Recipes
A Summer Salad from Paris
Several years ago Cory Van Horn sent me this photo along with an e-mail saying “I made your ‘Summer Salad from Paris’. . . . This recipe is delicious! I loved how all the flavors scream summer.” You can find more of his work at www.culinarycory.com. Janis Adler is my…
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…
Grilled Radicchio Salad
I’m not a big fan of radicchio – it’s very bitter. Grill it, though, and you’re talking about a different animal entirely, something mellow and almost sweet. Topped with a little balsamic vinegar, grilled radicchio makes a wonderful warm salad. Serves 4 Ingredients 1/4 c. pine nuts, optional 2 heads…
Creole Spice Mix
Makes about 1/2 cup 4 teaspoons hot paprika 1 tablespoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon garlic powder 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme Mix all ingredients in a small bowl.…
Easy Fresh Cranberry Sauce
1/2 cup water 1/2 cup fresh orange, tangerine, or clementine juice 3/4 to 1 cup sugar or to taste 12-ounce bag fresh or frozen cranberries (3 cups) 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange rind Bring water, orange juice, and sugar to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add cranberries and…
Creamy Butterscotch Pudding Cake
When I was a kid and we visited Cambridge, my parents used to take me to an old-fashioned ice cream parlor in Harvard Square. They served a butterscotch sundae made of coffee ice cream, hot butterscotch sauce, and whipped cream. Boy it was good! This pudding cake reminds me…
Blueberry Pot Stickers
I have always been a huge fan of the Chinese dumplings known as pot stickers. They’re wonton wrappers filled with pork or shrimp, crisped up in a pan, steamed, re-crisped, then served with a dipping sauce. Yum! Thinking about pot stickers recently, it occurred to me that if you swapped…
Blueberry Yogurt Pie
July is Blueberry Month and with local berries arriving in markets right now, it is the perfect time to enjoy some. Go to USDA Blueberry Blog to learn more about this special North American berry. When we came up with the idea for this Blueberry Pie recipe, I was worried because…
Aunt Alice’s Blueberry Muffins
One bite of these muffins and I’m transported back in time to my childhood visits with Aunt Alice and Uncle Pat and my cousins at their summer place in Kittery Point, Maine. On those evenings when Alice herself wasn’t cooking up something wonderful, the whole rowdy bunch of us would…
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…
Scrambled Egg and Smoked Salmon Crêpes
Yields 4 servings 8 Basic Crêpes (see recipe below) 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter 8 large eggs 2 tablespoons whole milk 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 ounces Gruyere cheese 8 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon Prepare the crêpes. Preheat the…
Mini Goat Cheese Souffles in Phyllo Cups with Micro Green and Radish Salad and Spicy Pecan Praline
Makes 24 hors d’oeuvres For the phyllo cups: 3 (17- by 12-inch) phyllo sheets 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted For the soufflé filling: 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 tablespoons all purpose flour 3/4 cup whole milk 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 2 large eggs, separated 1 ounce finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano 5…
Rick’s Barbecue Sauce
My cousin-in-law, Rick Bzdafka, frequently cooks for the large crowd spending holidays at our family’s farm. A very talented cook and the soul of affability, Mr. Rick always whips up two separate batches of his barbecue sauce, mild and very spicy. (Note the variations.) Whatever your preference, you’ll find that…
Mushroom Rolls
This is a recipe that I remember my mother and my aunt making frequently—it is a good choice for anyone who doesn’t feel he or she has the time to make homemade dough. I’ve adapted it from my aunt Jean’s recipe where she uses “homemade-style” white bread as a stand-in…
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…
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…
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…
Roasted Asparagus Bruschetta
With asparagus in high season, this is a delicious way to start a special meal. My favorite way to cook asparagus is to roast it at high heat which caramelizes and concentrates its flavor. After it’s been roasted, asparagus dresses up very easily. In this recipe from Sara Moulton Cooks at…
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…
Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler with Gingered Biscuit Topping
Strawberries and rhubarb are a delicious way to welcome spring. Technically a vegetable, rhubarb is so darn tart that it’s usually paired with a sweeter buddy, like the strawberry, in an effort to temper its tang. Try to find field-grown rhubarb. Darker in color, it has a much shorter season…
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…
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…
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…