Entrees
Grilled Shiitake, Sweet Potato, and Eggplant Kebobs
Shiitake mushrooms, sweet potatoes, and eggplant are all very “meaty” vegetables. Similarly there’s a creaminess to Sesame Miso Sauce, although it contains no cream. Put them together and you’ve got a very filling dish. Tasty too, of course. Grilling these vegetables as kabobs brings out their natural sugars. (You can…
Asian Green Beans and Pork
I have always loved the original version of this Chinese dish when I was served it. The only trouble is that the green beans are usually wok-fried in lots of oil. I wanted to lighten it up a bit so I figured out a way to crisp the beans without…
Barbecued Kielbasa
In my research for Sara’s Secrets for Weeknight Meals I found a recipe for my grandmother Ruth’s “Barbecued Frankforts” on a three- by five-inch index card in an old metal box, handwritten in her own beautiful curly script. Granny was a superb ye olde New England cook, so I gave…
Scampi Heros
Nobody ever really gets enough shrimp. Which is why the idea of a scampi hero seemed luxurious to me. (In Italy, scampi is the name for the tail portion of any of several kinds of small lobsterlike creatures. In America scampi is the name for a dish of large shrimp…
Greek Salad Sandwiches with Feta Dressing
This is a slight twist on a Greek salad. I just put all the elements into a pita pocket and used the feta to make a dressing. If you like Greek salads, you will love this more-substantial sandwich. Makes 4 Servings Hands-on time: 20 minutes Total preparation time: 20 minutes…
Grilled Eggplant Wraps with Lemon Aioli, Feta, and Mint
Many of my favorite flavors from Greece are contained in this one fragrant little wrap. You can make them all summer long using an outdoor grill, but you can also cook them indoors year round using a grill pan or a broiler. Stick a skewer sideways through the onions to…
Grilled Potato and Corn Salad with Chipotle Mayonnaise
The corn in this salad should be grilled, but what’s the best way to do it? In the husk? With some of the husk removed? Stripped naked? My wholehearted vote is for the “naked” or fully husked, method, which creates an unbeatable toasted popcorn flavor. The secret ingredients here are…
Sautéed Pork Loin with Mustard and Grapes
When I was in High School my Mom and I threw all kinds of dinner parties. (Actually she threw the parties and I helped cook.) Our favorite dish was Veal Scaloppine. I liked it no matter how it was cooked or sauced. It seemed so elegant to us, and there…
Creamed Finnan Haddie with Johnnycakes
The smoked haddock known as finnan haddie is a Scottish thing and therefore a New England thing. My Dad (pictured here with me on Labor Day 2001) grew up loving it for breakfast—almost always prepared in the creamed version detailed here—as a kid in Milton, Massachusetts. I added the johnnycakes…
Flammekueche or Tarte Flambée
For the article about my trip to France, I was asked, “How will you implement what you saw/ate in your work in the U.S.?” My answer, “ I want to . . . reproduce a very tasty Alsatian dish we were served on the boat, flammekueche or tarte flambée, sort of like…
Tequila Lime Shrimp with Mango Salsa and Cumin Chili Chips
This sunny summer dish is perfect all year round. Don’t limit its appearance, it is so flavorful that you could serve it in the dead of winter and be happy. Here’s some weird food science. Alcohol in a recipe heightens the flavor of the other ingredients even if you don’t…
Rosemary-Scallion-Crusted Rack of Lamb
Rack of lamb is my favorite cut of lamb. It’s always delicious – the bones add so much flavor – and the basic preparation requires little more than popping it in the oven and keeping an eye on it until it’s done. It’s really almost impossible to mess up. But it…
White Bean, Artichoke, and Tomato Gratin
Any recipe devoted to artichoke hearts involves the terribly boring and even slightly dangerous job of bending back and pulling off those prickly leaves. After wrestling with some artichokes during the first test of this recipe, Andrea Hagan, the backup recipe tester on this book, said, “Why don’t we just…
Sautéed Shoulder Lamb Chops with Skordalia Sauce
Shoulder lamb chops are a wonderful bargain. They’re a lot cheaper than rib or loin chops, and they cook up at least two different ways: You can grill or sauté them quickly to rare or medium (they get tough if you cook them any longer) or braise them slowly in…
White Chicken Chili
There is one good reason—other than chicken and chilies—why I love the white chicken chili on the menu at the burrito palace in our neighborhood: sour cream. This quick-to-make home version is delicious unadorned. Add the accompaniments and some homemade or store-bought cornbread and it is over the top. Makes…
Italian-style Onion Soup with a Poached Egg and Parmigiano-Reggiano
One of our favorite neighborhood restaurants used to be Beppe, where Chef Cesare Casella had created a menu bursting with the big sunny flavors of his native Tuscany. He made a mean lemony fried chicken, succulent spareribs in tomato sauce, and French fries fried with fresh herbs. But I was…
Black-Eyed Pea Cakes with Salsa Mayonnaise
Once upon a time Gourmet magazine ran a recipe for an appetizer of black-eyed pea cakes with jerk pork. I loved it as it was, but it occurred to me that we could conjure up a great vegetarian entrée by losing the pork, making the cakes bigger, and then topping…
Turkey Club Salad
This salad is composed of all the elements found in the classic turkey club sandwich, except that the bread has been turned into croutons and the mayonnaise into herb sauce. The bacon is cooked my favorite way—on a rack in the oven. The bacon turns out less greasy, and…
Crispy Pumpkin Ravioli
Stuff a wonton wrapper with something delicious and you’re looking at nearly instant “homemade” ravioli. This recipe calls for a filling of super-quick canned pumpkin, but you could use fresh mini-pumpkin, butternut squash, or acorn squash purée. Just cut the pumpkin or squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and…
Short Ribs Ravioli with Tomato Sauce and Ricotta Salata
Chef Mario Batali really has a genius for big flavor. His television appearances give you a pretty good idea of that genius, but go to his restaurant Babbo in New York and he will knock your socks off? I love just about everything on the menu, but one of the…
Cheese Sandwich Soufflé
This is a recipe from my grandmother Ruth that I love for its simplicity. It is nothing more than a ham and cheese sandwich over which you pour some beaten eggs and milk, let it soak, and then bake. (I confess that I dressed it up a bit by adding…
Bistro Duck Breasts
Duck breasts are one of my favorite things to make for a quick and elegant dinner. Originally created for Episode 308, Season 3, of Sara’s Weeknight Meals, this “cook once, eat twice” recipe gives you a head start on the next night’s entree, Peking Duck Wraps. Recommended side dishes: coucous and butter…
Tomato, Basil, and Cheese Tart with Pancetta Crust
I developed this tart in the mid-eighties for a column in Gourmet magazine called “Gastronomie Sans Argent,” which loosely translated means “eating well on a budget.” It was for an August issue, and the theme was tomatoes. Not a tough assignment; I can’t think of a cheaper and more satisfying way…
Summer Salad
I think of this recipe as the perfect backyard cooking for a crowd summertime salad because it features three of the shining stars of summer—corn, tomatoes, and basil—and because all the parts can be prepared ahead of time and tossed together at the last minute. When I’m in the country…