test kitchen shows you how to solve each of these problems.

Chinese food at home (without a laundry list of hard-to-find ingredients).

Quick and easy chicken dishes.

We return two classic pasta sauces to their original glory.

Simple ingredients are often the basis of special and uncommonly good dishes.

Skip the marinade and don't bother to sauté the aromatic vegetables.

The best chili: hearty, heavy on the meat, and spicy.

The secret to great casseroles: keep the ingredients as fresh tasting as possible.

Finding flavor in today's leaner pork.

Big, juicy, smoky ribs and classic potato salad.

We prepare an elegant salmon dish . . . on the grill.

Free up your oven and grill a better tasting bird.

We turn meat and potatoes into something memorable.

Spiral-sliced ham and good green bean casserole. (Really!)

Brunch that's worth making, even when company isn't coming.

It takes more than speed to make the best quick breads.

Hearth-quality bread from a home oven.

We take two cookie classics and make them great again.

We solve the problem of soggy crusts and mile-high meringue.

We perfect two classic summer American desserts.

One old-fashioned, moist and homely, the other elegant, dense and ethereal.

Restraint is key for the perfect New York-style cheesecake.