Rebecca Hays
As seen in:
Cook's Illustrated,
America's Test Kitchen
Managing Editor Cook's Illustrated
America's Test Kitchen
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Articles by Rebecca Hays
Behind the Recipe: Levain-Style Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies
Behind the Recipes Like the originals, our chocolate-chip-and-walnut-packed treats combine crunchy exteriors with soft, tender interiors. Save Saved Sometimes trying a new-to-me food lights a fire in my brain, a fire that won’t be extinguished until I’ve figured out exactly how I can re-create it. So it was with the chocolate chip–walnut cookie from New York City–based Levain Bakery.
Behind the Recipes: Tonnato
Behind the Recipes Italy’s luxurious, flavor-packed sauce is destined to become your signature condiment. Save Saved Caesar dressing is deeply satisfying, thanks to salty, umami-rich anchovies that melt seamlessly into its decadent base without making it taste fishy. Tonnato delivers the same kind of magic, only even more savory. “Tonnato” translates to “tunafied” in Italian, and here it’s a fresh-made mayonnaise that gets the tinned tuna (and anchovy) treatment.
Behind the Recipes: Tostones
Behind the Recipes Rooted in Latin American and Caribbean kitchens, fried green plantains are all about contrast: crackly, caramelized edges and soft, buttery centers. Save Saved "You’d be hard pressed to find a single Caribbean [or Latin American] dish that isn’t complemented by tostones,” said food historian Von Diaz when we connected to discuss the iconic twice-fried green plantains.
Behind the Recipes: French Strawberry Cake
Behind the Recipes Gâteau fraisier—a precisely crafted cake featuring sponge cake, creamy custard-based filling, and only the most exquisite strawberries—is a celebration of summer. Save Saved Peer into the case of a Parisian pâtisserie in June and you’re sure to spot a gâteau fraisier. With layers of golden sponge cake sandwiching creamy filling and perfect strawberries (“fraise” means strawberry), and often sporting a neat, pale-green marzipan lid, le fraisier heralds the arrival of summer.
Behind the Recipes: A New-School Lemon Pasta
Behind the Recipes Punchy lemon, tingly Sichuan peppercorns, and spicy black peppercorns team up in an innovative sauce for spaghetti. Save Saved If I’m going to eat pasta, I want it to be packed with flavor—bold, bright, and deeply satisfying. Two of my favorites, spaghetti al limone and cacio e pepe, are simple but effective: They’re creamy and endlessly comforting.
Santorini's Silkiest Meze | America's Test Kitchen
Behind the Recipes Yellow split peas are the down-to-earth star of this creamy Greek taverna dip. Save Saved The Cycladic island of Santorini is celebrated for its breathtaking rocky cliffs; its blue-domed, whitewashed architecture; and its caldera, a massive volcanic crater that stretches along the southern Aegean coastline. But do you know about Santorini’s fava dip? Similar to hummus, this simple meze has a rich, earthy-nutty taste and a consistency that can be coarse or velvety.
Tofu at Its Best | America's Test Kitchen
Behind the Recipes The hybrid braised-fried method celebrates tofu’s unique ability to offer creaminess and chew in every bite. Save Saved Tofu is a remarkable ingredient. In addition to being easy to work with, super-satisfying, and exceptionally affordable (it starts at $2–3 a pound), the bean curd’s fresh, clean profile plays well with myriad flavors—from savory to sweet and everything in between. But tofu has another characteristic that’s less recognized, at least in this country.
Foccacia That's Light as Air
Behind the Recipes With its bronzed crust, pillowy crumb, and licks of fruity olive oil and crunchy salt, this bread is easy to love. It’s also easy to make. Save Saved There are many styles of focaccia, and each has its charms, but to me, the most irresistible sort is crisp and well browned on the exterior, especially on the bottom and edges. The bronzed outside encases a soft, light crumb that, when pulled apart with your fingers, stretches slightly before giving way.
Focaccia That's Light as Air
Behind the Recipes With its bronzed crust, pillowy crumb, and licks of fruity olive oil and crunchy salt, this bread is easy to love. It’s also easy to make. Save Saved There are many styles of focaccia, and each has its charms, but to me, the most irresistible sort is crisp and well browned on the exterior, especially on the bottom and edges. The bronzed outside encases a soft, light crumb that, when pulled apart with your fingers, stretches slightly before giving way.
Sleek, Sumptuous Chocolate Terrine
Behind the Recipes This designer dessert is made ahead of the holiday hustle and then dressed up with easy embellishments. Save Saved Lush and decadent, a chocolate terrine wouldn’t be out of place as the grand finale to a high-end restaurant meal. But this special dessert, which tastes a lot like a rich, thick pot de crème, is eminently doable in a home kitchen, too, requiring little more than good chocolate, a loaf pan, and time.
How to Make Pâtes de Fruit | America's Test Kitchen
Behind the Recipes The luminous, sugar-crusted gems called pâtes de fruit are fast, low-fuss, and perfect for gifting. Save Saved To my surprise and delight, I’ve recently become a person who makes candy. Though I’ve always enjoyed the occasional sweet bite, crafting treats such as caramels and tempered chocolates is too time-consuming and fiddly to be a regular pursuit for me. But the French confection called “pâte de fruit” (direct translation: “fruit paste”) has been a revelation.
Egg Curry with Tomato, Coconut Milk, and Peas
Ingredients 8 large eggs 4 green cardamom pods 1 teaspoon coriander seeds 2 tablespoons ghee or unsalted butter 1 onion, chopped fine ¾ teaspoon table salt, divided20 curry leaves (optional)2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger 1 teaspoon minced garlic 1–2 serrano chiles, halved lengthwise½ teaspoon ground turmeric 1 (14.5-ounce) can crushed tomatoes1 cup canned coconut milk1 cup frozen peaschopped fresh cilantro Before You Begin We like the smoky, savory flavor that curry leaves add to the gravy;...
The Magic of Shio Koji | America's Test Kitchen
Behind the Recipes This Japanese staple makes food taste like the best version of itself. Here’s how to put it to work on flank steak. Save Saved It’s a rare pleasure to work with an ingredient that’s wholly new to me. I’d read about shio koji, but until I started cooking with it, I didn’t fully appreciate its ability to enhance—and in some cases, even utterly change—the taste of nearly any food.
Salmorejo: Gazpacho’s Sophisticated Sibling
Behind the Recipes Cooks in Cordoba whirl peak summer tomatoes into this silky, refreshing chilled soup. Save Saved In Andalusia, July and August are hot and dry—the perfect weather for salmorejo, an ice-cold tomato soup that’s ripe with flavor.
Mouthwatering Chicken
For a food to be genuinely mouthwatering, it must light up all your senses. Sichuan’s kou shui ji boldly delivers. In fact, just the sight of the dish known as mouthwatering chicken whets the appetite: Feast your eyes on the neon chili oil sauce glistening atop slices of cool chicken. Inhale the potent aromas. You’ll get whiffs of nutty sesame oil mingling with the gentle acidity of black vinegar and the floral, citrusy pull of Sichuan peppercorns.
How to Make the Best Chicken Kebabs
The sizzle of marinated kebabs hitting the grill takes me back to afternoons on the backyard deck. As a kid, I always knew that company was coming when my dad started threading chunks of chicken onto long metal skewers. I’d watch with anticipation as he assembled the tidy packages, arranged them in rows on the grill, and hovered over them as they sputtered above the flames.
How to Make an Easy Rhubarb Tart
Tangy, vibrant rhubarb is often a dessert co-star (think strawberry rhubarb pie) but seldom the featured player. And yet, I believe these extravagantly crimson stalks deserve the principal role. A French pastry known as tarte fine seemed like the ideal vehicle to launch rhubarb to stardom. A tarte fine aux pommes is an exquisite yet simple dessert: a thin sheet of puff pastry skimmed with apple puree and topped with slim, meticulously arranged apple slices.
How to Make Fattet
Behind the Recipes Spoil guests (or yourself) with this Levantine dish of crisp pita; hot chickpeas; and cold, creamy yogurt. By and Published Apr. 1, 2025. In her classic The New Book of Middle Eastern Food (1985), cooking authority Claudia Roden reflects on the sanctity of bread in the Levant: “An invocation to God is murmured before kneading the dough, another before placing it in the oven. A hungry man will kiss a piece of bread given to him as alms,” she writes.
Make the Best-Ever Fried Chicken
Behind the Recipes Some styles are battered, others are dredged. For the crispiest, crunchiest, all-around yummiest fried chicken, do both. Save Saved Fried chicken. It’s universal comfort food, the laid-back centerpiece of social gatherings, and many a home cook’s pride and joy. In the archives of this magazine, you’ll find numerous recipes for the iconic poultry preparation. Each one charms with a wrinkly, crinkly, golden-brown coating; salty, peppery, chicken-y savor; and homespun vibes.
How to Cook Chicken Drumsticks
Behind the Recipes Coated in gutsy spices, roasted to juicy perfection, and dunked in a creamy sauce, drumsticks make a finger-licking-good meal. By and Published Jan. 30, 2025. Suffering from dinnertime fatigue? Consider chicken drumsticks. They may be unpretentious, but drumsticks outperform their poultry peers on almost every level.
How to Make Tacos Árabes
Behind the Recipes Tacos árabes—the Pueblan union of yogurt-sauced shawarma and chipotle-tinged pork tacos—combine food traditions from across the globe. By and Published Jan. 30, 2025. What do you call it when two iconic street foods from different parts of the world collide? In the case of tacos árabes—a coupling of Arabic shawarma and Mexican tacos—you might say it’s culinary kismet. The distinctive tacos sure taste as if they were meant to be.
Making the Crispiest, Coconuttiest Shrimp
Behind the Recipes Encrust plump jumbos in tropical-sweet shreds of coconut and fry until they’re hot, golden, and delicately crispy. Save Saved Food historians aren’t entirely sure about the provenance of coconut shrimp: No one knows whether the nutty-sweet deep-fried crustaceans were dreamed up on the shores of the Caribbean, on the Polynesian islands, or in post–World War II American tiki bars, where they transported happy hour revelers to the paradises of the South Pacific.
How to Make Bengali Shrimp Curry | America's Test Kitchen
This iconic Bengali dish of colossal prawns in a warmly spiced coconut milk sauce tastes luxurious but is deceptively simple to make. Save Saved In Bengal, weddings and other special occasions wouldn’t be complete without chingri malaikari. Giant freshwater prawns (chingri) are cooked in rich, sweet coconut milk (“malai” means “cream” and also nods to the dish’s Malaysian roots; “kari” means “curry”); gently flavored with aromatics and warm spices; and served over rice.
Three Quick and Easy Sausage Suppers
Behind the Recipes To infuse every bite of a meal with porky goodness, we leverage fond, the savory superstar of the kitchen. By and Published Dec. 2, 2024. It’s tempting to take fond for granted, but you mustn’t. Though unassuming in appearance, the bronzed bits that form on the bottom of a pan as meat juices sizzle, evaporate, and brown are pure flavor, and the more of it that you can create, the meatier, richer, and all-around better-tasting your food will be.
How to Make First-Rate Turkey Chili | Cook's Illustrated
Behind the Recipes Here’s the way to a pot brimming with tender meat and robust, spicy complexity. By and Published Dec. 2, 2024. When I was a kid, my dad would occasionally return to the stove after dinner was cleaned up. He’d tend to a bubbling batch of ground beef chili, passing his wooden spoon through the thick, ruddy mixture as night fell.
How to Make Cast Iron Cornbread Dressing
Behind the Recipes This homey Southern side, chock-full of toasty corn goodness and meaty morsels of sausage, starts with a custom-made skillet cornbread. By and Published Sept. 23, 2024. Whether you’re dishing it up for Thanksgiving or for a get-together with loved ones, cornbread dressing will bring warmth and comfort to your table with golden and coppery hues, plush and crispy textures, and satisfying savor.
How to Make a Savory Dutch Baby
Behind the Recipes A big, lofty pancake graced with savory toppings is a quick and easy way to bring custardy richness—and a touch of drama—to the table. By and Published Sept. 23, 2024. Looking for an easy antidote to the dinnertime doldrums? Whip up a Dutch baby. Also known as a German pancake, this giant skillet delight is more typically served at breakfast or brunch, dusted with snowy confectioners’ sugar and maybe served with cooked fruit.
How to Make Creamy Polenta
Behind the Recipes A pinch of baking soda gives this lush, corny favorite weeknight potential. When you’re in need of a speedy, satisfying supper, there’s nothing handier than polenta—if, that is, you know our strategies for making it quick and easy to whip up. Read on for my streamlined recipe for the lush, subtly nutty porridge, as well as a trio of toppings to suit any mood.
How to Cook Salmon Burgers
Behind the Recipes Diversify your salmon habit with these flavorful (not fishy), weeknight patties. Everyone’s eating salmon, every which way. To name a few, America’s most-consumed fin fish is pan-seared; poached; presented raw and glimmering in poke bowls; and—my preference of late—minced, seasoned, shaped into burgers, and seared until golden and succulent. Treated this way, the buttery flesh is simply scrumptious.
How to Make Taiwanese Gua Bao
Behind the Recipes Nestle salty-sweet pork belly inside their pillowy folds and savor the wonders of Taiwanese steamed buns. By , , and Published Today. Graze your way through one of the many night markets in Taipei, the alleyways bright with neon, the humid air thick with the mouthwatering aromas of o-ah jian (oyster omelet), chou doufu (stinky tofu), and sian su ji (popcorn chicken with fried basil), and you’ll spot stalls for gua bao (the name is Mandarin for “cut bun”).
Have Jalapeños Lost Their Heat? | Cook's Illustrated
Cooking Tips A chile expert reveals the searing truth about why these popular peppers aren’t nearly as pungent as they used to be. Many of us have come home from the supermarket with a supply of jalapeños, intent on lighting up the table with a fiery batch of salsa, nachos, or poppers, only to find that the finished dish fails to deliver even the barest whisper of heat.
Three Ways to Use Grilled Chicken All Summer Long | Cook's Illustrated
Behind the Recipes A trio of inspired chicken breast dinners sees you through the dog days—and beyond. When the air is balmy and the days are long, I like to step out to my backyard deck, often with my young daughter in tow, to make dinner. Whether I’m preparing a weeknight supper or entertaining guests, the menu is often centered on grilled chicken breasts.
High-Summer Blueberry Galette
Behind the Recipes Cradle sweet-tart, peak-of-summer fruit in the butteriest, flakiest pastry. In July and August, when a surplus of blueberries is the juicy, delicious norm, I bake galettes, which I’m fond of for their rustic charm and expanses of juicy, glistening fruit.
How to Make Japanese Tonkatsu | Cook's Illustrated
Behind the Recipes An expert method helps you fry meaty pork chops to crunchy, juicy perfection. Tonkatsu (“ton” means “pork”; “katsu,” “cutlet”) is one of many dishes, along with hambagu (hamburger steak) and kare raisu (curry rice), that are broadly categorized within Japanese cuisine as Yoshoku: European or American dishes that have been embraced and adapted to suit local tastes.
Dressing That Won’t Separate or Solidify in the Fridge
Cooking Tips What if you could make a vinaigrette that would stay fluid and emulsified for a week in the fridge? By Andrew Janjigian and Published Today. Bottled dressing has one great advantage over the homemade kind: It stays emulsified and liquid in the fridge, so you can pour it directly over your greens, no need for rewhisking or even shaking the bottle.
Dressing That Won’t Separate or Solidify in the Fridge
Cooking Tips What if you could make a vinaigrette that would stay fluid and emulsified for a week in the fridge? Save Saved Bottled dressing has one great advantage over the homemade kind: It stays emulsified and liquid in the fridge, so you can pour it directly over your greens, no need for rewhisking or even shaking the bottle. A homemade vinaigrette, on the other hand, typically lasts no more than an hour before the oil and the acid start to separate from one another.
For a Smoother Cocktail, Add Rice | Cook's Illustrated
Cooking Tips Home mixologists can use this simple technique to transform any cocktail. By Published Feb. 21, 2024. Over the years, we’ve looked at lots of novel ways to improve cocktails, including adding a miniscule dose of a saline solution, butter-washing the alcohol with flavorful bacon fat, infusing your drink with smoked ice, and even adding MSG to make the dirtiest martini possible.
For a Smoother Cocktail, Add Rice | Cook's Illustrated
Cooking Tips Home mixologists can use this simple technique to transform any cocktail. By Published Feb. 21, 2024. Over the years, we’ve looked at lots of novel ways to improve cocktails, including adding a miniscule dose of a saline solution, butter-washing the alcohol with flavorful bacon fat, infusing your drink with smoked ice, and even adding MSG to make the dirtiest martini possible.
6 Tips for Making Steakhouse-Quality Steak at Home
With our pro advice on how to shop for, season, cook, and slice our favorite cut, there’s no need to make reservations. By Published Feb. 7, 2024. A big, juicy steak with rich, beefy flavor begins with a superior, well-marbled cut. And naturally, it must be seasoned, cooked, and sliced just right. Here, I’ve gathered all of our best tips to help you serve up a steak that’s just as good as (if not better than!) what you’d pay top dollar for at a high-end steakhouse. Jump to a Section 1. Buy Rib Eyes 2.
How to Flavor Coffee at Home Without Syrups
Cooking Tips Dress up your everyday cup by brewing simple flavorings with ground coffee. By Published Jan. 16, 2024. At our house, my husband carries out the soothing routine of grinding beans, measuring water, and brewing coffee each morning as the sun comes up. When his inner barista emerges, he enhances his cup with everything from maple syrup to eggnog to Ovaltine to peppermint ice cream.
How to Flavor Coffee at Home Without Syrups
Cooking Tips Dress up your everyday cup by brewing simple flavorings with ground coffee. At our house, my husband carries out the soothing routine of grinding beans, measuring water, and brewing coffee each morning as the sun comes up. When his inner barista emerges, he enhances his cup with everything from maple syrup to eggnog to Ovaltine to peppermint ice cream.
Can You Peel Potatoes Ahead of Time? | America's Test Kitchen
Cooking Tips Learn the dos and don’ts for mashes, gratins, and latkes. Save Saved Lots of cooks, including myself, love to peel and slice potatoes ahead of time to make holiday meal prep go more smoothly—but we wondered if there is any downside to doing so. Associate Editor Erica Turner took it upon herself to find out: She stashed thickly sliced, thinly sliced, and shredded potatoes in water (a common method to prevent them from discoloring) in the refrigerator overnight.
Can You Peel Potatoes Ahead of Time? | Cook's Illustrated
Cooking Tips Learn the dos and don’ts for mashes, gratins, and latkes. By Published Dec. 21, 2023. Lots of cooks, including myself, love to peel and slice potatoes ahead of time to make holiday meal prep go more smoothly—but we wondered if there is any downside to doing so. Associate Editor Erica Turner took it upon herself to find out: She stashed thickly sliced, thinly sliced, and shredded potatoes in water (a common method to prevent them from discoloring) in the refrigerator overnight.
Can You Peel Potatoes Ahead of Time? | Cook's Illustrated
Cooking Tips Learn the dos and don’ts for mashes, gratins, and latkes. Lots of cooks, including myself, love to peel and slice potatoes ahead of time to make holiday meal prep go more smoothly—but we wondered if there is any downside to doing so. Associate Editor Erica Turner took it upon herself to find out: She stashed thickly sliced, thinly sliced, and shredded potatoes in water (a common method to prevent them from discoloring) in the refrigerator overnight.
The Easiest Winter Squash: No-Peel Delicata
Ingredients Tired of the laborious task of stripping tough skin from butternut and acorn squash and sawing through their dense flesh? It’s time you tried delicata. By Published Dec. 7, 2023. Is there a cozier vegetable than winter squash? The creamy denseness of the flesh, along with its rich honey and amber tones, makes each bite soothing and satisfying to eat. Unfortunately, the precursor to the comforting experience of eating squash is some burdensome prep work.
The Easiest Winter Squash: No-Peel Delicata
Ingredients Tired of the laborious task of stripping tough skin from butternut and acorn squash and sawing through their dense flesh? It’s time you tried delicata. Is there a cozier vegetable than winter squash? The creamy denseness of the flesh, along with its rich honey and amber tones, makes each bite soothing and satisfying to eat. Unfortunately, the precursor to the comforting experience of eating squash is some burdensome prep work.
The Magic Temperature for the Creamiest, Sweetest Sweet Potatoes
Behind the Recipes Holding orange-fleshed spuds at 200 degrees produces rich, almost fudgy flesh with deeply complex flavor. By Published Nov. 28, 2023. Sweet potatoes are very different from white potatoes, with more sugar and far less starch. So, if you simply bake them like you might bake russets—until they’re just tender, about 200 degrees—they’ll be chunky, dense, and full of water that dilutes their flavor. But we’ve got you covered.
Take Any Pie From Good to Great with a Flavored Crust
Cooking Tips Easy mix-ins add intrigue to pies, tarts, and galettes. By Published Nov. 20, 2023. To say I love pie is an understatement. I eat leftover, fridge-cold pie for breakfast, stick candles in pie for my birthday, and tote hand pies to the beach for seaside snacking. And while I’ll never grow tired of the fruity simplicity of a perfect peach pie or the earthy, cinnamon-inflected sweetness of a classic pumpkin pie, sometimes I yearn to shake things up a bit—especially around the holidays.
Get Your Act Together with Holiday Cooking: Use a Kanban Board | America's Test Kitchen
Cooking Tips This Japanese organizational system revolutionizes holiday prep. By Published Nov. 9, 2023. I’m a stickler for organization, especially when it comes to keeping my household cooking operations running smoothly. Weekly menu plan? Check. Grocery shopping list up to date? Check. Spices arranged alphabetically, freezer contents cataloged, and pantry cleanouts scheduled? Check, check, and check.
Love Eggplant Parm? Try Our wildly Popular Eggplant Involtini
Recipe Spotlight No more breading. No more frying. Just silky eggplant, milky filling, and savory tomato sauce. By Published Oct. 26, 2023. Eggplant Parmesan—crisp, meaty slices of the nightshade napped in a flavorful tomato sauce and layered with Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses—is my kind of cozy comfort food.
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