4 Classic Recipes Every Woman Needs to Know (2024)

This dish, inspired by Julia Child's famous recipe, is iconic because it's so insanely delicious—tender meat, sweet carrots, and a rich sauce that practically begs for a piece of baguette to sop it up. It's not fast, and there are many steps involved, but if you want to impress a group of friends or even yourself, set some time aside and make it.

Inspired by Julia Child's recipe from her landmark cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Active: 1 hour

Total: 4 hours

3slices thick-cut bacon

3Tbsp olive oil

3lbs lean stewing beef (preferably rump or chuck), cut into 2-in. cubes

1carrot, peeled and sliced (about ½ cup)

1onion, peeled and sliced (about 2 cups)

Kosher salt and pepper

2Tbsp flour

3cups full-bodied red wine, like Bordeaux or Chianti

4cups beef stock

1Tbsp tomato paste

2cloves garlic, mashed

½tsp dried thyme or 1 sprig fresh thyme

1bay leaf, crumbled

1Tbsp butter

1lb mushrooms, quartered

18-24 white pearl onions, peeled(or defrosted, if frozen)

1. Position racks to divide oven in thirds. Heat oven to 325°F.

2. In a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot with a lid, sauté the bacon in 1 Tbsp oil over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the fat is rendered and the bacon is slightly brown. Remove to a large bowl with a slotted spoon. Pour off all but 2 Tbsp of the drippings. Turn heat to medium until fat is almost smoking.

3. Place the beef on a plate and pat dry with paper towels (it will not brown if it is damp). Sauté it, a few pieces at a time, until it is nicely browned on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch. Add it to the bowl with the bacon.

4. Add the carrot and onion to the pot. Cook until the onion is translucent and softened and the carrot is lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

5. Return the beef and the bacon to the pot and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the beef mixture with the flour and toss to coat. Cook, tossing occasionally, until the flour completely coats the beef and browns slightly, about 3 to 4 minutes.

6. Stir in the wine and 3 cups stock so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf; increase heat to high and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot and set it in the lower third of the oven. Cook until the meat is done (when a fork pierces it easily), 2½ to 3 hours.

7. Meanwhile, prepare the mushrooms and onions: Melt the butter and 1 Tbsp oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the mushrooms and toss and shake the pan until they are browned, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; transfer to a bowl. Add the remaining Tbsp oil to the skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté for about 10 minutes, moving the onions around in the pan so they brown as evenly as possible without breaking apart. Add the remaining cup of stock, season with salt and pepper, and simmer until the stock is reduced to a syrupy glaze and the onions are tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the mushrooms; set aside.

8. Remove pot from oven and stir in the onions and mushrooms. Set pot, uncovered, over medium-low heat and simmer to reduce the liquid slightly, about 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning and serve. (May be made, cooled, and refrigerated up to 3 days before serving.)

Makes 6 servings. Per serving: 491 cal, 25 g fat (8 g sat fat), 50 g protein, 14 g carb, 3 g fiber.

The brilliant thing about this recipe, adapted from the one used at Frankies 457 Spuntino, a cult-favorite Italian-American joint in Brooklyn, NY, is that it involves so little effort. Instead of the messy and time-consuming steps of breading and frying the eggplant, you simply roast it, then layer it with tomato sauce and Pecorino Romano cheese. The result is a lighter, nongreasy dish that still tastes like someone's sweet old nonna made it.

Adapted from The Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion & Cooking Manual by Frank Falcinelli, Frank Castronovo, and Peter Meehan

Active: 20 minutes

Total: 2½ to 4 hours

3large eggplants (about 3 lbs), peeled in vertical strips leaving alternating strips of skin, and sliced into ½-in. disks

¼cup olive oil

Kosher salt and pepper

3-4cups simple, thick tomato sauce

3cups grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese (about 10 oz)

18-oz ball fresh mozzarella, cut into ¼-in.-thick slices

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Toss the eggplants with the olive oil, 2 tsp salt, and a few pinches of pepper, making sure the eggplants are evenly dressed. Arrange slices in a single layer on 2 baking sheets.

2. Place the eggplant in the oven and cook until it is lightly mottled in parts and deeply browned in others and beginning to—but not quite yet—shrink away from the skin, about 20 to 25 minutes, turning it once halfway through cooking time. Remove from oven (leave the oven on).

3. Coat the bottom of a medium roasting pan (or another casserole or ovenproof pan appropriate for a lasagna-type preparation) with a thin slick of tomato sauce. Nestle a single layer of eggplant slices in the sauce, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and give the eggplant a good coating of Pecorino Romano. Repeat until all the sauce, eggplant, and Pecorino Romano are used, finishing with a layer of cheese. Cover pan with foil (make sure the foil isn't touching the eggplant) and bake for 3½ hours or as long as possible—at least 2 hours.

4. Serve the eggplant marinara hot, cold, or in between. Arrange a layer of fresh mozzarella slices over the top of the dish just before serving.

Makes 8 servings. Per serving: 504 cal, 38 g fat (15 g sat fat), 19 g protein, 18 g carb, 7 g fiber.

Some nights you just crave comfort, and this dish delivers it in heaping spoonfuls. Adapted from Keepers, a cookbook that's a wealth of fancy-seeming recipes that are actually incredibly easy, the recipe here can be finished in an hour, and you don't have to roast a chicken, wash a vegetable, or roll out pie crust. The trick is using premade and thawed puff pastry, which, let's face it, makes everything taste better.

Adapted from Keepers by Kathy Brennan and Caroline Campion

Active: 15 minutes

Total: 1 hour

1Tbsp olive oil

6 slices bacon (about 4 oz), cut crosswise into ½-in. pieces

1clove garlic, minced

1½lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces and patted dry

Kosher salt and pepper

⅓cup flour

2tsp dried thyme

2cups low-sodium chicken broth

3Tbsp Marsala wine

116-oz pkg frozen mixed vegetables, thawed

1large egg

1sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

1. Heat oven to 425°F with the rack in the middle.

2. In a large skillet, place the oil and the bacon and turn heat to medium. Cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until almost crisp, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook, stirring frequently, 1 minute more.

3. Turn heat to medium-high; add the chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is browned all over, 6 to 8 minutes. Sprinkle with the flour and fold to coat the chicken evenly. Stir in the thyme, broth, and Marsala, scraping the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 4 minutes. Stir in the veggies. Check the seasoning and transfer to a 2-qt baking dish.

4. In a small bowl, whisk the egg and 1 Tbsp water. Moisten the edges of the baking dish with water, which will help the puff pastry stick to the dish while baking. Working quickly so the heat from the filling doesn't soften it too much, trim the sheet to be just larger than the area of the pan. Pinch and crimp the sheet against the inside rim of the dish, stretching and folding as needed. Pinch any holes closed; brush the pastry with some of the egg mixture.

5. Place the pie on a sheet pan and bake until the pastry is puffy and golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 4 servings. Per serving: 435 cal, 18 g fat (7 g sat fat), 18 g protein, 50 g carb, 4 g fiber.

Fish is annoyingly easy to mess up, but not with this recipe from mega-restaurateur and Chopped judge Geoffrey Zakarian. The olive oil gently cooks the flesh while sealing in all the moisture to keep it tender and light. Definitely let the cod rest for the full five minutes before you remove it from the oil; if you try to do it too soon, you'll risk the fillets flaking apart.

Adapted from My Perfect Pantry by Geoffrey Zakarian

Active: 25 minutes

Total: 25 minutes

3cups extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed

Zest of 1 lemon, removed in strips with a peeler

4sprigs tarragon

2dried bay leaves

½tsp crushed red pepper flakes

4skinless cod fillets (about 6 oz each, 1½ to 2 in. thick)

Kosher salt and black pepper

1. In a straight-sided sauté pan just large enough to hold the cod in 1 layer, combine the olive oil, lemon zest, tarragon, bay leaves, and red pepper. Heat over medium-low until the oil reaches 200°F on an oil/candy thermometer; this should take about 10 minutes. (If you're not using a thermometer, you can tell the oil is at the correct temperature when you see a very subtle rippling on its surface.)

2. Season the cod with salt and pepper and gently place in the oil in a single layer, making sure it is completely submerged in the oil. Poach until just cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets. Remove pan from heat and let the cod cool in the oil for 5 minutes, to firm the fillets and make them easier to lift from the pan.

3. Remove the fillets with a slotted spatula. Serve with a sprinkling of salt and pepper.

Makes 4 servings. Per serving: 243 cal, 15 g fat (2 g sat fat), 27 g protein, 0 g carb, 0 g fiber.