Parmesan

Cheese is the savior of chard, as a crisp crust, a seasoning for soup, a luscious sauce, bringing out its qualities while introducing a note of luxury. Often, the bolder the cheese the more interesting the result, so a well-matured British cheese is a wise choice for something like a shallow chard tart. As a sort of double whammy, I add cheese to the pastry as well as the filling.

When making a sauce to blanket a dish of boiled celery ribs, I like to harness the mineral quality by using the celery’s cooking water in with the milk. It deepens the flavor and, together with parsley, establishes the vegetable’s earthy flavor. Celery blanched in deep water, smothered with a duvet of slightly bland and salty sauce, and given a crust of breadcrumbs and cheese is certainly worth eating. I have suggested making a crust for the celery and its sauce with Parmesan and breadcrumbs, but there is much success to be had with Berkswell, the sheep’s milk cheese from the Midlands. Despite being a rather different cheese from Parmesan, it has a similar fruitiness.

One of the gifts of the nouvelle cuisine movement was the puréed vegetable. At its worst, a sad puddle of unidentifiable beige gunk; at its most successful, a moreish pool of intensely flavored, silk-textured essence. Sprouts, which marry so happily with cream, tend to look like baby food when given this treatment, so I keep them coarsely chopped instead of whizzed to a pulp. I am exceptionally fond of this little side dish.

This dish pops with the bright flavor of fresh ingredients cooked quickly; but while the final “zap” is quick, preparation of this aromatic salad takes time. Enjoy it: you’ll use several cooking techniques, from searing zucchini to making croutons to preparing favas. For a shortcut, use store-bought croutons or buy shelled favas. Favas need to be peeled twice: First, pull the beans out of the pod by pulling on the stem and unzipping the side; then, after cooking, peel the thin layer of skin from each bean.

This dish first caught my eye early in my career when I worked as a line cook at Chicago’s legendary Ambria Restaurant. We served it as an appetizer, making everything from scratch, including the pasta—and it was one of our most popular dishes. This is a perfect dish for dinner parties. I promise it will impress your guests. Follow the fresh Egg Pasta recipe on page 109, making sure you include the optional squid ink.

Having grown up on Dede’s Cheese Straws (page 15), I never knew this version existed until I went to culinary school. Like Dede’s traditional Southern version, these savory, buttery bites get their kick from cayenne. If cayenne is too hot for you, simply substitute paprika or pimento (smoked paprika from Spain). Store-bought frozen puff pastry can be gruesome, so choose carefully; I always use Dufour’s, available online and at gourmet markets such as Whole Foods.

Pistou is the French version of pesto. As in Italy, it’s used with pasta or dolloped on soups or stews for additional flavoring. Make this sauce when herbs are plentiful, and freeze some for later. I like to freeze it in ice-cube trays; once the cubes are frozen solid, I transfer them to a sealable freezer bag or an airtight container and freeze for up to 1 month. Pine nuts are traditional, and walnuts are a good choice for a delicious hint of bitterness. But pecans give the sauce a rich, buttery flavor. Try it also with other herbs—parsley, cilantro, or even nasturtium leaves for a little spicy kick.

What impresses me the most about all the types of cornbread is how quickly they can be brought to the table. Warm bread for supper makes everything taste better. My version of pantry cooking is to pull a bag of butter beans or black-eyed peas frozen last summer out of the freezer and cook a pot of rice. While the rice is cooking, I can throw together a batch of corn muffins. It’s a simple, quick supper ready in less than thirty minutes. The fallacy that you need to open a can or use a mix is just that—a lie. I find that shortcuts and prepared products actually do not often make things easier, and usually take as long as doing things “right” in the first place.

Long hot Southern summers produce delicious corn, but some of the best corn I ever had in my life was from New Jersey. The farmer had a stand on the side of the road in front of his cornfield. He would ask how many you wanted, and march back into the green, rustling stalks to pick your order. Freshness is important, since the moment corn is picked, the sugars begin converting into starch. Straight from the row to a pot of boiling water is an indulgent luxury. Some folks may look twice when they see that this recipe instructs you to coat the corn in mayonnaise. It’s a Southern take on Mexican corn that is coated in crema, a soft sour cream–like cheese. You cannot get more Southern than mayonnaise. If you don’t care for mayonnaise, use soft unsalted butter instead.

This is one of those dishes that is just perfect for breakfast, Sunday dinner, or a weeknight supper. I usually peel and devein the shrimp, but leave on the tails. My dear friend Gena Berry grew up on St. Simons Island, Georgia, in the heart of the fishing and shrimping community. One day, we were in the kitchen getting ready for a party. She jumped in, helpful as always, and offered to peel the shrimp. When she saw my technique of leaving the tails on, she raised her eyebrows perilously high (as only Gena can do), and informed me that coast folks don’t peel shrimp like that. I still think it looks better. I use wild American shrimp, not pond-raised imports, because I am supporting those very shrimpers Gena grew up with. Save the shrimp shells to make shrimp stock (recipe on page 132).

This recipe comes from the grandmother of Mike Thompson, the U.S. congressman who represents the California counties of Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Del Norte, Humboldt, and Mendocino—wine country. Home to many Italian immigrants, the region inspires this red wine and sun-dried tomato risotto. The grandmotherly way to prepare it is, of course, to use a ladle rather than a measuring cup to add stock.

Yes, we know that real risotto uses arborio rice, but we also know that it has to be stirred constantly for 40 minutes and that’s not a good way to impress your date. Arborio rice releases more starch as it cooks than other types of rice, making risotto very creamy. This version is still really creamy, but can be prepped ahead of time and finished in less than 15 minutes.

Tapenade is essentially puréed olives with other flavorings added. This is a pretty mild version, but if you like the sharp taste of Kalamata olives, feel free to add more.

Before I was an exchange student in France, I wasn’t sure how I felt about raw zucchini. I now know how delicious it can be. Using a vegetable peeler to make long pasta-like strips for this yummy salad will give it a sophisticated look, but you can also simply grate or thinly slice them, so do whatever makes you happy.

Okay, I know this isn’t authentic carbonara, but eliminating the cream cuts the calories and reduces the cost. As long as it still has that exquisite bacon and Parmesan cheese flavor, I’m all for fewer calories and less money. This is another super simple recipe with generous portions that reheat well.

Real chicken Tetrazzini combines pasta and chicken in a sauce made with sherry and Parmesan cheese. It should come as no surprise that I have opted for an easier version that uses canned soup and can be made very quickly. Even though it serves four, I sometimes make it just for myself because it’s super tasty and makes great leftovers.

Pasta is one of my favorite foods of all time, and this version is really easy and super good. Although I do occasionally eat shrimp, I probably make this more often without shrimp than with it. It kind of depends on if I am making it for myself, or the whole family. If my parents are eating, then for sure it has shrimp. If it’s my sister, I leave the shrimp out because she likes to add (big surprise) grilled chicken.

For you non–spinach eaters out there (including me): Don’t be turned off by the spinach in this recipe! I always made this with just the cheese filling, but one time, when I had my back turned, my sister added spinach to the filling. She insisted that it would look better and I wouldn’t even taste it. Although I hate to admit it, she was right. Besides that, it’s worth it just for the shock value of when you ask your mom to buy spinach.

I love Caesar salad but, of course, my sister has to ruin it by adding chicken to cover up the taste of the lettuce. I mean really, how can you not like lettuce? This dressing is also really good on pasta salad, and at least Jill doesn’t feel the need to add meat to that.