Onion

On the few nights that he is not at Lantern, Miguel cooks Mexican at home. He has not seen his family since moving to North Carolina in 1999, and the goal of his home cooking is to make his dishes taste as close to his mother’s and grandmother’s as possible with the ingredients he can get here. He thinks that he is getting close with these carnitas.

Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish of boiled potatoes mashed with green onions, leeks or sometimes chives, kale or cabbage, and milk or cream. I like mine extremely green, with lots of black pepper.

These preserves will keep for a few weeks in the refrigerator and are good on a grilled cheese sandwich or as a condiment for creamy pureed white beans.

While the squab is resting, fry up the livers in a little butter in a small pan and season with salt. Mash them with a fork and flavor with a little gold rum to taste. Spread on grilled bread as a snack while you wait, or serve it alongside the squab.

The fact that our great-grandchildren may never eat a real seafood dinner gives those of us who still eat fish a responsibility not to put blue cheese on it. I like to serve this with pickled beets (page 142) and the potato salad that follows. This treatment would work for almost any flavorful, rich fish.

On the first day of the year that is warm enough to open the windows, we all instantly crave spring foods. While the asparagus, peas, and strawberries we hunger for lag many weeks behind, the early tonics of spring—spring onions, green garlic, and ramps—step in to give us the jolt we need to wake up from winter.

Make one of these sauces in the hot skillet after you have cooked chicken breasts or pork chops.