Poultry

This one is good for B, L, D: brunches, lunches, or dinners.

Caponata is an eggplant dish normally served as a relish or appetizer, but I am so fond of it that I keep reinventing ways to add it to each cookbook I write. I’ve topped polenta with it, tossed it with pasta, packed it into sub sandwiches, and now, here we go again . . .

French and fantastique, this will become a real favorite.

This meal is a combo of two favorite preparations: francese and piccata. Francese are egg-battered cutlets or fillets, and piccata are simply flour-dredged or plain cutlets or fillets sautéed with lemon and wine. I was never good at making decisions, especially regarding dinner, so I made up this two-for-one dinner. Serve with wilted fresh spinach or green salad.

This one is fun for kids, like me. Serve as is, or accompany with black beans or refried beans and plain or flavored rice, prepared according to the package directions.

Hey, you asked for more! This is a favorite of my mom’s, so I had to include it!

As many chicken recipes as I write, as many as other chefs have piled up in books, people still ask “Do you have any new chicken recipes?” Those poor birds—they can’t even fly! Clearly, it’s all anyone wants to eat anymore!

Serve with buttered and parslied orzo or small potatoes or with lots of crusty bread.

Pedro Almodovar is my favorite foreign film director—I have his whole library. My favorite film and the one I most relate to: Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

You got the way to move me, Baby! Serve with a green salad and boiled baby potatoes.