People always tell you to follow your instincts in cooking. But best guesses can easily become bad habits. For years, I added vegetables to my barley soups too early, overcooking them into a mushy mess. A friend of mine always stirred sour cream into her guacamole, and then wondered why her husband thought guacamole was awful.

Sometimes we need to return to cookbooks to get simple dishes right. Call it reinventing the wheel, or simply improving it. When it comes to the perennial question of what’s for dinner, whose repertoire doesn’t need a little shot in the arm?

“Stonewall Kitchen Favorites” (Clarkson Potter, $32.50) aims to be a tutorial in modern classics, ideas for recipes we are probably already cooking, or thinking about cooking. Consider it a little black book for what the authors describe as the “little black dress” dishes that work for most any occasion.

Stonewall Kitchen’s reputation rests on its packaged line of jams and condiments. But the owners of the Maine-based company, Jim Stott and Jonathan King, along with food writer Kathy Gunst, have also branched out into helping people cook from scratch. This is their third cookbook (I was the editor of their second), and all of them follow what might be called the Ina Garten tradition: simple dishes with a bit of a twist.

Sometimes the twist means an extra dose of richness. Stonewall Kitchen’s macaroni and cheese boasts a molten mozzarella middle and a four-cheese blend, while meatloaf gets wrapped in thick-sliced bacon. Other times, the authors lighten dishes to give them a fresh touch. Buffalo chicken wings are baked instead of fried, and egg salad is brightened with chives and shallots.

“Stonewall Kitchen Favorites” also spruces up classic American dishes that might seem as outdated as Rip Van Winkle. Shrimp cocktail, stuffed potatoes, and chicken salad sandwiches are so out of fashion that we expect them to be dull. But we all have a secret fondness for them, and once they’ve been spiffed up, they deserve to be welcomed back like old friends.

A few of the dishes don’t quite possess that classic allure. “Roasted Salmon With Peas and Edamame Beans and a Raw Pea Pesto” doesn’t sound like a modern classic recipe, and neither does “Chocolate Crepes With Tangerines and Dark Chocolate-Orange Sauce”.

But some might disagree, and the authors understand that part of the pleasure of cooking the classics is discovering your own take on them. Nearly every recipe includes an unusually generous helping of variations, so that you can tweak a dish without risking a culinary disaster. Add grilled shrimp, avocado, or blue cheese to your Caesar salad, and it becomes a fresh new recipe. If you’re a lemon lover, you’ll be happy to know that the fresh raspberry bars taste just as good with lemon marmalade as they do with strawberry jam.

Throughout, the authors champion the little quirky discoveries that enrich their own cooking, like topping stews and salads with polenta croutons, or making dessert from fresh snow, maple syrup, and cream. After all, even though everyone has their favorite dishes, it’s still the quirks that make our cooking as personal as our fingerprints.

Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder With Saffron Cream

From “Stonewall Kitchen Favorites” by Jonathan King, Jim Stott, and Kathy Gunst.

Use local end-of-season corn for this early September treat.

2 tablespoons olive oil 1 large onion, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2–inch squares
1 small yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/2–inch squares
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch squares (about 2 cups)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon flour
4 cups low-sodium canned chicken or vegetable broth, or homemade chicken broth
6 large ears fresh corn, or 3 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 cup heavy cream
About 1 teaspoon crumbled saffron
3 scallions (white and green parts), finely chopped

1. In a large pot, heat the oil over low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add half of the red pepper and all of the yellow pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the sweet potato, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Raise the heat to high, stir in the broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for about 12 minutes until the potatoes are just tender.

2. Meanwhile, if using fresh corn, shuck it and remove the silks. Using the sharp knife, remove the kernels from the cob by standing each cob on one end on a cutting board and working the knife straight down the cob; you should have about 3 cups of kernels. Remove the corn milk by scraping down the cobs with the blunt side of a knife over a bowl and mix in the kernels; set aside.

3. In a small saucepan, heat the cream and saffron over low heat for about 5 minutes, until just simmering.

4. Add the saffron cream to the chowder and stir in the corn. Heat over low heat for 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Serve piping hot, topped with the scallions and the remaining pepper.

Serves 6.