What’s in a cooking repertoire? Is it basics, like how to make rice and a go-to method for roasting chicken? Is it your family’s classics, like a plum cake or the roast a cousin makes on Christmas Eve? Is it a collection of durable, flexible recipes that might be the last you ever need? I’ve been thinking about this since getting Jessica Battiliana’s first cookbook, Repertoire, this spring. I loved the concept immediately: the recipes she relies on most — not demanding but rewarding; not fancy, but special. There are recipes for parmesan chicken cutlets, meatballs, and a simplified eggplant parmesan; chicken tortilla soup, pretzel rolls, and corn fritters. There’s a recipe for the thing that most quickly went into my repertoire — a negroni (although I made it boulevardier-style) and potato chips (spoiler: they’re from a bag) — and birthday cakes too. But it was this candy pork that I couldn’t forget about, and I’m so glad I chose it, well, second.

[I wondered what my cooking repertoire would look like but realized with 1200 recipes in the archives and 105 in each of my cookbooks, it’s probably a little late for that, as I could never choose, although I did my best here.]

Battilana is a food columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle but also works on cookbooks, such as the incredible Vietnamese Home Cooking book (we made the pho here) from Charles Phan. From Phan, she learned about Vietnamese-style caramel sauces laced with Thai chilies, ginger, garlic, and shallots. At his restaurant, The Slanted Door, it’s applied to clay-pot chicken but in Repertoire it’s used to braise chunks of pork shoulder and it’s one of the best things I’ve made this year. [Her kids call it candy pork because kids know: nobody can resist candy.]

There are so many things I like about it: a more salty-than-sweet sauce that’s glossy and dark, the short ingredient list that’s still wildly complex with flavor, the fact that it cooks so much faster than a full pork shoulder, and you can use the braising time to have fun with sides, like rice, and vegetables, or, I don’t know, snack on a negroni and potato chips, right? It was kid-friendly and the leftovers were perfect, which means it’s real life friendly too. And with a name like candy pork, how could you not want to make on the rainy, cold pre-Halloween weekend we have ahead?

Some news! Speaking of kid-friendly… This month I start as columnist for Bon Appetít, with a focus on cooking for kids without descending into a steady diet of halved grapes and chicken nuggets (although I, in fact, adore chicken nuggets). It’s called “Picky Eaters Club” and the first column is in the November issue, on newsstands now, and online right here. The recipe is for a hearty dinner strata with heaps of mushrooms, kale, and leeks bound with cubes of sourdough (I prefer whole wheat, if you can find it), eggs, and cheese, glorious cheese (which seals the deal) and I hope you love it as much as we do.

Previously

One year ago: Sausage and Potato Roast with Arugula and Bakery-Style Butter Cookies
Two years ago: Russian Honey Cake and Pumpkin Bread
Three years ago: Cannoli Pound Cake and The Broccoli Roast
Four years ago: Better Chocolate Babka and Fall-Toush Salad
Five years ago: Purple Plum Torte and Lazy Pizza Dough + Favorite Margherita Pizza
Six years ago: (Quick) Chicken Noodle Soup and Pancetta, White Bean, and Swiss Chard Pot Pies
Seven years ago: Pear, Cranberry and Gingersnap Crumble
Eight years ago: Roasted Eggplant Soup and Apple and Cheddar Scones
Nine years ago: Breakfast Apple Granola Crisp and Jalapeno Cheddar Scones
Ten years ago: Beef, Leek and Barley Soup and My Family’s Noodle Kugel
Eleven years ago: Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette and Pumpkin Bread Pudding
[New!] Twelve years ago: Winter Squash Soup with Gruyere Croutons

And for the other side of the world:
Six Months Ago: Crispy Tofu Pad Thai
1.5 Years Ago: Granola Bark
2.5 Years Ago: Carrot Tahini Muffins
3.5 Years Ago: Carrot Graham Layer Cake, Wild Mushroom Pate, and Why You Should Always Toast Your Nuts
4.5 Years Ago: Baked Eggs with Spinach and Mushrooms