Dairy

Make the filling ahead of time and you'll need only a few minutes to go from shucking to eating.

The addition of ricotta cheese gives these citrusy pancakes a little more heft. After you cook each batch of pancakes, transfer them to a heatproof platter and keep them warm for up to 20 minutes in a preheated 200°F oven.

A mix of chopped aromatics, like the Italian blend soffritto, is the base for countless recipes because it lends character to simple dishes. That's why we always have soffritto on hand. Freeze the extra from this recipe, then thaw, and you'll have the foundation for soups and sauces ready to go—no chopping required.

These flaky scones can be made the morning of your party.

We use a store-bought crust in this tart for ease.

Maytag Blue cheese, made by the same family that became world famous for its appliances, is handmade from cow's milk and has a peppery, piquant flavor. Start this sandwich about an hour in advance so the chicken has time to marinate. This is an easy recipe to double or triple for a larger group, and the chicken can be made ahead. I like to serve this sandwich on raisin pumpernickel bread, but feel free to use another favorite loaf.

There's so much more to leafy greens than lettuce. Here, they're tossed with a light vinaigrette and spooned over sliced stone fruit, nuts, and blue cheese.

If you have difficulty finding buster crabs or small soft shells, you can use large soft shell crabs, quartered, and they'll still make a great dish.

If you grow pole beans, you know that at first glance, you have only a few beans, and then suddenly there is an onslaught. That's when bean varieties like the green Blue Lake or the yellow wax beans can be stir-grilled with a bit of olive oil for a very simple yet satisfying dish to use the surplus of beans. When you're in the mood for a more robust sauce, try this lemony pesto tossed with the grilled beans right before serving. Editor's note: If you can't find lemon verbena leaves or even fresh lemon balm leaves, substitute basil pesto.

Fig trees love warmer climates. However, for the adventurous northern gardener, the best way to grow figs is in a container that can be placed outdoors in warm weather and then brought indoors to winter. The best variety of fig tree for a container is the Petite Negri fig. It's a small- to medium-sized black fruit with sweet, red flesh. If you have great weather, Mission figs are superb. The natural sweetness of figs goes well with pork tenderloin in this dish. If you like, use sturdy fresh rosemary branches (as from the Tuscan variety) for the skewers.

Here's a whole-grain update of that longtime British favorite, the scone. Serve it with hot tea at any time of the day or evening.

One day I swear I'm going to take gnudi off the menu at The Pig. We'll probably end up closing down, because it's one of the most popular items on the menu. Yet it might be worth the risk—it's been seven years of sheer hell making these little things. For cooks without a restaurant to run, though, gnudi are a dream. They're extremely simple—just a mixture of ricotta and Parmesan formed into stubby dumplings, then coated with semolina flour. They hang out in the fridge until the moisture in the ricotta has fused with the semolina to form a delicate skin. But when you must have them ready every day for service, it's another story. They're so temperamental—sometimes they're ready to cook after a day in the fridge, sometimes it takes two or three. I often jump the gun, cooking them too early and tearing my hair out as I watch them fall apart in the water. At home, though, there's no need to rush the process. It's easy to get right, as long as you give them three days to develop that skin—but not much longer or the skin will get too dense. In the spring, I'll occasionally leave out the brown butter and spoon Basil Pesto here and there.

This is a salsa, but whenever I make it I just end up eating it by the spoonful like a salad. The combination of the tart, crisp pomegranate, creamy cheese, and crunchy pine nuts makes a wonderful topping for grilled fish or even a carne asada taco. Pine nuts can be expensive because of the labor-intensive work of extracting them from the pine cones, plus they have a high fat content, which makes them turn rancid quickly. So buy a small quantity and store them in the fridge for no longer than three months.

The names of many of the characters in The Hunger Games showcase the qualities that those characters possess. Katniss, who stays strong in any situation, is named after the Katniss (arrowhead) plant, an incredibly adaptable plant that can survive in temperatures as low as 0°F. (The Hunger Games, Chapter 4)

Crackers are one of the easiest things to pop into the kitchen and make. They're simple and impressive. People will do a double-take when they hear that you've shown up at their party and brought homemade crackers. Served with goat cheese, an aged cheddar cheese, or spicy hummus, these crackers shine. Oh! P.S. They're healthy, too.

My dad is the only person allowed to handle avocados in my family. Avocados are a very precious commodity, and in the hands of my father, reach their true potential: fresh homemade guacamole. Leave it to me to completely diverge from family rules. I developed this recipe out of my obsession with sweet avocado recipes. After a failed avocado milkshake and a disastrous avocado pancake, this pound cake totally satisfied my obsession. It's sweet, green, and has a slight bite from cornmeal. Yes, this cake is green, and tastes like avocado, but it's surprisingly delicious. Try it! You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Here's a soufflé that can stand up for itself. Michel Richard, of Citronelle in Washington, D.C., ignores tales about soufflés that collapse when the oven is opened (a myth). Instead, he focuses on what matters: a well-seasoned base that infuses the soufflé with flavor, and properly whipped whites that achieve optimum volume as they bake. Whip the whites until firm, but stop before they get too stiff, says Richard, or the soufflé will be grainy. And quell your jitters with his 21st-century trick: Add xanthan gum to the whites. It acts as a stabilizer— resulting in the most dramatic soufflé we've made in a while.

Everything I know about getting a party started right, I learned at Houston's restaurant in Atlanta. No kidding. Its creamy, bubbling spinach and artichoke dip was a must on date night in high school, and these days it's the dish that even the snobbiest of food snobs can't resist. I'll whip it up for friends and, no matter what else I serve, it's always the first thing to go. Sometimes I leave out the spinach, add red pepper flakes, or use whatever vegetable is in season. In other words, it stands up to improvisation. We've put a spring spin on the dish, starring asparagus, just-dug-up leeks, sweet peas, and fresh goat cheese. Serve it with crostini, tortilla chips, or crudités. Or just eat it by the spoonful. It's that good.