Recipes
Crispy Soft-shell Crabs with Country Ham Butter
The first time I ate soft-shell crabs was at the New York World’s Fair in 1964. Looking back, I can’t imagine where I found the nerve to try them. I didn’t even like fish. But try them I did, and I was knocked out by the sweet crabmeat and that…
Asparagus and Goat Cheese Souffléed Omelet
Perfect for a springtime brunch or a quick dinner, this is a cross between an omelet and a soufflé and doesn’t take too much work as long as you have electric beaters. Make sure you beat your egg whites just to soft peaks; otherwise they won’t fold properly into the…
Red-Wine Braised Beef Brisket with Aunt Rifka's Flying Discs
My husband Bill has been telling me about his aunt Rifka and her asbestos hands for as long as we’ve known each other. He claims there was no pot so hot she couldn’t pick it up barehanded. (This amazing ability seems just slightly less amazing to me since I went…
Red-Wine Braised Beef Brisket with Aunt Rifka’s Flying Discs
My husband Bill has been telling me about his aunt Rifka and her asbestos hands for as long as we’ve known each other. He claims there was no pot so hot she couldn’t pick it up barehanded. (This amazing ability seems just slightly less amazing to me since I went…
Mushroom Enchiladas
Funny thing about mushrooms: although they’re about 80% water to begin with, they have the spongelike ability to soak up a bunch more liquid besides. In this meatless recipe, the mushrooms start by absorbing a very flavorful lime-and-cumin marinade. Then they’re charred under the broiler along with tomatoes, onion, and…
Warm Chocolate Cheesecake
Although I’m not a fool for traditional cheesecake, I’m very partial to this chocolate version, especially when it’s eaten warm. It is deeply chocolate and it boasts the slight tang of cream cheese. Its texture changes completely, depending on when it’s eaten: It’s creamy right out of the oven and…
Red Beans and Rice Soup
Red beans and rice is one of the signature dishes of New Orleans, a city rich with the influences of Latin America and the Caribbean. Indeed, that’s why Louis Armstrong, New Orleans’s pioneering cultural ambassador to the world, used to sign off his letters, “Red beans and ricely yours….” Now…
Giant Chocolate Turnovers with Orange Custard Sauce
Looking for something decadent and chocolate for a special dessert? These enticing treats from Sara Moulton Cooks at Home couldn’t be easier. Good frozen puff pastry and quality chocolate are both readily available throughout the country these days. I find that the key to success with puff pastry (homemade or…
Salma and Savannah’s Salsa
This recipe comes from my friend Sally Villagomez. Many years ago I taped a holiday special with her family for my show “Cooking Live,” on the Food Channel. We spent a whole day making the most delicious tamales which are featured in my first cookbook, Sara Moulton Cooks at Home…
Oven-baked Rosemary Potato Chips
In the late eighties, when I left Gourmet’s test kitchen to become chef of Gourmet’s dining room, I walked into the ideal situation for a chef. The dining room was small–I never had to make lunch for more than 16 people at a time–and I had no budget restrictions. I…
Chorizo Chicken Wings
Game-time snacks are going to be in high demand for the next few weeks, so I am going to share some of my favorites right here. Several years ago we invited the viewers of Good Morning America to compete in a “Cut the Calories” contest. The winning entrée was Oven-Fried…
Crispy Zucchini Sticks with Olive Dip
In the early eighties I worked as chef tournant at La Tulipe, a three-star temple of French gastronomy in New York’s Greenwich Village. One of our best-loved–and most unlikely–appetizers was fried zucchini. I know it sounds déclassé: fried zucchini at a three-star restaurant? But Chef Sally Darr took this typical…
Reuben Pizza
When I was just getting started on this book, I asked Jennifer Day, my chef de cuisine at Gourmet, to put on her thinking cap and pass along her best recipe ideas. She and her husband, Matt, cook dinner at home almost every night, and they’re always experimenting with new…
Shredded Root Vegetable Latkes
Here is my latest recipe for latkes from Sara Moulton’s Everyday Family Dinners. Sometimes in the fall I buy a bunch of root vegetables for a particular recipe and fail to use them all up. Suddenly there’s a lone parsnip or turnip hanging out in my vegetable drawer. How to…
Creamy Baked Polenta
I have recently been getting a lot of requests for this recipe from Sara’s Secrets for Weeknight Meals. The cornmeal mush known as polenta, one of the national dishes of Italy, emerged in its original form as the field ration of the Roman soldier. Although pulmentum was made of millet…
Thanksgiving Hens
Rock Cornish Game Hens, a cross between a White Rock Hen and a Cornish Hen, are underrated. Maybe it is because ounce for ounce they are a little more expensive than chicken or perhaps it is because they are a little scary for people who are used to chicken in…
Jean Anderson's Oven-Fried Chicken
This easy recipe from Sara Moulton Cooks at Home is ideal for entertaining. You can put it into the oven and it minds itself while you do other things. When I told my mentor and good buddy Jean Anderson that this book needed her chicken recipe — it’s become one…
Jean Anderson’s Oven-Fried Chicken
This easy recipe from Sara Moulton Cooks at Home is ideal for entertaining. You can put it into the oven and it minds itself while you do other things. When I told my mentor and good buddy Jean Anderson that this book needed her chicken recipe — it’s become one…
Butter-steamed Broccoli with Soy
One of the first restaurants I worked in was Cybele’s in Boston’s Faneuil Hall. We were on a very tight budget, so instead of making 1 or 2 special vegetables for each dish we would serve a one size fits all starch and vegetable and plop them on every plate.…
Homemade Pan Gravy
I always get lots of questions about making gravy, so I thought no matter what meat or poultry you are cooking, this recipe would come in handy when you head for the kitchen. I recommend making 1/2 cup gravy per person. You need that much gravy to pour over everything, and…
Dulce de Leche Rice Pudding with Toasted Almonds
When Haagen Dazs introduced its dulce de leche ice cream several years ago, the company hoped it would sell well to American Latinos, but I don’t think it had any idea that everyone would quickly end up loving it. Hey, what’s not to love! Long popular throughout South America, where…
Portobello Burgers with Red Pepper and Gorgonzola
I enjoy cooking and serving vegetable main dishes all year long. I love to let the vegetables shine in the center of the plate. You’ll find a whole chapter of meatless recipes in all three of my cookbooks. My Portobello Burgers are absolutely wonderful meatless sandwiches. In the center is…
Japanese Beef Fondue
This recipe is based on a Japanese dish called shabu-shabu, but I left out the kombu (dried kelp) and the tofu, then poked it here and pinched it there, so I can’t pretend that my version is even remotely authentic. But both recipes are built around poached beef. I’d almost…