The Most Popular Recipes Of 2014

When it came time to tally up our most popular recipes of 2014, we were delighted to see what you, our dear readers, clicked on the most.

Turns out, you love knowing how to make the best possible iteration of the classics: From scrambled eggs to steak to grilled cheese, many of our top-performing recipes were beloved dishes made better. Who said there was anything wrong with being #basic? Not us.

Without further ado, here are the 15 most-viewed recipes of the year. May their inspiration carry over into a delicious 2015.

① Scrambled Eggs
It seems so simple. Who doesn't know how to make them? Well, as anyone who has set out to making the breakfast staple can attest, things can easily go wrong: They can turn out rubbery or undercooked. The key to perfect curds? Constant stirring.

② The Perfect Steak
Another one to file under classics worth mastering: the rib eye. Have the right gear (cast-iron pan), prep work (salt, salt, salt) and patience (don't fuss with it, let it cook) at the ready, and you're rewarded with a perfectly cooked hunk of meat. Bonus points for a pat of bone marrow butter on top.

③ Dominique Ansel's Banana Bread
If Dominique Ansel can turn milk, butter, eggs and flour into whimsical sugary sculptures, then what can the Cronut mastermind make with bananas? We weren't sure what to expect when we asked Ansel for his best banana bread recipe. But, of course, he blew our minds with his amazingly rich, cake-like banana bread recipe, and, clearly, you're all fans of it, too.

④ Pasta alla Norma
Real talk: We had a story fall through at the very last minute. Being that our editors frequent the establishment, it was eggplant season and pasta is one of life's greatest pleasures, we called up our friends at Rucola. Chef Joe Pasqualetto was happy to oblige and showed us how to make the Sicilian specialty.

⑤ Buttermilk Fried Chicken
We feel a lot of feelings for fried chicken. So many, in fact, that we dedicated an entire two weeks to the crispy bird for Fried Chicken Fortnight. We taste tested chain varieties, fancied up our fry and figured out the best bubbly pairings, but, most importantly, we fried and fried again until our drumsticks and wings hit just the right amount of crunch, spice and juiciness.

⑥ Ovenly's Poppy Seed, Prune and Lemon Coffee Cake
We couldn't wait to get our hands on the Ovenly gals' new cookbook and knew we had to host them in our test kitchen to celebrate its release. It was hard to pick one recipe (Bloody Mary scones! Doughnuts!), but something about the unexpected addition of poppy seeds and prunes to a simple, already-delicious coffee cake caught our attention. And the end result didn't disappoint.

⑦ Jonathan Waxman's Sesame-Soy Sauce
This marked the beginning of one of our favorite new series of the year: Secret Weapon. We were excited (and nervous) to see how it would perform, but it turns out you're as into it as we are! This particular one—Waxman's blend of soy sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar—is brilliant in its simplicity.

⑧ Michael Hung's Fermented Chile Vinegar Sauce
Yet another Secret Weapon, this rivals—and in our opinion, surpasses—the all-powerful Sriracha. No disrespect to the rooster sauce, of course (most of us have a bottle sitting on our desks), but the kimchi-esque funk of the L.A. chef's kicky homemade condiment elevates pretty much everything in a way that the bottled stuff just can't.

⑨ Poblano Bolognese
This recipe has an origin we know all too well: using whatever's left in the fridge. Sometimes it doesn't quite pan out; sometimes magic happens. To make this spicy rendition of the classic Bolognese, chefs Felipe Donnelly and Carolina Santos-Neves chopped some leftover chiles rellenos and put them over pasta. They loved it so much that it made it to the menu of their NYC restaurant, Còmodo.

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⑩ Whole-Roasted Chicken with Salsa Verde and Fennel-Orange Salad
This is Jonathan Waxman's second appearance on this list. (We're sensing a trend.) But in this instance, he's just the inspiration—or rather, the whole chicken he serves at Barbuto is the inspiration. Miami chef Michael Schwartz showed us his rendition of Waxman's roasted bird for an installment in our series, Cover Dishes. Bright fennel and orange salad gives the New York dish just the right amount of Miami.

⑪ Braised Chicken with Preserved Lemons and Olives
Remember the Polar Vortex (aka the most brutal winter in recent memory)? Well, we were feeling it here at our New York office and figured the best way to get through the season was by warming ourselves with a big pot of braised chicken. So we took the red wine out of coq au vin, subbing it for white, and sprinkled in preserved lemons, Cerignola olives and a handful of fresh herbs.

⑫ Underbelly's Banh Mi Bo Kho (Vietnamese Beef Stew)
Chris Shepherd had a very good year: The James Beard Foundation named him the Best Chef in the Southwest 2014. But even before that accolade, we had booked it down to Houston to chat with the Underbelly chef over a steaming pot of his banh mi bo kho. It's not your average beef stew: Funky fish sauce, sugar and star anise comprise the broth, and jalapeños add some kick. Dunk a piece of French bread in it, and you've got yourself a meal.

⑬ Romesco Sauce
Back in May, we were really into the Catalan staple of romesco. Traditionally, it's made with roasted red peppers, toasted nuts, fried bread, pimentón, a touch of tomato and sherry vinegar, but we got a little nutty and added more almonds and hazelnuts. You can put it on pretty much anything but we suggest that steak you just mastered or a thick piece of toasted bread.

⑭ Tiramisu
Baking and summer should not exist in the same sentence. It's too damn hot, so we're more likely to stick to ice cream cake and this no-cook tiramisu. The Italian dessert takes less than 30 minutes, requires only seven ingredients and actually tastes better when it's made ahead of time.

⑮ Cheddar and Gruyère Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
It was a rough week in the Test Kitchen when we tinkered with this all-important melt. A "rough week" in that we tried countless iterations: Should we add wine? Slice the cheese or put it in a food processor? Stick to mayo or go for butter? But the end result—what we're ready to call the ultimate grilled cheese—was well worth it. We're glad you agreed.