Dawn Perry
Dawn Perry is a staff food editor of Real Simple, where she writes and develops recipes for popular columns such as “Ten Ideas For” and “Secretly Simple,” as well as entertaining features. Before joining the magazine, she was the Associate Food Editor at Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food. She got her culinary start in San Francisco, where she spent time in the kitchen of the acclaimed Quince restaurant as well as working as a private chef, caterer, and cooking teacher. Originally from Baltimore, Dawn now lives in Brooklyn with her fiancé, who does most of the cooking.

Recent Posts By Dawn Perry

Eat: Elevation Burger

March 23, 2012 | By | Comments (6)

We get the opportunity to meet a lot of different food professionals. Some meetings are more exciting, some more informative, but few really knock our socks off.  A couple of  weeks ago, I was lucky enough to meet the folks from Elevation Burger, and they  knocked my socks off. Because I can’t figure out a better way to say it, […]

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Food and Consequences

February 10, 2012 | By | Comments (2)

Did any of you read this article from Frank Bruni in the New York Times? We’ve talked a lot about it in the test kitchen this week and wanted to share it with those of you who were interested. We also wanted to throw in our own two cents. Working around food all day means watching what we eat. Yes, […]

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Oven-Roasted Meatballs

January 27, 2012 | By | Comments (8)

Meet my new (to me) method for meatballs: oven roasting. I almost always sear my meatballs in a skillet before finishing them in marinara. However, our windowless kitchen and aging exhaust fan mean that after stove-top searing everything from the bedspread to the shower curtain  smells like steak (or chicken or whatever you were cooking). So, in an effort to […]

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Edible Stocking Stuffer #1: Za’atar

December 2, 2011 | By | Comments (4)

I’m trying to make it a mostly homemade/handmade Christmas this year.  One of the things I’m gifting are little bags of Za’atar. It’s a Middle Eastern spice blend, usually made with dried herbs, sumac, sesame seeds, and salt. It’s bright and herbaceous, with a nuttiness from the sesame, and boy does it make everything is touches taste good. Things we […]

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The Communal Table: An Easy Glazed Carrot Recipe

November 16, 2011 | By | Comments (0)

Few things are certain in my life. But one of them is that I will probably not eat any vegetables for the entire long Thanksgiving weekend. I mean, who wants to eat salad when you can eat gravy soaked rolls and cold pumpkin pie? This year for Turkey day I vowed to include more vegetables on the table. I realize […]

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Popcorn on the Cob

November 11, 2011 | By | Comments (2)

File this under awesome things that everyone knew about but me. I had to pick up a couple of things on my way into the test kitchen today and saw this popcorn on the cob. I’m such a sceptic: I was so sure it wouldn’t work, I had to buy it to prove it. I love when the hard evidence […]

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Dear Fall, Thanks for the Carrots. Love, Dawn

November 4, 2011 | By | Comments (1)

Dear Fall,Great job out there! The wind is picking up, the leaves are turning, and falling, and wooshing around in tiny tornadoes. The weather is just about perfect for tea and coffee-drinking, slow- roasting, and soup eating. You’ve done a great job with the fruits and veg this year, too. The farmers’ markets are blowing up! Have I told you […]

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Chocolate Milk Cappucino

October 28, 2011 | By | Comments (6)

I’m back on coffee. It’s been about 5 years since I drank coffee regularly (I was accused of having road rage, and it was suggested that I switch to black tea—I did). But after one long weekend this summer, (literally 3 days) I was addicted again. For the most part, and when I make it at home, I drink drip […]

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Keeping it Simple

October 19, 2011 | By | Comments (1)

I went over to see a friend’s new apartment last night. She told me we would have a simple dinner and finish a bottle of good wine she had. She put out some Manchego and cornichons when I arrived and we toasted each other with a perfectly crisp end of summer white wine. She sauteed some kale and fried a […]

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Day 15: Holy Mole (Sauce)!

October 7, 2011 | By | Comments (1)

One of the coolest things about working in the test kitchen (and sometimes the most frustrating) is seeing a recipe change from start to finish. Can you imagine how many incarnations some of the recipes included in Month of Dinners went through before they ended up in the magazine? LOTS! Last weekend I made Charlyne’s Roasted Chicken with Mole Sauce. Having […]

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