Dairy

In 2006, I packed up my gear and traveled to the Mall of America for the Food Network Pizza Champions Challenge. Over the course of a very grueling day, we competed for three Guinness World Records in front of a big audience and a panel of famous judges. I won two of the world-record rounds: Biggest Pizza Continuously Spinning for Two Minutes, and Most Consecutive Rolls Across the Shoulders in 30 Seconds. By comparison, round three, the cooking challenge, felt as easy as pie. Four of us gathered at our stations to get our marching orders: create a gourmet pizza in ten minutes using none of the top ten toppings—no pepperoni, no sausage, you get the idea. So, my instinct was to combine two of my favorite pizza worlds, California and Italy. I grabbed five totally traditional Italian ingredients: prosciutto, fig jam, Gorgonzola, Asiago, and balsamic vinegar. They're classic, but the thing is, you'd never find them on a pizza in Italy, at least not all together. But to us "why not?" Californians, the combination makes perfect sense as a pizza topping, and it made sense to the judges, too.

Mmm. Fried dough. On a trip to Rimini, a resort town on Italy's Adriatic coast, I had a memorable fried pizza topped with cheese and ham. To re-create it, I came up with this shallow-fry method in which you fry the dough, then flip it, top it with mozzarella, and cover it with a lid to melt the cheese. In honor of Rimini, I've topped this one with the region's famous squacquerone cheese, which is as deliciously soft and runny as it is difficult to pronounce. If you can't find it, you can use crescenza (also known as stracchino). It goes on after frying and quickly melts on the hot crust. I also add thin slices of the cooked ham sold in Italian delis as prosciutto cotto. Not to be confused with prosciutto, which is cured but not cooked, this is what we know as ham, but it's a bit paler, less smoky, and more delicate than typical American deli ham. For this method, it's really helpful to roll your dough out as close to the stove top as possible and to have everything set up before you start cooking: your skillet on the stove top, a lid within easy reach, your cheeses and toppings measured out, and a plate lined with paper towels right next to the stove. Keep a close eye on the heat as you fry and adjust it as needed so the dough cooks all the way through without burning on the outside.

Prettiest when not piled too high; divide the salad over two platters and put one at each end of the table.

Two Halloween favorites—candy corn and pumpkins—meet in these irresistible blondies.

Massaging the dressing into the kale with your hands helps break down some of the fibers so the greens are more tender.

You will fight your own relatives for the bits of cheesy goodness stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Parsnip, a vegetable usually roasted or pureed, is crunchy, sweet, and delicious raw. Who knew?

If I had to choose my all-time favourite family recipe, it would be this.

The inspiration for this was Sarah's grandmother ("nan") Dulcie in Tasmania, who always used to add some honey to the pan before roasting her carrots. I'm not sure what Dulcie would have thought about a tahini yogurt sauce served alongside, but the sweetness of the carrots certainly welcomes it. Make this extra vibrant by using different-colored carrots.

Light, pretty, festive, and special, this can pull off the trick of being either the Christmas Yule log (without the chocolate or the sponge) or the perfect pudding for a midsummer lunch.

Easy enough for a weeknight, but special enough for a dinner party.

You'll have extra butternut squash left over after making the ribbons; cut into cubes, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast for an easy side dish.

This old-school, rectangular pizza bakes right in a sheet tray. The flavorful, doughy crust is thicker than the more standard thin-crusted Neapolitan-style pies.

Any kind of firm, sweet pumpkin or squash can be used for this recipe. If you want a shortcut, you can buy pre-cubed butternut squash. Just make sure the surface of the squash looks fresh and moist.

Use a very sharp cheddar to make this—it's the difference between pimiento cheese and cheesy mayonnaise.

Fried chicken is one of my biggest weaknesses, so naturally I've been perfecting this lighter version for years. I've managed to achieve the same crispy golden texture you get from frying from my oven. Yep, it's skinnier, easier, quicker, and (bonus) there's no greasy mess to clean up. Soaking the chicken overnight (sometimes two nights) in a buttermilk bath is a must for meat that's moist and juicy. To easily remove the skin from the drumsticks, use one paper towel to grasp the joint end and a second one to pull off the skin.