Whether you’re throwing an open-house Christmas soiree or an intimate New Year’s Eve dinner, you need a centerpiece dish. But that doesn’t mean you should be stressed out, pulling something out of the oven as your guests linger around you, starving. This week we’re talking about spotlight-worthy mains that will seriously impress while you sit back, relax, and enjoy your own party.
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Episode 196: Holiday Mains of the Day

A last-minute party with no menu inspiration. A kitchen with no space. A toddler who will only eat buttered pasta. Name your dinner emergency—Bon Appétit is here to help.  Dinner SOS is the podcast where we answer desperate home cooks' cries for help. In every episode, food director Chris Morocco and a rotating cast of cooking experts tackle a highly specific conundrum and present two solutions. The caller will pick one, cook through it, and let us know if we successfully helped rescue dinner. Call in with your own dinner emergencies—no problem is too big or too small! For the recipes featured in Dinner SOS and more, head to bonappetit.com or download the new Epicurious App in the iOS App Store. You can find episodes of our previous podcast, Food People, here.

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The May issue of Bon Appetit celebrates all things beverages — from recipes that use vodka in unconventional ways to 15 cocktails you can make with just 5 bottles of booze. So here on Dinner SOS, we're joining the party! Shilpa joins Chris for a deep dive into the issue's cocktail recipes and a mailbag full of listener questions about alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Then, they're both joined by BA staffers Dan Siegel and Sam Stone for a roundtable tasting of just a few beverages in the ever-growing NA category.Recipes and Links:Reverse Engineering (video series)World of Wine (video series)Recipes from the May issueHow to Party with Soju, Korea's Most Iconic SpiritGarden WeddingSherry ColadaWhat Nonalcoholic Drink Matches Your Mood?A Pickle Martini Is the Best Dirty MartiniNA Options We Tried:Athletic Brewing Co Upside DawnOddbird GSMAlmave ÁmbarLyre's American MaltCurious Elixers Curious #1Bonbuz Bittersweet CitronThree Spirit Nightcap

Drinks SOS!

You might know Michele Norris from her work as a journalist (including a decade-plus stint at NPR, where she co-hosted “All Things Considered”). You might know her from her Peabody Award-winning Race Card Project, or the two books she’s authored. Or you might know her as the host of the podcast Your Mama’s Kitchen. Michele joined Chris for a conversation about food memories and a mailbag full of listener questions all about hosting. Recipes:Peggy King's Macaroni & CheeseBroken Lasagna Pasta SaladCrunchy Ramen Noodle Salad With CabbageCast-Iron Roast Chicken With Crispy PotatoesSlow-Roast Gochujang ChickenAndy Garcia's Fricase de PolloNonna Wambach's Pasta for ThousandsEgg Bhurji StrataFruit Salad

Hosting SOS with Michele Norris

Gabe and her husband have befriended an American couple in Treviso, Italy, where they all live. In order to give them a taste of home, Gabe would love to cook her new friends an American meal. But what typifies American food? And how can she source the right ingredients in the Veneto? Chris enlists the help of Bon Appetit's resident Aussie, Adam Moussa, and sommelier André Mack of BA's World of Wine series, to figure out what Gabe should make. Recipes:BA's Best Mac and CheeseSkillet-Fried ChickenBA's Best Fried Chicken SandwichBA's Best Apple Pie

I Need an All-American Menu

Most weeks on the show, we help out home cooks who have had a kitchen fail. This week, the "fail" is coming from inside the test kitchen. Test Kitchen Editor Kendra Vaculin joins Chris to chat about the fraught recipe development process of Kendra's Foolproof Lemon Bars — which was caught on camera as part of our "How I Developed" video series. Chris and Kendra also share how the team works together in the Bon Appetit test kitchen to bring you recipes you'll be excited to cook at home.The Recipe: Foolproof Lemon BarsThe Video: "Developing These Perfect Lemon Bars Nearly Broke Me"

Inside the Test Kitchen: Lemon Bars

Izzy and Nina are twin sisters who love to cook together. But while Izzy loves baking, Nina finds the precision it requires endlessly frustrating. So Izzy's got one more shot to get Nina to love baking with her. Chris and Shilpa come to their rescue, helping the sisters capture the joy of baked goods that taste even better from your own kitchen than from a bakery. The Recipes:BA's Best Chocolate Chip CookiesPavlovaChocolate Chip Cookie BarsChocolate Sheet Cake with Brown Butter FrostingGluten-Free Chocolate Cake

Episode 196: Holiday Mains of the Day

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