Recipes By David Tanis
750 recipes found
Fennel and Celery Salad With Lemon and Parmesan
This crisp, lemony salad of raw fennel and celery (you could add thinly sliced celery root to the salad as well) makes a refreshing start to a meal, garnished with radishes and slightly bitter Treviso or radicchio leaves. It could also be a light meal on its own. Don’t slice the vegetables paper-thin; you want the salad to have some crunch. You may prepare the vegetables up to an hour in advance and keep refrigerated, but don’t dress the salad more than 10 minutes before serving.
Baked Lebanese Kibbe
The Middle Eastern way with ground lamb, or beef, for that matter, is in combination with cracked bulgur wheat and onion. There are hundreds of ways to turn this delicious mixture into kibbe, little football-shaped savory treats sold and eaten everywhere and made daily in homes throughout the region. (There are other kinds of kibbe, too, like fish, but that’s another story.) For a less labor-intensive version, kibbe can also be baked like a flat cake. It makes an extraordinarily fragrant meatloaf, adorned with long-cooked caramelized onions and pine nuts, to be eaten hot, warm, cold or reheated.
Lamb Patties With Fried Onions And Tahini-Yogurt Sauce
Ground lamb makes a great alternative to a traditional burger, even when sprinkled with only salt and pepper or a little chopped parsley and garlic. These well-seasoned, simple-to-make patties are inspired by kofta, and are spiced with a fragrant mixture. You can season the meat up to a day ahead, which cuts down on kitchen time. Folded into warm pita bread, doused with tahini sauce and topped with fried onions, these burgers may not be standard cookout fare, but everyone loves them.
Summer Vegetables in Spiced Yogurt Sauce
The farmers’ market or a home garden may be the ideal source of summer vegetables for this seasonal main course. Feel free to substitute or add other garden gifts as available. Eggplant, green beans, small potatoes or okra would all be welcome. Substantial but light, and reminiscent of some kormas, it gets its rich, creamy consistency from a mixture of yogurt and almond flour. To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.
Little Gem Salad With Garlicky Almond Dressing
This tart, garlicky dressing is made with toasted almonds and sherry vinegar for a simple but delicious green salad. Little Gem lettuce, a cross between romaine and butter lettuce, has become justly popular for a crunchy salad. Crisp and bright green with small crinkly leaves, it won’t immediately wilt when dressed. If unavailable, look for similar small sturdy heads of lettuce or choose hearts of romaine.
Pecan-Raisin Rolls
These sweet yeasted breakfast buns may be prepared and refrigerated in muffin tins overnight so they are oven-ready after one last rise the next day.
Blackberry Crisp With Cardamom Custard Sauce
You could use a combination of berries (raspberries, blueberries and blackberries in equal parts) in this crisp, but it especially sings with just blackberries. (Wild blackberries, if you can find them, are even better.) Cardamom perfumes the accompanying rich custard sauce. The warm, musky spice adds a flavor that’s perfect with berries. The crisp needn’t be served piping hot straight from the oven; it’s delicious served at room temperature or just slightly warm.
Grilled Duck Breast With Miso, Ginger and Orange
Miso contributes a sweet, nutty flavor to this tasty marinade for duck, punched up with ginger and orange zest. Substitute duck legs if you wish (they’ll take a bit longer to cook), or use large chicken breasts if duck isn’t available. Here the duck breast is thinly sliced for a summery main-course salad, but keep the flavorful technique in mind for use throughout the year.
Sticky Rice With Mango
Also known as “sweet rice” or glutinous rice (despite being gluten free), sticky rice is a large white grain that, when steamed, becomes translucent, shiny and, well, sticky. In French, it’s called riz gluant or gluey, not much more attractive. There should be a better word for it, because it really is undoubtedly one of the best things to eat under the sun.
Fresh Ricotta With Rhubarb, Ginger and Cardamom
Inspired by the Mediterranean treat of fresh ricotta drizzled with regional honey, this really is one the simplest and best desserts imaginable. The main challenge is to find good fresh ricotta. You want the kind that is delicate and custardlike, so avoid the commercial, grainy supermarket kind. You can, of course, make your own, though if you find fresh ricotta sold in little plastic basket molds, it makes a lovely presentation, unmolded onto a plate, cut into wedges at the table and served with a refreshing rhubarb sauce. You'll have plenty of the sauce left over: Save it for spooning over plain yogurt, ice cream or pound cake.
Cream Cheese Sandwiches With Dates, Pecans and Rosemary
For these sandwiches, look for soft, juicy dates. It’s also worth seeking out natural cream cheese rather than the gummy commercial kind, or substitute fresh ricotta. The crisp, salty herbed pecans pair very nicely with the slightly sweet spread.
Spiced Lamb and Rice with Walnuts, Mint and Pomegranate
A baked lamb and rice dish I tasted in Istanbul, etli pilav, inspired this one-pot meal, topped with walnuts and fresh mint and pomegranate seeds. Similar pilaf-style rice dishes are made all across the Middle East and into Asia. Kabuli pulao in Afghanistan is acclaimed; the Persian baghali polov ba gusht is justly famous, as is the Lebanese Hashwet al-ruz; and there are myriad fabled biryanis made with lamb (or goat) in India and Pakistan. Pomegranate molasses is available in Middle Eastern groceries or online. It provides a sweet-sour, fruity undertone, but you may omit it and still get good results. Try a squeeze of lime instead.
Wild Salmon With Chive Oil and Lime Crème Fraîche
The wild king salmon season opens in late spring in Alaska and all the way down the West Coast. The season continues through summer, but is at its best in June. The year’s first wild salmon has brilliant red flesh, a mild sweet flavor and a velvety texture. Farmed salmon doesn’t compare. You pay a high price for wild salmon, but the splurge is worth it. Paired with bright green chive oil and limey crème fraîche, it will make you swoon.
Spiced Basmati Rice and Sweet Corn Pilaf
Chicken With Apricots, Lemon and Saffron
Here is a spice-perfumed braised chicken dish that is greater than the sum of its parts, with complex flavor that belies the ease of preparation. As a bonus, you can prepare it up to 2 days in advance, since it reheats beautifully.
Easy Rhubarb Trifle
Boozy, soggy, creamy, sweet and tart, this simple cake is somewhat like a tiramisù, since it is layered with ladyfingers. (But let’s not call it a tiramisù, because it’s really not authentic or traditional.) It’s more like a simplified trifle, as it has no custard sauce or whipped cream, but it’s rich and delicious nonetheless. Mascarpone and crème fraîche are whisked together for the creamy filling, and Campari, orange liqueur and brandy punch up the cooked rhubarb’s syrup. Look for store-bought ladyfingers, available in Italian shops and many supermarkets, or substitute good-quality poundcake or sponge cake. The trifle can be assembled up to a day in advance.
Wild Mushroom Tart
This savory tart features a quickly made puff pastry. (You can use store-bought, if you wish, but this dough is easy and fun.) There’s enough for two tarts, so store half in the freezer, rolled out, for later use. Make the dough up to a day or two in advance, and use chanterelles or other pale wild mushrooms, if possible. If using cultivated mushrooms, a combination of sliced shiitake, white button, oyster or king trumpet would be nice, as portobellos or cremini make a dark, somber-looking tart. Serve as a first course or as a light lunch, accompanied by a simple green salad.
Pistachio Biscotti
Biscotti are easy to make and keep for up to 2 weeks in an airtight tin. They taste even better a day or two after baking. They are perfect for dunking, in red wine, sweet wine, coffee or tea. Almonds or walnuts can replace the pistachios if desired.
Slow-Cooked Red Chile Turkey
Anyone who has spent time in New Mexico knows that fiery red chile sauce, made with local dried chiles, finds its way into most meals there, enhancing plates of huevos rancheros or enchiladas. But just as often, it is the base for a meat stew, usually beef, pork or lamb. The dish is known as carne adovada, and it is insanely good. Yes, there probably is a roasted turkey in most homes for Thanksgiving, and maybe a steaming pot of tamales. But the thought occurred to me that turkey thighs (the tastiest part of the bird) simmered in red chile would be a welcome substitute. It turns out I was right. Slowly braised for 2 hours, this spicy turkey is succulent and tender.
Sautéed Scallops With Crushed Peppercorns
Sweet, meaty sea scallops are best in winter. Buy “dry-packed” fresh scallops — anything else has been doused in preservatives. This quick-cooking dish gets a boost from three types of peppercorns: green and black (both true pepper), and rose (not really pepper — they are the fruit of a different plant — but peppery nonetheless, and pretty, too). Crush the peppercorns in a mortar or grind very coarsely in a spice mill.
White Wine-Braised Rabbit With Mustard
This is a version of lapin à la moutarde, a homey, traditional French dish still popular in old-fashioned Parisian bistros at lunchtime. Yes, there are quite a few steps required to put this dish on the table, but probably no more than 30 minutes of active work. It is essentially a one-pot meal, with a little fiddling. The pleasingly sharp, succulent, saucy result is worth the extra effort. Get your rabbit in a butcher shop if possible, and ask to have it cut up; if your only option is a whole rabbit, it’s not much more difficult than cutting up a chicken. Serve with noodles if you'd like, or rice, mashed potatoes or steamed new potatoes.
Molasses Ginger Cake
This easy, dense dark cake packs in a lot of flavor. Molasses, a slightly bitter sweetener, is key, giving the cake just the right character. Chopped dates, raisins and a good dose of black pepper are all in evidence, along with ginger and cinnamon. The end result is so good: If you bet you can stop at one slice, you’ll surely lose the wager.
Pan-Seared Pork Chops With Sage, Dates and Parsnips
This easy dish combines sage, brown butter and dates for a blast of sweet-salty flavor. Brining the pork chops in advance ensures tenderness: You can allow them to sit in the thyme-infused brine overnight, but even two hours of marinating will improve the taste and texture of the chops. This recipe calls for parsnips, but sweet potato or roasted squash would also work well. (And if you can’t find medjool dates, pitted prunes are a worthy stand-in.)
Moroccan Chicken Pie
This is a slightly simplified version of Moroccan pastilla (also known as bsteeya or b’stillah), the savory pastry served on festive occasions. Still, there are a lot of steps involved. For ease of preparation, make the chicken filling up to a day in advance of serving — the actual building of the pie takes relatively little time. Or assemble the entire pie and refrigerate, unbaked, up to a day ahead. In Morocco, thin pastry leaves called warqa make the pie’s flaky layers, but elsewhere most cooks use readily available phyllo dough. Dusting the exterior with powdered sugar might sound odd, but this traditional combination of sweet and savory is truly beguiling.