This potato-topped shepherd’s pie gets extra flavor from the cheese and carrots that are added to the mashed potato crust. And you can take a shortcut with the crust because the recipe calls for frozen mashed potatoes.
[Photographs: Elizabeth Barbone] I think of tarts the same way I think of sandwiches: you can fill them with almost anything and they taste great. And just as a good sandwich requires good bread, a tart needs a good crust....
Chinese Wide Noodles with Barbecue Pork and Dried Mushrooms is a Chinese comfort-food favorite. This quick version of char siu pork amps up pork tenderloin with a marinade of sweet-salty hoisin sauce and aromatic five-spice powder. Then slivers of this meat meld with meaty wood ear mushrooms among chewy noodles bathed in a salty-sweet sauce.