Quick

Steamed mussels make a lovely dish to eat alone slowly, plucking the plump flesh from the shells as messily as you like and sopping up the heavenly liquor with chunks of French bread.

Those little bits of fish that you didn’t finish, or that you purposely put aside for another meal, take on new life in these scrumptious fish cakes. My rule of thumb is to use equal parts cooked fish and potatoes. If the fish you are using has been fried, scrape off the crusty exterior, because you want the cakes to be smooth inside.

Salmon is probably the fish that Americans cook most often. It is readily available, quick to prepare, and can be dressed in many different ways. I always buy a bigger portion than I need, so I have some for the next day. I find searing the fillet in a hot skillet on both sides, and then letting it finish in the oven briefly, is a good way to keep the salmon tasty on the outside and moist inside.

I recently saw something labeled “Snapper Lake Victoria (Kenya) Farm Raised,” and it looked glistening and fresh through its plastic wrap. Because the slice, just under a pound, was rather plump and not firm-fleshed and fatty, I felt it would take well to braising with some vegetables. I happened to have about half of a small fennel in the vegetable bin, and some roasted red peppers (from a jar, another good standby item, or put away your own [see page 242]), so I decided to make a bed of those aromatics and, when they were cooked semi-soft, to tuck the fish in and let everything finish cooking together. It was particularly delicious with leftover cooked potatoes browned in duck fat.

For a dinner party, I often serve a roast leg of lamb, studded with garlic cloves and slathered in mustard French-style. I make sure the meat when cooked is always rosy—in fact, saignant at the bone—and therefore good to use in any number of dishes that ordinarily call for raw lamb. And I always find myself with plenty of leftovers—one forgets how hefty a leg of lamb is these days. I wrote about some of my experiments with leftover lamb in my book The Tenth Muse in a section called “The Nine Lives of a Leg of Lamb.” So, if you are confronted with this happy dilemma of too much lamb, you’ll find nine recipes there, which can be cut down to serve one. I don’t want to repeat them here, but I have since experimented with this lamb curry for one, which I find delicious.

This is a very flexible stir-fry, so have fun with what you want to mix and match. The important thing is to get everything prepped ahead of time and lined up on a tray near the stove. Have your sauce ingredients mixed in a little bowl, and be sure to have your cooked rice ready.

I like this in winter with rice, or with mashed potatoes mixed, maybe, with mashed parsnip or another root vegetable. In summer, it’s good with almost anything from the garden.

Every now and then I get a yearning for this dish, which you’ll readily find in almost any little bistro in Paris. The Dijon mustard is the perfect complement to the earthiness of the kidneys, and it is a particularly comforting dish to savor on a raw winter day. Kidneys seem to be increasingly hard to come by in our markets today, so when you see them, bring them home. Even if you think you don’t like rognons de veau, I beg you to try cooking them this way. I think you’ll be converted. Recently I asked the butcher at Citarella, a first-rate purveyor in New York City, if he had veal kidneys. Sure enough, he found some in the chiller below. But the one he brought up and proudly showed me turned out to weigh just over a pound (most veal kidneys are 7–9 ounces untrimmed). Still, I couldn’t resist, and as I thought of how I might use up what remained, a vision of a little beef and kidney pie, which my mother used to serve occasionally, popped into my mind (recipe follows). I’d quickly decided to make it with some good leftover Boeuf Bourguignon (preceding recipe), so I also purchased a pound of stewing meat and went home planning my dinners for the week ahead.

People often asked me, as I was writing this book, What should I do with chicken breasts? I think they want to cook chicken breasts because they are lean (therefore supposedly good for you) and quick to prepare, but there’s that persistent problem that there are inevitably two to a package, too much for a single meal. Frankly, I see that not as a problem but as an asset, because, again, you have something to play with for a second round. Here is a basic recipe for cooking the chicken so that it is flavorful and not dried out; it can be varied in as many ways as there are vegetables in season. I confess that I prefer dark chicken meat over light; if you feel the same way, just substitute two leg-thigh pieces for the breast meat, and cook about 5 minutes longer.

For even the most seasoned chefs, rice can prove to be a challenge. Yes, rice. One minute short and it’s soggy; a minute extra, it can be sticky and clumped together. Unless you want to spend your hard-earned money on a rice steamer, we suggest you follow this tried-and-true method.

When a recipe calls for just a bit of fresh basil, don’t let the rest go to waste—in fact, buy a little extra (three bunches total) and make a delicious pesto. It’s easy!

Sandy doesn’t even like cornbread, and yet this is one of her favorite dishes. If you weren’t one before, we’ll make a cornbread lover out of you, too. This dish is extremely easy to make and works great when paired with our CQ’s Royal Cottage Pie (page 38) or our Shrimply Delicious Shrimp and Grits (page 54). It also can stand proud all on its own, making a great appetizer or a replacement for the rolls in your bread basket!

Crispy fish skin is a treat. When done right, it’s crunchy and salty, and tastes like the ocean. I’ve come up with this method for getting fish skin perfectly crispy because in my career I’ve spent a lot of time being frustrated by sticking fish skin to the pan. My solution is more than a recipe; it’s a technique. And it will work for any fish with skin. This approach is all about having a hot pan, patience, and my secret . . . a second sauté pan. Use my method and you will always make fish with delightfully satisfying and crispy skin.

This is one of my best recipes (if I do say so myself!) and it’s become one of my mom’s favorites, too. People will say, “What is this?” and then, “Who knew you could eat raw asparagus?” It’s simple and unique and, I promise, it will make you a rock star with your guests.

Mussels are the unsung heroes of the shellfish world; they’re cheap, fast, and satisfying. (I wish more things in life were like this!) My favorite part of making a big pot of mussels is dipping a hunk of crusty bread in the broth. That’s why I add this lovely aïoli to the mix right before serving. This sexy sauce drips down into the mussel juice, giving it a spectacular flavor and the illusion that it’s a cream sauce. It’s super-dunkable!

I’m always looking for new things to do with calamari. It’s inexpensive, and if you buy it already cleaned—which I HIGHLY recommend—it’s super Q&E (quick and easy) to use. This recipe is fun because it takes minimum effort and you get maximum kudos at the dinner table.

This is a classic that everyone should know how to do well. The trick here has nothing to do with cooking and everything to do with using only seasonal ingredients. When summer tomatoes are pristine and basil is at its peak, that’s when you want to whip this baby up. By the way, it’s pronounced “broo-SKET-ta”—NOT “broo-SHETT-ta.”