'tis the season

15 Famous Women on Their Favorite Recipes

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For holiday cooking inspiration this season, we’re looking to powerful chefs like Angela Dimayuga and April Bloomfield. And because plenty of famous women have shared their favorite recipes for years, we gathered some great ideas here. Start planning your menu with Ina Garten’s beef stew, Maya Angelou’s go-to sides, and more below. Then check out the Cut’s feminist holiday cookbook.

Nora Ephron
“This thing that people do now where they stack food up on a plate like a little Mount Everest. What is that? I’m still at the point where I don’t like my sauce to mush into my string beans … [I like to make] Fried potatoes. Pasta with a bolognese sauce. I have a really, really easy fast way of making bolognese and it’s just great, so that would be one thing.” —Newsweek, August 2009

Ina Garten
On her best savory recipe: “There’s a beef stew that’s wonderful — Parker’s Beef Stew. It’s marinated in red wine, and someone told me it’s one of the more popular recipes on the Food Network website. I like to take something that’s classic and turn up the volume: The red wine really gets into the meat, and it’s made with sun-dried tomatoes and all kinds of vegetables, and it’s intensely flavored. Plus, I like to serve it over grilled bread so it absorbs the sauce. I also just love rack of lamb with orzo and roasted vegetables. It’s so simple but great for entertaining. I like things that have a lot of texture. The rack of lamb has a rosemary crust and mustard, and it’s so easy but special. The orzo has feta cheese that contrasts with the roasted vegetables, which are caramelized and sweet, and there’s also fresh basil.” —Food & Wine, October 2011

Suzanne Goin
On her go-to cookbooks: “Eric Ripert’s A Return to Cooking. It’s like an old friend I just want to keep visiting. I love immersing myself in the idyllic world of that book. Also the Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook, which is like going back to the holy grail. I love seeing how French the restaurant was back then. I want to eat all that food.” —James Beard Foundation, April 2014

Maya Angelou
“I love the slow way of cooking. I like the country foods: the greens and the beans and the cornbreads and the biscuits. Not just for the taste, but because it infuses the house with an aroma that says ‘You are welcome. You’re going to have some good food. It’s going to take some time. And once you eat it you won’t want to leave.’” —Southern Living

April Bloomfield
On her vegetable cookbook: “[Vegetables] are really simple. And, actually, it’s simply a matter of finding some delicious fennel and boiling it, taking it out, then sprinkling it with some salt, lemon, and olive oil. That’s the most delicious thing. So, it’s about letting the ingredients speak for themselves.” —Refinery 29, April 2014

Chrissy Teigen
“When John and I got together, I found my love for cooking. On one of our earliest dates, I took him to Daniel (four dollar signs on Yelp, ahhh!). I drank a $40 margarita, ate salmon rillettes (fancy salmon spread), and prayed my card wouldn’t be declined. I couldn’t afford to take him out to more dinners like that, so I started cooking more and more at home for us. I started with my own version of that salmon spread, then roasted whole branzino, osso buco, chipotle BBQ chicken. When my first cookbook came out, I finally felt proud of my work.” —Glamour, March 2017

Martha Stewart
On what she won’t cook: “There’s certain things I won’t cook. I will not cook brains, sweetbreads or offal … things that in other parts of the world, they use a lot of. I won’t cook hearts. Although, [celebrated upstate New York restaurant] Stone Barns is now on this great big rampage to serve from nose to tail. They served me pig blood the other day. I can eat it, but I don’t enjoy it.” —Elle, June 2016

Gwyneth Paltrow
“I cook wherever I am, really. I tend to cook the most in London and in our beach house on Long Island. I cook seven days a week when I am at the beach because I have a huge vegetable garden and I love to use all that stuff. We grow things all summer. The seafood is so incredible, there is a chicken farm there, and there is Long Island duck — everything out there is really great. In London I cook four to six dinners a week, and I am always cooking things for lunch and food for the kids.” —Epicurious

Padma Lakshmi
On a common cooking mistake: “Most people put too many spices in one pot. The taste is muddled. Try a mix like ras el hanout or garam masala, used like a seasoning blend. It’s a shortcut: The mixing and measuring are done for you.” —Self, November 2016

Jourdan Dunn
On her all-time favorite meal to cook: “My Granny’s chicken stew with rice, peas, and a salad. When I was younger I would get really excited about Sunday dinner around my Gran. She had the best one liners and would make us laugh all day. Every time I cook this meal I think of how I can make it exactly like her, but with the ingredients I can find in NY.” —MTV, December 2012

Eva Longoria
On her go-to recipe: “My tortilla soup. Everyone loves it. My friends and family are always asking me when I’m going to make it next. I think people like it because it’s a hearty dish that appeals to many different palates. You can make it spicy or extra thick.” —Prevention, November 2011

Dolly Parton
On her cooking specialty: “Chicken and dumplings. It’s all country cooking. I’ll bring my grits when I travel because I get so hungry on the road. I try to stay on my low-carb diet during the week, and then when I know I have a day off, I say, ‘Make me a pan of corn bread.’” —Parade, December 2011

Kristen Kish
On an easy, impressive French recipe to learn: “Beef bourguignon. Look for Julia Child’s recipe. It’s the best one. It’s easy, one pot, a couple steps. You just hang out and come back in a few hours, and it’s done.” —Esquire, March 2013

Anita Lo
“I’ve always been nose to tail [using the whole animal], and that’s becoming more trendy now. I always thought that the whole animal should be used. That’s so much more sustainable. People are missing out on things that are really delicious. It’s cultural prejudice that keeps you from eating that, but it really is delicious. People are skeeved out because it’s not something that they grew up with.” —After Ellen, November 2011

Alice Waters
On the one ingredient she can’t live without: “Garlic. And also I can’t live without olive oil. These ingredients are indispensable to me … and canned tomatoes!” —Goop

15 Famous Women on Their Favorite Recipes