Family Recipe File

It's like your mom's recipe index card box, but digital.

Author: Chef

  • Beef and Broccoli with Flat Top Flank Steak

    Description
    A weeknight beef and broccoli built around flank steak. The broccoli and sauce cook in the pan, while the flank steak gets a hard sear on the flat top, then gets sliced and folded in right before serving.

    Ingredients

    • 1 to 1 1/2 pounds flank steak
    • 1 tablespoon oil, plus more for the flat top
    • Salt and black pepper
    • 4 to 5 cups broccoli florets
    • 3 garlic cloves, minced
    • 1 teaspoon grated ginger
    • Cooked rice or cauliflower rice, for serving
    • 1/2 cup beef broth
    • 1/3 cup soy sauce
    • 2 tablespoons brown sugar or honey
    • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, optional
    • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
    • 1 tablespoon cornstarch

    Instructions

    1. Pat the flank steak dry. Rub with oil, then season lightly with salt and pepper.
    2. Whisk the beef broth, soy sauce, brown sugar or honey, oyster sauce if using, sesame oil, and cornstarch together until smooth.
    3. Heat the flat top until very hot. Sear the flank steak for 3 to 5 minutes per side, depending on thickness, until browned and cooked to your preferred doneness.
    4. Move the steak to a cutting board and let it rest while the broccoli cooks.
    5. In a large skillet or pot, stir-fry or steam the broccoli until bright green and crisp-tender.
    6. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for about 30 seconds.
    7. Pour in the sauce and simmer until glossy and thickened.
    8. Slice the rested flank steak thinly against the grain.
    9. Add the sliced steak to the pot at the very end and toss just long enough to coat it in sauce.
    10. Serve over rice, cauliflower rice, or extra broccoli.

    Notes

    • Do not simmer the sliced steak in the sauce. It is already cooked from the flat top and only needs to be coated.
    • Rice works best for kids; cauliflower rice or extra broccoli keeps it lower carb.

  • Honey Sesame Chicken

    Description
    A quick weeknight chicken dinner with a glossy honey-soy sesame sauce, broccoli, and rice. This is the simple skillet version Jake and Amanda liked from the September 2026 meal plan.

    Ingredients

    • 1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
    • Salt and black pepper, to taste
    • 1 to 2 tablespoons neutral cooking oil
    • 2 to 3 cups broccoli florets
    • 1/3 cup honey
    • 1/4 cup soy sauce
    • 2 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1 tablespoon sesame oil, optional but good
    • 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
    • Sesame seeds, for topping
    • Cooked white rice, for serving

    Instructions

    1. Start the rice first so it is ready when the chicken is done.
    2. Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then cook the chicken until browned and cooked through.
    3. Add the broccoli and a splash of water. Cover for 3 to 4 minutes, just until the broccoli is bright green and tender-crisp.
    4. Stir in the honey, soy sauce, garlic, and sesame oil. Let everything simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
    5. Add the cornstarch slurry and toss until the sauce turns glossy and thick enough to coat the chicken.
    6. Serve over rice and finish with sesame seeds.

    Notes

    • For a less sweet sauce, use 1/4 cup honey instead of 1/3 cup.
    • A splash of rice vinegar or a squeeze of lime helps balance the sauce if it tastes too sweet.
    • Frozen broccoli works fine; thaw or steam it lightly before adding if you want to avoid extra water in the sauce.

    Source
    Family weeknight recipe from Chef chat, September 2026.

  • Fried Pickles

    Description
    A simple fried pickle recipe from the early family recipe notes. Crunchy, salty, and made for snacking.

    Ingredients

    • 1 egg, beaten
    • 1 cup milk
    • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
    • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
    • 3/4 teaspoon salt
    • 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
    • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    • Sliced dill pickles

    Instructions

    1. Whisk together the egg, milk, 1 tablespoon flour, and Worcestershire sauce in a small bowl.
    2. In a separate bowl, mix the remaining flour with the salt and black pepper.
    3. Dip the pickle slices in the wet mixture, then coat them in the seasoned flour mixture.
    4. Fry in hot oil until golden brown.
    5. Drain briefly and serve hot.

    Notes

    • The original note calls for hamburger dill pickle slices.
    • Best served right away while still crisp.

  • Chicken Pot Pie Tater Tot Hotdish

    Description

    Ingredients

    • 6 Servings
    • 4 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
    • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
    • Salt and pepper
    • 3 butter packets
    • 1 onion, finely chopped
    • 2 cloves garlic, minced
    • 2 teaspoons thyme leaves
    • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons
    • 2 cups whole milk
    • 1 cup chicken broth
    • 1 chicken bouillon cube
    • 1/2 pound frozen peas and carrots, thawed
    • 1 cup frozen pearl onions, thawed
    • 1 (32-ounce) bag tater tots, thawed

    Instructions

    1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
    2. Coat chicken in vegetable oil, salt and pepper.
    3. Bake for 30 minutes.
    4. Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly, and shred with 2 forks.
    5. Heat a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat.
    6. Add the butter packets onion, garlic and thyme.
    7. Cook until soft, 5 to 7 minutes.
    8. Stir the flour into the onion mixture and cook while stirring for 2 minutes.
    9. Stir in the broth, followed by the milk.
    10. Add bouillon cube and stir to dissolve.
    11. Bring to a boil then turn down to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring regularly until thick.
    12. Fold in the peas and carrots, pearl onions and shredded chicken.
    13. Cover the pot pie mixture in a circular pattern with tater tots.
    14. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until golden and crispy.

  • California Grilled Chicken

    Description

    Ingredients

    • balsamic vinegar
    • Kosher salt
    • Freshly ground black pepper
    • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
    • 4 slices mozzarella
    • 4 slices avocado
    • 4 slices tomato
    • Balsamic glaze, for drizzling

    Instructions

    1. 3/4 c.
    2. 1 tsp.
    3. garlic powder
    4. 2 tbsp.
    5. honey
    6. extra-virgin olive oil
    7. 2 tsp.
    8. Italian seasoning
    9. Freshly sliced basil, for garnish
    10. In a small bowl, whisk together balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, honey, oil, and Italian seasoning and season with salt and pepper.
    11. Pour over chicken and marinate 20 minutes.
    12. When ready to grill, heat grill to medium-high.
    13. Oil grates and grill chicken until charred and cooked through, 8 minutes per side.
    14. Top chicken with mozzarella, avocado, and tomato and cover grill to melt, 2 minutes.
    15. Garnish with basil and drizzle with balsamic glaze.

  • Cilantro-Lime Chicken

    Description

    Ingredients

    • Juice of 2 limes
    • 2 cloves garlic, minced
    • Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
    • 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
    • Kosher salt
    • Freshly ground black pepper
    • Cooked white rice, for serving

    Instructions

    1. 4 tbsp.
    2. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
    3. 1/4 c.
    4. freshly chopped cilantro
    5. 1/2 tsp.
    6. cumin
    7. Whisk together 2 tablespoons oil, lime juice, cilantro, garlic, cumin, and red pepper flakes.
    8. Add chicken and toss to coat.
    9. Let marinate in fridge 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.
    10. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 425°.
    11. In a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil.
    12. Season chicken with salt and pepper, then add to skillet skin-side down and pour in remaining marinade.
    13. Sear until skin is golden and crispy, about 6 minutes.
    14. Flip and cook 2 minutes more.
    15. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until chicken is cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes.
    16. Serve over rice drizzled with pan drippings.

  • Spicy Fried Chicken Sandwich

    Description

    Ingredients

    • SERVES 4 • TOTAL TIME 10 HR 30 MIN
    • Kosher salt
    • Vegetable oil, for frying
    • 1 clove garlic, grated
    • Freshly ground black pepper
    • 4 buns
    • 4 leaves green leaf lettuce

    Instructions

    1. Tofu goes through a magical transformation once frozen and thawed: A chicken-like texture emerges, perfect for this popular fast-food dupe.
    2. 2 (14-oz.) blocks extra-firm tofu, excess liquid drained
    3. ¼ c.
    4. Dijon mustard
    5. bread-and-butter pickle brine
    6. hot sauce, plus more for serving
    7. 2 tbsp.
    8. apple cider vinegar
    9. 1 c.
    10. all-purpose flour
    11. ½ c.
    12. finely ground cornmeal
    13. 1 tbsp.
    14. cornstarch
    15. 2 tsp.
    16. chili powder
    17. 1½ tsp.
    18. cayenne pepper
    19. 1 tsp.
    20. onion powder
    21. ½ tsp.
    22. garlic powder
    23. baking powder
    24. lemon juice
    25. vegan mayonnaise
    26. Prep tofu: In a large container, arrange tofu in a single layer.
    27. Cover with plastic or a lid, and freeze until solid, at least 5 hours.
    28. Remove frozen tofu from freezer and let thaw completely on counter, 4 hours, or overnight in refrigerator.
    29. Drain excess water.
    30. On a rimmed baking sheet lined with several sheets of paper towels, arrange thawed tofu in a single layer.
    31. Top with more paper towels and another rimmed baking sheet.
    32. Weight baking sheet with a few cookbooks or cans of food.
    33. Let drain at least 1 hour or up to overnight in refrigerator,
    34. Once tofu is drained, make sandwich: In a shallow bowl, whisk together Dijon mustard, pickle brine, hot sauce, and vinegar.
    35. In another shallow bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, cornstarch, chili powder, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder, baking powder, and ½ teaspoon salt.
    36. Cut each piece of drained tofu crosswise into 2 planks to make 4 planks total.
    37. Working with one plank at a time, coat tofu in flour mixture, then dip in Dijon-brine mixture.
    38. Coat in flour mixture again, then dip in Dijon-brine mixture and transfer to a plate.
    39. Repeat with remaining tofu.
    40. In a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, heat ½" oil until it just starts to shimmer.
    41. Reduce heat to medium and fry tofu in one batch, flipping once, until golden on both sides, 5 minutes per side.
    42. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
    43. Make garlic mayo: In a small bowl, whisk together garlic, lemon juice, and vegan mayonnaise.
    44. Season with salt and pepper.
    45. Spread garlic mayo on bottom of each bun and top with lettuce, fried tofu, and a small handful of pickles.
    46. Sandwich with top bun and serve.
    47. —LAURA REGE

  • Chicken Burrito Bowl

    Description

    Ingredients

    • 1 Serving
    • 1 baked chicken thigh seasoned with cumin, chopped
    • 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
    • 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
    • 1/3 large tomato, chopped
    • 1/4 red bell pepper
    • 1/2 can chickpeas, drained
    • 1 cup shredded romaine
    • 1/2 avocado, sliced
    • 3 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
    • 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
    • 1 hot sauce packet

    Instructions

    1. In a large reusable container, layer rice, chicken, shredded cheese, tomato, bell pepper, chickpeas, lettuce, avocado, yogurt and cilantro.
    2. Add any other leftover veggies and place a hot sauce packet on the side of the container.

  • Biscuits and Sausage Gravy ATK

    Source
    Source: America’s Test Kitchen (ATK).

    Description

    Hearty buttermilk biscuits topped with creamy, spicy sausage gravy are a Southern staple, but many biscuits recipes feature hockey-puck baked goods soaked with pasty, flavorless sauce.

    We wanted our Biscuits and Sausage Gravy recipe to turn out big, fluffy biscuits with maximum lift, so we used a considerable amount of flour and increased the amount of baking powder and baking soda.

    YIELD Serves 6

    TIME 1 hour

    Gather Your Ingredients

    Biscuits

    • 3 cups (15 ounces/425 grams) all-purpose flour
    • 1 tablespoon sugar
    • 1 tablespoon baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
    • 4 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
    • 1 ¼ cups buttermilk (If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, whisk 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into 1 1/4 cups of milk and let it stand until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.)

    Sausage Gravy

    • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon ground fennel seed
    • 1 teaspoon ground sage
    • 1 ½ teaspoons pepper
    • 1 ½ pounds (680 grams) bulk pork sausage
    • 3 cups whole milk
    • Salt

    Instructions

    1. Kneading the dough built structure so the biscuits were sturdy enough to stand up to the gravy.
    2. In the gravy, our tasters preferred milk to half-and-half or cream, which were overly rich.
    3. Bumping up the amount of sausage in our gravy recipe ensured plenty of meat in every bite.
    4. Ground fennel and sage supplement the seasonings in the sausage and, along with a generous dose of black pepper, give the gravy—and our Biscuits and Sausage Gravy recipe—some serious flavor.

    For the biscuits: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees.

    1. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
    2. Pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter, and shortening in food processor until mixture resembles coarse meal.
    3. Transfer to large bowl.
    4. Stir in buttermilk until combined.
    5. On lightly floured surface, knead dough until smooth, 8 to 10 kneads.
    6. Pat dough into 9-inch circle, about 3/4 inch thick.
    7. Using 3-inch biscuit cutter dipped in flour, cut out rounds of dough and arrange on prepared baking sheet.
    8. Gather remaining dough, pat into 3/4-inch-thick circle, and cut out remaining biscuits (You should have 8 biscuits in total.)
    9. Bake until biscuits begin to rise, about 5 minutes, then rotate pan and reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees.
    10. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and let cool.

    For the sausage gravy: Combine flour, fennel, sage, and pepper in small bowl.

    1. Cook sausage in large nonstick skillet over medium heat, breaking up meat with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 8 minutes.
    2. Sprinkle flour mixture over sausage and cook, stirring constantly, until flour has been absorbed, about 1 minute.
    3. Slowly stir in milk and simmer until sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes.
    4. Season with salt.
    5. Serve over split biscuits.

    (Biscuits can be stored in zipper-lock bag for 2 days.)

  • Bear claws

    Description
    Family breakfast notes for Bear claws.

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup powdered sugar

    Instructions

    1. 3 tsp.
    2. Milk
    3. 1Preheat the oven to 400°F.
    4. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
    5. 2For the almond filling: In a food processor, combine the blanched almonds and granulated sugar, and process until finely ground, about 1 minute.
    6. Add the butter, flour, almond extract, salt, egg, and egg yolk, and process until smooth.
    7. Transfer the filling to a pastry bag or 1-gallon zip-top plastic bag, and set aside.
    8. 3For the bear claws: On a lightly floured work surface, roll out 1 of the puff pastry sheets to an 11-inch square.
    9. Using the creases left on the dough from being folded as a guide, cut the puff pastry into 3 equal strips (about 3 1/2 inches by 11 inches).
    10. 4Cut a 1/2-inch opening at the tip of the pastry bag.
    11. Pipe a line of the almond filling down the center of each pastry strip.
    12. Lightly brush some egg wash along one of the long edges.
    13. Fold one long side of the dough over the filling to encase it; seal the two joined long edges using your hands (there's no need to seal the shorter ends).
    14. Using a small, sharp knife, cut each of the strips into 3 pieces (about 1 3/4 inches by 3 1/2 inches), then cut 3 slits (about 1/2 inch) in the filled side of each pastry, leaving the sealed side intact.
    15. Be sure to cut just to the center of the pastry.
    16. Transfer the pastries to a lined baking sheet (6 on each) and curve them back a little to open up the “claws.” Repeat the process with the second sheet of puff pastry and remaining almond filling.
    17. 5Brush the tops of the pastries with the remaining egg wash and scatter over the sliced almonds.
    18. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to 12 hours (if chilling longer than 2 hours, cover with plastic); the puff pastry should be firm to the touch after chilling.
    19. 6Bake 1 pan at a time until the tops are golden brown, 16 to 18 minutes.
    20. The filling will spread out a little as the bear claws bake.
    21. If desired, tear away any crispy edges and use a skewer to push any filling back into the opened slits while still warm.
    22. Allow the claws to cool completely on a wire rack, about 15 minutes.
    23. 7For the glaze: Meanwhile, place the powdered sugar in a small bowl and whisk in the milk a little at a time until the glaze reaches a pourable, glue-like consistency.
    24. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled pastries in a zigzag pattern.