Recipes
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…
Mom’s Brushed Eggplant
Growing up, we ate our fair share of frozen vegetables: corn, peas, French green beans with toasted almonds (fancy!), the dreaded limas, etc. But every so often my mom would step out and experiment with fresh vegetables. She made a mean vinaigrette, and we always kept a jar of this…
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…
Fresh Corn Spoon Bread with Broccoli and Sharp Cheddar
I have always loved Southern spoon bread—that creamy, airy cross between cornbread and a soufflé. I have added sharp Cheddar cheese and broccoli so that it becomes a substantial breakfast for dinner. One cup of any cooked vegetable would work here—cauliflower, peas, carrots, green beans, spinach, and so on—and three…
Corn and Jalapeño Cakes with Goat Cheese
When I made the first batch of these corn cakes and topped them off with a slice of tomato and goat cheese, they were so substantial they reminded me of a burger. The fresher the corn the tastier these cakes will be, because the minute you pick an ear of…
Smoky Fish Chowder
There are two things that my dad makes, one is scrambled eggs (especially on Christmas) and the second is fish chowder which he must have learned from his Mom, Ruth Moulton, who was a wonderful ye olde New England cook, or possibly from a guide on one of his fishing…
Tonnato-Stuffed Eggs
One of my husband Bill’s favorite dishes is Vitello Tonnato. Cold sliced veal with a tuna sauce. It is an Italian version of surf and turf. Trying to imagine another recipe on which to use this tasty sauce, I thought of eggs. I love stuffed eggs. My mom has never…
Stuffed Zucchini Greek Style
Throughout the Mediterranean, vegetables stuffed with various fillings, including meat, often fill the role of entrée. But when I tried to sell my meathead American husband on this recipe at any early stage in its development—the lamb then thoroughly camouflaged by bread crumbs—he squinted at it and, without venturing to…
Mom's Meatball Stroganoff
This was one of my favorite dishes as a kid. It is a less expensive version of the classic dish created and named for a Count Stroganoff in late-19th-century Russia. Very popular in America during the sixties and seventies, the original recipe for Beef Stroganoff called for thin slices of…
Pork Cutlets with Spanish Olives
This technique of pounding boneless pieces of meat or poultry to make them thin, coating them in seasoned flour, sautéing them quickly, and making a sauce with the drippings can be varied to create dozens of different quick and easy dishes. 1 pound pork scaloppine cut from the leg or…
Sofrito Clams or Mussels with Prosciutto
Getting to know Jean Anderson in the early eighties was one of the most important breaks in my life. The fabulously knowledgeable cookbook author and food and travel writer began to mentor me about 10 minutes after we first met, quickly hiring me as her assistant on foreign assignments to…
Chicken Tarragon
This is one of the “four quick chicken recipes” that I included in Sara Moulton Cooks at Home. It is a simplified version of a relatively sophisticated dish that used to comprise the whole of my brother Peter’s culinary repertoire. Whenever he confided that he was making Chicken Tarragon for…
Grilled Polenta with Mushroom Ragout
It seems to me that mushrooms must mean to vegetarians what steak means to carnivores. They are both stick-to-your-ribs, center-of-the-plate comfort foods. These days our supermarkets always boast a huge selection of mushrooms, many of which were terribly exotic a generation ago. My advice for this hearty vegetarian entree is…
Baked Whole Fish with Rosemary, Olive Oil, and Lemon
Fish, like meat or poultry, has more flavor when it is cooked on the bone. But many people are daunted by the prospect of cooking a whole fish because they have no idea how to fillet it. In fact, if you wait to fillet your fish until after it’s cooked,…
Chicken Liver Pâté with Port
A couple of years after I graduated from cooking school I apprenticed at a one-star restaurant in Chartres, France. My apprenticeship lasted for only two months but it was pretty intense nonetheless. (Certainly it didn’t help that I was the only woman in the kitchen.) Still, I learned a ton,…
Sauerkraut with Caraway Seeds
Two 14 1/2 ounce cans sauerkraut, drained 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar 1/3 cup cider vinegar 2 tablespoons caraway seeds 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 3 medium onions, finely chopped Serves 8 to 12 Combine the sauerkraut in a large saucepan with the sugar, vinegar, caraway seeds, and 2 cups…
Mini-pumpkin Soup with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, Shaved Parmesan, and Fried Sage
For the longest time I thought those cute little pumpkins–no more than 3 or 4 inches in diameter–were nothing more than happy little fall decorations. There they’d sit on the side of the road at farmers’ markets and at well-stocked grocery stores, bright orange banks of mini-pumpkins bearing such ridiculous…
Escarole Soup with Meatballs
I was working at the Harvest Restaurant in Harvard Square in the late seventies when Peter Vezan, one of the managers, steered me to a little trattoria in Boston’s North End. It wasn’t much more than a hole in the wall, but it boasted some of the best down-home Italian…
Tom's Apple Macaroon
Tom Mackie, a family friend, sent me this recipe during the summer and I saved it to share just as local apple season is reaching it’s peak. Here is the note he sent with it: “I’m sure you have a recipe for something like this already, but for your amusement…
Kielbasa and Celery Root Salad
When I came up with the idea for this salad I was focusing on the celery root part of it. Celery root, also known as celery knob or celeriac, is the thickened aromatic root of a variety of celery plant with a dense crunchy texture. In France, it is often…
Egg Foo Yung
When I was growing up, egg foo yung was a very popular item on Chinese take-out menus and in most Chinese Restaurants. In recent years, however, it seemed to disappear. Reading a recipe for egg foo yung in an old cookbook not long ago, I was struck by its adaptability.…