Alcohol

If you don't believe the saying that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, this simple yet incredibly good sorbet is proof positive that it can be true. This is my all-time favorite sorbet.

As simple a dish as this is, I have had requests for it in all my restaurants as far back as I can remember. I like the sauce a little feisty, so I’m generous with the crushed red pepper. You can add as much—or as little—as you like. Often, restaurant chefs finish this dish by swirling butter into the sauce at the end. You can do the same, or use olive oil to finish the sauce. I prefer olive oil, but I probably don’t have to tell you that by now.

Make this rich stew on a leisurely weekend. You’ll probably get a good three meals out of it, if you follow some of the suggestions below. When buying stew meat at a supermarket, you don’t always know what you are getting, so ask the butcher. If it’s a lean meat, it will need less time cooking (in fact, it will be ruined if you cook it too long), but the fattier cuts can benefit from at least another half hour.

The product: Stout (like Guinness) is a rich, dark British beer that's full of flavor.
The payoff: Restaurant-caliber pan sauce.

My most coveted pie is of the apple variety. To me, nothing says an afternoon out by the grill than having an apple pie to finish off the experience. What sets this pie apart from your normal apple pie is that I use a whopping thirteen apples that I slowly cook down with Vietnamese cinnamon and brown sugar, creating a collection of flavors so distinctively comforting, you'll never search for another apple pie recipe. Use Maker's Mark bourbon as it is currently the only gluten-free bourbon available.

This jolly beverage gives "fruit cocktail" a fun new meaning.

This tomato-Worcestershire-vodka soup gets served in shot glasses for fun. Look for the pickled veggies near the jarred vegetables in the supermarket.

This dessert is as easy as it is delicious—put it together in the morning and let it chill in the fridge until dinner time.

If sake is unavailable, substitute dry vermouth. Miso paste tastes surprisingly good with butter. The red variety has a more pungent flavor than yellow or white miso and is a terrific match for meat.