Recipes By David Tanis
750 recipes found
Strawberries in Rose Crème Anglaise
Fresh fruit is an excellent option for dessert. Here, ripe, sweet organic strawberries are served in a pool of crème anglaise, an easy-to-make pouring custard, with a splash of rose water. Since strawberries are botanically related to roses, it’s a nice pairing, and a few rose petals add drama. Make the crème anglaise a day or two in advance.
Cherry Compote With Almonds
Gorgeous, shiny cherries straight from the market are the ideal finish to a meal – just put them in a big bowl and take them to the table. If, however, you feel a need to serve a “real” dessert, try these easy, slightly gussied-up cherries, which are really a kind of simplified version of brandied cherries. Fresh cherries are ideal, but frozen cherries will do in a pinch.
Crispy Chicken Thighs With Peppers, Capers and Olives
The Italian technique employed here — sautéing chicken with a weighted pan on top — is called al mattone. It yields a crisp, burnished skin and very juicy meat. Instead of the usual spatchcocked bird, this recipe calls for large bone-in, skin-on thighs. Cook them in a cast iron pan, if you can, for even heat, but any heavy skillet will do. For a bit of smokiness, the chicken may be cooked (in the cast iron pan) over a charcoal grill. The accompanying sweet pepper stew can be made up to a day in advance and reheated, and starting your seasoning early — an hour ahead or up to 24 — will result in the tastiest chicken.
Classic Beef Brisket With Caramelized Onions
This is a classic brisket recipe with no bells and whistles, just deep flavor, moist succulent meat and lots of caramelized onions. The only caveat: Buy a brisket that’s not too lean. You want it well-marbled with fat or the result will be dry, not juicy.
Spicy Minced Shrimp With Rice Noodles
This is an easy dish to make, but the method is a bit unusual. First, you make what is essentially a flavorful sausage-like mixture of chopped shrimp (which could also be used as a won ton filling), then stir-fry the mixture over high heat until it crumbles, releasing its flavor into the pan. To make it a simple, satisfying meal, this stir-fry is tossed with cooked rice noodles. If you can find it, dried shrimp, available in most Asian or Latin American grocers, add depth: Keep an eye out for some from Louisiana, made with wild shrimp.
Coconut Rice With Peas
Traditional accompaniments for jerk chicken are savory rice with crowder peas or red beans, plantains, sweet potatoes or yams, and a fried corn bread called festival. I had the idea to make my rice with coconut milk and fresh spring peas, which may not please purists, but it's delicious.
Cassoulet-Style Lamb Shanks and Beans
This is not a full-blown cassoulet, chock-full of sausages and duck confit, but it is so satisfying nonetheless. It takes a couple of days to put together because you have to cook the lamb and cook the beans, combine them, and bake them twice. The result is a dish of enchanting deep flavor. (Simmering the seasoned lamb results in a delicious broth.)
Charred Tomato Soup With Coriander and Cilantro
A chilled tomato soup is most welcome on a sweltering summer day. Charring the tomatoes over coals or under the broiler adds a rustic smoky flavor to this one, while quartered and dressed cherry tomatoes and a spoonful of fresh ricotta or thick yogurt add substance and texture.
Savory Tomato Sorbet
This homemade savory tomato sorbet evokes the flavors of gazpacho. It makes a spectacular first course with a salad of cherry tomatoes spooned right over it, along with a few basil leaves.
Almost-Spit-Roasted Moroccan Lamb
For special occasions in Morocco, a whole lamb is turned on a spit over coals for hours, until the exterior is browned and crisp, with tender juicy meat within. Paula Wolfert, the great American authority on Moroccan food, gives this slow-roasting method for achieving similar delicious results in a home oven. Ask your butcher for front quarter of lamb (also called a half bone-on chuck). It is comprised of the neck, shoulder, front shank, and some ribs, all in one piece. Alternatively, ask for 2 large bone-in shoulder roasts. The lamb emerges succulent and fragrant, thanks to careful basting with butter and spices. Serve it with warm chick peas, cumin-flavored salt and a dab of spicy harissa.
Chopped Cucumber and Tomato Salad
Here’s an easy summer salad that’s always a winner. There are many similar chopped salads served throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, but this version with halved sweet cherry tomatoes is especially attractive. Your own take can be a variation on this one: Feel free to use large tomatoes, chop the vegetables as small or large as you like (roughly chopped has its charms), add other herbs like basil, mint or dill, or swap the feta for mozzarella.
Tomates Farcies (Stuffed Tomatoes)
A simple mixture of bread crumbs and herbs is all you need to make these Provençal baked stuffed tomatoes. Serve them with nearly any summer meal, even for breakfast alongside fried eggs.
David Tanis's Crispy Fried Shallots
These crispy shallot slices are fantastic sprinkled over chops and burgers, and just as good on salads or steamed vegetables. The trick is to start in cold oil and cook them slowly. They may be made several hours ahead, or even the day before. The flavorful cooking oil may be saved and used for other recipes.
Tomato Salad on a Roll
This sandwich, a delight of summer, is a cross between the pan bagnat from Nice and the Catalan tomato bread with anchovy. And it's dead simple. Tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, capers, anchovy and basil. A splash of red wine vinegar. This sandwich comes together quickly, but the ingredients need to stay inside the loaf for at least an hour. That way, the juicy tomatoes and all the tasty aromatics permeate the bread in a soggy, heavenly way. Eat it outside.
Leg of Lamb With Savory Beans
In France, gigot d’agneau — leg of lamb — is, well, de rigueur for a proper Easter meal. But it is always appropriate for any special dinner party, or any occasion throughout the year when you want an impressive main course. The technique is simple and requires few ingredients (garlic, thyme and rosemary), but the result is very flavorful. Seasoning the lamb for at least an hour in advance of roasting is essential. Refrigerate it overnight for more intense flavor; it’s also less work to do on the day of the feast. Just remove from the refrigerator, bring it to room temperature, and it’s ready for the oven.
Sicilian Lamb Spezzatino With Saffron and Mint
This simple stovetop lamb stew is seasoned with only a pinch of saffron and a splash of wine, then showered with lots of chopped mint. Once assembled, this fragrant stew takes only about an hour to cook. It has a bright-flavored lightness that makes it ideal for these balmy evenings. I served it with plain boiled potatoes — nothing more was needed.
Baked Risotto With Winter Squash
This is not a classic stirred risotto, in which broth is added little by little, requiring the cook to stir and stir. Instead, the rice is tossed with squash and cheese then baked under a layer of bread crumbs until fragrant and browned on top. Welcome as a hearty meatless main course, it may also be served alongside a roasted chicken. Use any kind of hard winter squash, such as butternut, kabocha or Hubbard. Here are more great risotto recipes.
Cannellini Bean Salad With Shaved Spring Vegetables
Like pasta, cannellini beans are a good staple to have on hand in a city kitchen pantry, and an hour of gentle simmering is usually all it takes. Obviously, they take a little advance planning. You can’t hurry a pot of beans, but you can cook them the day or even the morning before you need them. This a good habit to get into, as a small batch of freshly cooked beans is well worth the little effort it takes to get them cooked. (And by all means, use a real stovetop if you have one.) Don’t cave and go the canned-bean route — save those for emergencies or camping trips.
Peppery Flank Steak Tagliata in the Oven
Cold Tomato Soup
The most beautiful tomatoes may not always be the best ones. Often, it’s the gnarly, misshapen, split-topped tomatoes that are the sweetest. You can also seek out the nearly overripe must-sell-today tomatoes, which can sometimes be found discounted at farmers markets. Those are perfect for this kind of chilled soup, a no-cook delight that is best made at the end of summer when tomatoes are at their best. Add toast and avocado for a more substantial meal.
Romaine Salad With Anchovy and Lemon
Though this is a very simple salad, it is exquisite when attention is paid to every little detail. Packaged organic romaine hearts are available at most supermarkets, but using the hearts of whole romaine heads or whole baby romaine will make for a fresher version. Save the plucked outer leaves for a chopped salad or other cooking.
Pan-Roasted Cauliflower With Garlic, Parsley and Rosemary
Nearly any vegetable tastes good browned in olive oil and showered with garlic, parsley and rosemary, but cauliflower is an especially good candidate for this technique. The inherent sweetness of cauliflower begs for a hit of lemon and hot pepper too. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Basic Sticky Rice
Also known as “sweet rice” or glutinous rice (though it’s gluten free), sticky rice is a large white grain that becomes translucent, shiny and extremely sticky when steamed. Sticky rice is a staple in Laos, where it is especially beloved, but it has ardent fans throughout Asia. Traditionally, it’s cooked over steam in a conical woven basket. If you don’t have such a steamer, you can use a standard stacking steamer, a colander lined with muslin or cheesecloth, or a fine mesh strainer that fits over a saucepan. For the best texture, cooking sticky rice over hot steam is ideal, but it is possible to pull it off in an electric rice cooker, using less water than usual, or in a pot on the stove. What follows are the basic instructions for success.
New Mexican Pozole
In New Mexico, there is abundance and generosity and plenty of comfort food at holiday parties. Posole, the savory and hearty, rather soupy stew made from dried large white corn kernels simmered for hours, is traditional and easy to prepare. Stir in a ruddy red purée of dried New Mexico chiles to give the stew its requisite kick. This is satisfying, nourishing, fortifying fare. The corn stays a little bit chewy in a wonderful way (canned hominy never does), and the spicy broth is beguiling.