Weekly Wrap-Up: 10/6-10/12

In case you missed them, here’s a wrap up of our favorite blog posts of the week. Read, get inspired, and start cooking!

 

Spiced Squash Tagine This fragrant Moroccan stew, or tagine, combines butternut squash, sweet potato, onion and carrot with an aromatic blend of spices and the sweetness of dried currants and honey.

Ingredient Spotlight: Pears Perfectly ripe pears have a juicy texture and delicately floral flavor that’s a hallmark of autumn. Read on for some of our best tips on choosing and prepping pears, plus delicious ways to prepare them from the Williams-Sonoma Test Kitchen.

7 Ways with Our Pecan Pumpkin Butter Nothing says fall like our rich, luscious Pecan Pumpkin Butter. The treat has a loyal following and is even a personal favorite of our founder, Chuck Williams. Here are some of our favorite ways to use it!

Q&A with Yotam Ottolenghi With his revolutionary cookbooks, Yotam Ottolenghi has changed the way cooks around the world think about vegetables. To celebrate the launch of his new book Plenty More, we asked Yotam all about his “vegi-renaissance” and his best flavor discoveries. Read his responses here!

Chinese-Style Peanut Noodles with Seared Beef This hearty, flavorful noodle dish is perfect for weeknights — it’s quick to prepare and can be adapted to use ingredients you have on hand. Our recipe calls for gluten-free spaghetti, so everyone at the table can enjoy it.

Sneak Peek: Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty More This month, Chef Yotam Ottolenghi releases the much-anticipated follow-up to his popular cookbook Plenty — aptly titled Plenty More — with more of the bright, innovative vegetable-based dishes we love. Here’s a sneak peek of some of our favorite recipes from the book.

Recipe Roundup: Great Grains Whole grains aren’t just rich in nutrients — they’re packed with flavor, too. From Italian farro to protein-rich quinoa to old-fashioned rolled oats, each grain has a different taste and texture and lends itself to a range of delicious serving suggestions. Here’s how to enjoy them in salads, soups, main dishes and more.

Tres Leches Cake In this version of tres leches cake, a dessert that’s popular in many parts of Latin America, a simple white cake is soaked in a luscious sauce made from three milks and a hit of rum. For a colorful presentation, garnish the fluffy, glossy meringue frosting with tropical fruits like papaya, mango and pineapple.

Grilled Steak with Charmoula Charmoula, a traditional North African sauce, contains a full palette of herbs and spices, from the green of cilantro to the red of paprika and cayenne to the gold of turmeric. Although this versatile sauce has almost endless uses—try it slathered on roasted potatoes, spooned onto an omelet or used as a dip for warm pita wedges—here it is a flavorful finish for simple grilled steaks.

Yotam Ottolenghi’s Ultimate Flavor Boosters Chef Yotam Ottolenghi is famous for making vegetarian dishes that are packed with bold, surprising flavors. Here, he shares some of the secrets behind his vegetable success — the herbs, spices and seasonings he uses to take dishes to the next level.

Weekend Project: Halloween Surprise Cookies Here’s a Halloween treat with its own set of tricks! Our clever cutters create cookies that look normal, but they break open to reveal sweet surprises inside. Here’s how it works.

3 Fall Cocktails from Shake Authors Eric Prum & Josh Williams Eric Prum and Josh Williams believe drinks should be fun and simple. Here are a few of our favorite seasonal drinks from their book, Shake — give them a try at your next party!

Spiced Roasted Carrots A simple spice blend made with sumac, a slightly tart and fruity spice popular in North African and Middle Eastern cooking, livens up these roasted carrots.

Party Planner: Autumn Dinner Party Cozy up to fall with a hearty harvest feast. Here’s a menu of comforting, elegant dishes meant to be passed and shared with friends, plus our tips for pulling it off.

Walnut–Chocolate Chip Banana Bread No one can resist a thick slice of freshly baked banana bread, especially when it’s studded with melting chocolate chips and toasty walnuts.

Mom’s Home-Style Pot Roast Every mom seems to have her own secret for how to transform a modest chuck roast into a scrumptiously tender pot roast supper. In this recipe, thickly sliced onions and paprika boost the flavor. You’ll have lots of sauce, so you might want to make mashed potatoes for soaking it up.