Dairy

These may resemble traditional Buffalo wings in appearance, but a blend of soy sauce, tahini, ginger, garlic, and Asian chile sauce (available at Asian markets) makes these wings major-killer. This sauce is bangin’ and can be used on grilled anything. Instead of typical celery and blue cheese, a cool side of cucumbers, Greek-style yogurt, and fresh mint finishes this dish.

Making cheese at home is super easy. I usually salt it if I am going to use it in savory foods, such as spreads, pasta stuffings, and casseroles. For sweet dishes I might salt it just a touch, and then taste as I go. You can drizzle ricotta with honey and pair with grilled peaches or spread it on Crostini with Apricot-Thyme Jam (page 24).

In the scheme of desserts, panna cotta is not only one of the lightest, it’s thankfully also one of the easiest and fastest to prepare. The eggless custard sets with gelatin, but what really matters is the quantity used. If you have a heavy hand, then the result is more like cement Jell-O than melt-in-your-mouth. The infusion of the almonds adds a nutty-creamy flavor that’s satisfying without being cloying. Roasted pears set the whole thing off with a balance of texture and fruitiness.

Fresh fruit caramelized and embedded in rich buttery cake makes a great dessert any time of year. Just about any seasonal fruit that you have on hand works very well in this recipe. Try peaches, apricots, and, of course, pineapple. The beauty of this one-pan cake is its simplicity: you don’t even need a cake pan. If the basil in your herb garden has, like mine, grown to the size of a bush, and you’ve had your fill of pesto, consider trying the basil ice cream recipe. Basil is a super fruity and floral herb, which to me is a natural for ice cream. When people take their first bite, the reaction is always the same: oh my God!

Grits get a bad rap, man. Most of the time grits are watery and served with greasy eggs in a diner. Grits can be so much more! By using good-quality coarsely ground grits and cooking them right, you can easily elevate this Southern staple. Serve with Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder with Pickled Onions (page 162).

With just a handful of ingredients, this fall favorite is super easy to make and at the same time really comforting. The mild sweetness of butternut squash mingling with the rich nuttiness of brown butter and the delicate, woodsy aroma of sage is downright delicious. Cutting up butternut squash is a notoriously difficult task because of its thickness and density. The most important thing to remember when cutting winter squash is to keep the piece you are working on as stable as possible.

Panade sounds kind of “chefy” but in truth, the dish, made from crusty bread and lots of cheese, is just a cross between a savory bread pudding and holiday stuffing. When mixed with eggs and cream, the bread softens so it becomes almost soufflé-like, with pillows of puffy goodness infused with chard and caramelized onions. If something can be peasant food and elegant at once, this is it! Pair this as a side with Whole Roasted Chicken with Plumped Raisins, Toasted Pine Nuts, and Arugula (page 142) or serve it with a simple green salad, and you’ve got dinner.

This out-of-the-ordinary stew is seriously good and its enticing aroma seductive. The sauce is smooth and complex: cinnamon, mustard, cumin, fenugreek, and cardamom all add up to an intriguing flavor that really lingers. The parsley-almond garnish adds brightness to the dish. Sweet, nutty, and crunchy, with layers of Indian spices, this killer recipe is a musttry. Serve it over basmati rice.

Bone-in leg of lamb has marvelous flavor and is a traditional roast for festive family gatherings. There is a great deal of versatility in this cut, but my favorite way to prepare it is on a grill. Slow cooking on a grill keeps the lamb really tender and moist while adding an awesome smoky taste. The yogurt and lemon marinade helps carry the deep flavors of the lamb and also gives the meat a nice crust. The lamb needs to marinate for several hours, so plan accordingly. I love this with Greek Farro Salad (page 79), a bright, refreshing complement to the charred lamb.

Rabbit is a great change of pace from the everyday and luckily is becoming more widely available. Have your butcher cut up the rabbit for you; it can be tricky to do at home. The flavor is mild and the meat tender; you’ll swear it tastes like chicken. The hot sauce and blue cheese do not overwhelm; they actually bring out the flavor of the rabbit. The blue cheese sauce also makes a great salad dressing, thinned with a tablespoon of water.

This hearty vegetarian stew has special memories for me. I used to make it almost every day when I was broke, back when I was trying to open my first restaurant. And yet I never get tired of it. This dish has layers of flavors, comes together pretty rapidly, and leaves you fully satisfied.

This Mediterranean-inspired dish not only is light and healthy, but also has depth of flavor with a contrast of textures and temperatures. Most home cooks tell me they’re intimidated by cooking fish with skin on; they find it tears or doesn’t crisp up as it should. There are two keys to success: one is patience and the other is a well-seasoned cast-iron pan, preferably one that has gone through generations of use. The second alternative is to cheat and use a nonstick frying pan.

The great bonus about making Slow-Roasted Boneless Short Ribs is that you’ll have leftover meat to spin into this melt-in-your-mouth sandwich, panini-style. It hits the spot when you’re in the mood for some serious comfort food. The Tomato-Onion Chutney is so freakin’ good, you’ll want to put it on everything. For starters, try it as a condiment with Whole Roasted Chicken (page 142).

If you want a burger with superior flavor, you need to grind the meat yourself—it’s as simple as that. The process is not only easier than most people think, but also makes the moistest and most flavorful burgers. You’ll need to pick up a meat grinder attachment for your food processor at a kitchen store or have your local butcher grind the meat for you. Buy chuck with about 20 percent fat; if that’s not available, kindly ask your nice butcher to add beef fat to regular lean chuck. Fat equals flavor, and there’s no better place for it than in a burger! Okay, you will also need to mix the meat in an electric mixer. It may sound odd, but an old butcher’s trick is to add a couple tablespoons of ice water to the meat. As the burger cooks, the water steams, making the burgers juicier. With all of this love and attention to the meat, I don’t think it’s necessary to mix a bunch of stuff into it, like chives, chopped onion, or Worcestershire sauce. This meatier burger is as genuine as you can get!

This dish was inspired by my friend and mentor Frank Crispo. To satisfy those deep creamy-pasta cravings, you’re not gonna get more decadent than carbonara sauce. Pasta bathed in butter, oil, eggs, bacon, and cheese—it’s a rich dish but enjoy it; you don’t eat this every day.

Slow-Roasted Boneless Short Ribs give new life to the idea of leftovers. Here, they’re transformed into the perfect Sunday supper of ribbon pasta with succulent meat sauce. Once you prepare the short ribs, this dish takes relatively little time to make, yet your guests will be seduced by this sugo. The sauce will make more than you need, which you’ll thank me for later. Store the remaining sugo in a covered container in the fridge or freezer. There is nothing worse than gloppy, oversauced pasta. Proportion is important; the pasta should be lightly coated in sauce, not drowning.

What you put on your pizza is just as important as how much. It’s about quality, not quantity. Don’t go crazy and overload pizza with a jumble of toppings. Think about balance and a few well-chosen ingredients that work together. The Caponata (page 70) and the sugo (page 111) are delicious spread on pizza with a few cubes of mozzarella, for example. Here earthy mushrooms matched with fragrant thyme and sweet caramelized onions pack this rustic pizza with major punch. Gruyère’s robust and savory flavor profile knocks this no-sauce pizza off the charts. When it comes to pizza, this one delivers.

There are endless possibilities when it comes to topping pizza. Here, sweet shrimp meet spicy chorizo sausage, slightly bitter escarole, and salty Manchego cheese. The combination is out of this world! If you haven’t explored making your own pizza yet, let this be one to try with the family.