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Entrees

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…

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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…

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Roasted Salmon with Hot Mustard Cracker Topping

Makes 4 Servings Hands-On Time: 10 Minutes Total Preparation Time: 20 Minutes 1/3 c sour cream or low fat or full fat yogurt (I like the Greek-style) 1 1/2 t prepared English mustard (preferably Colman’s) 1/2 t packed light brown sugar 35 to 40 wasabi rice crackers (Kame is a…

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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…

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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…

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Indonesian-Style Chicken with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Chicken thighs should be more popular. The meat is much more flavorful than the white meat and almost always cooks up moist, which is not something you can say of chicken breast meat. Yes, the thigh is slightly more caloric than the breast, but I prefer it anyway. This is…

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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…

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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…

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Onion Soup Omelets

Makes six 3-egg omelets For the onion filling: 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 4 to 5 medium onions, about 2 pounds, halved crosswise and very thinly sliced 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves 1 1/2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade 1/4 cup red wine Kosher salt and freshly ground black…

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Three Mushroom Tart

When I developed the original version of this recipe for a Gourmet column on mushrooms in the mid-eighties, porcini and enoki mushrooms were considered very exotic; the white button mushroom was still king. These days you see all sorts of once exotic mushrooms in the supermarket—portobello, shiitake, chanterelle, etc.—and they…

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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…

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Esther’s Chicken Fricassee

Esther Adler, my mother-in-law, gave birth to three sons in less than three years (yikes!) and a daughter three years later. All four kids had hearty appetites, and all four turned out to be fairly strapping individuals. I’ll confess that I’ve often wondered how in the world she managed to…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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Roasted Butternut Squash Lasagne

This is a delicious alternative to the classic meat-and-tomato-sauce lasagne. The squash comes on surprisingly big; roasting it caramelizes it and concentrates its flavor. I made a relatively light “cream sauce”—half milk/half chicken broth—because the two cheeses contribute a ton of richness. The big news here is that you don’t…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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Matzo Brei with Creamed Spinach and Crispy Onions

I didn’t know about matzo brie, that wonderful breakfast dish consisting of matzo and beaten eggs cooked in a lot of butter, until I started dating my now-husband (who is Jewish) in the mid-seventies. His mom, Esther, made it for me and I thought it was absolutely delicious. I always…

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Creamy Lime Corn Soup with Cumin Salted Tortilla Strips

Here is a luxuriously thick soup that is very low in calories, especially if you leave out the tortilla chips. You really boost the corn flavor by adding cobs to the broth. Indeed, anytime you have leftover cobs kicking around, especially at the end of the summer, you might want…

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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…

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