Chef in whites cooking sizzling meat and colorful vegetables in two pans on an induction range

About Blackrock Recipes

A test kitchen that publishes.

Blackrock Recipes is run by BLACKROCK 52 LLC out of a working kitchen in Palm Beach Gardens. We cook every recipe until it behaves, photograph it honestly, and sell only the tools we use to make it.

01 How we work

Three cooks, three kitchens, one recipe.

A recipe does not go live because it worked once. It goes live after three different cooks have made it on three different stoves, with store-bought ingredients and ordinary pans, and each of them wrote down where they hesitated. Those notes become the steps you read.

Half of the library is free and always will be. Membership pays for the slower work: the braises that take six rounds of testing, the pastry that needs gram-level precision, the weekend projects we photograph at every stage.

The store came later, from readers asking what skillet or board they saw in a photo. We stock a short list, we use every item daily, and we would rather sell you one good pan than five average ones.

Market baskets of ripe tomatoes, green beans, peppers, spring onions, potatoes and mixed nuts

Recipes published: 544
Cuisines covered: 44
Test rounds per recipe: 3+
Items on the shelf: 52

02 The team

The people behind the pass.

01 · Editorial vision and comfort cooking

Danielle Okafor-Reyes

Founder & Editor-in-Chief

Danielle started Blackrock Recipes after fifteen years editing food features for regional magazines and cookbook imprints. She grew up cooking Sunday dinners with her grandmother and still believes a recipe should work the first time in any home kitchen. Danielle sets the editorial calendar, reads every recipe before it goes live, and spends her weekends testing braises, stews and the occasional stubborn layer cake.

02 · Recipe testing and Mexican classics

Marisol Vega

Test Kitchen Director

Marisol trained in restaurant kitchens for over a decade, working her way from prep cook to sous chef at a busy neighborhood bistro. She now runs the Blackrock test kitchen, where every recipe is cooked at least three times on ordinary home equipment. Marisol is known for her careful notes on timing and seasoning, her love of slow-cooked salsas, and a strict rule that measurements must be honest.

03 · Natural light food styling

Kenji Arakawa

Head of Photography

Kenji spent eight years shooting menus, packaging and cookbooks as a freelance food photographer before joining Blackrock Recipes. He prefers natural window light, simple props and dishes photographed exactly as they come out of the pan. Kenji leads the photo and styling team, plans every seasonal shoot, and quietly keeps a notebook of the best bakery windows he has ever walked past.

04 · Pantry staples and trusted cookware

Marcus Bellamy

Store & Sourcing Lead

Marcus began his career managing a specialty grocery, where he learned to taste olive oils and spices side by side before placing any order. At Blackrock Recipes he curates the store, visits small producers, and tests every pan and knife in the kitchen before it earns a listing. Marcus cares about fair prices, sturdy tools, and pantry staples that home cooks will actually reach for.

05 · Member events and cook-alongs

Naomi Castell

Membership & Community Lead

Naomi organized supper clubs and community cooking classes for years before joining Blackrock Recipes to look after its members. She answers reader questions, hosts live cook-alongs, and turns member feedback into new recipe requests for the test kitchen. Naomi loves potluck culture, handwritten recipe cards, and the moment a nervous beginner pulls a perfect loaf from the oven for the very first time.

Honest photos

We photograph the dish we actually cooked, never a styled stand-in.

Grocery-store ingredients

If you cannot find it at an ordinary supermarket, we say so and give a swap.

Tools that last

Every item in the store has survived at least six months of daily use first.

People on the phone

Call +1 (917) 624-4812 and a member of the team answers.

Want to cook with us?

See open roles Get in touch