Recipes By David Tanis
750 recipes found
Gorgonzola Walnut Crostini With Pear Salad
Spinach and Feta Borek
In Turkey, savory pastries like these are made with hand-rolled yufka sheets, but store-bought phyllo dough makes a fine substitute. Often shaped into bite-size parcels, this large version may be cut into wedges. Serve it with a salad of sliced cucumber and radishes, and a bowl of olives, if desired.
Baked Polenta With Ricotta and Parmesan
This no-stir method produces an effortless polenta. The ricotta adds lightness and turns the polenta into an elegant side dish. It may be baked up to 2 hours in advance and reheated, if desired.
Walnut Cake With Persimmons and Pomegranate
This simple walnut sponge cake is quite versatile and keeps well. You can increase the spices to taste and substitute other nuts if you wish. Serve with a dab of whipped cream or crème fraîche and any kind of seasonal fruit. This fall version calls for peeled firm Fuyu persimmons and bright red pomegranate arils for a gorgeous splash of color.
Olive Oil-Walnut Cake With Pomegranate
Extra-virgin olive oil gives this easy cake richness and a tender crumb. The cake keeps well for several days, as does the syrup, so it makes sense to prepare it in advance. However, wait to add the syrup until the day you serve it.
Red Wine Pears
A classic cool weather dessert, these poached pears taste best if made a day or two in advance giving them time to soak in the red wine syrup. Serve with crème fraîche, whipped cream or ice cream. Use firm Comice, Anjou, Bartlett or Russet pears.
Smoky Eggplant Salad With Yogurt and Mint
This tart Turkish-style salad is meant to be served with triangles of warm pita or other flatbread for dipping. At the market, choose eggplants that are firm and shiny; they will taste sweeter and have fewer seeds. Make the salad several hours or up to a day in advance. Pomegranate molasses can be found at Middle Eastern groceries.
Turkish-Style Lamb Boreks
These irresistible savory pastries go by many names throughout the Middle East. In Turkey, they are called boreks and the best ones have a beguiling, complex filling that features salty, sweet and sour elements. If you can’t find pomegranate molasses, substitute lemon juice and honey, and maybe a splash of sweet vinegar. It’s easy to cut these large boreks into two, three or four pieces, for feeding a crowd.
Turkish-Spiced Halibut Skewers With Yogurt Sauce
Turkish chefs make these beautiful skewers with local swordfish, usually dousing the fish in a garlicky lemony marinade before cooking. Bay leaves (they grow wild) are usually a presence, too. David Tanis took that inspiration and made the fish halibut, adding thinly sliced lemons and onions, along with pinches of aromatic cumin and coriander, and a heavy hand with the bay leaves. You would think this might be overkill, but in fact it only enhances the sweetness of the fish.
Risotto With Parsnips and Greens
Risotto is a fine option for brunch, lunch or dinner. With a minimum of ingredients and fuss, it is ready in about a half-hour, and always appreciated.
Mashed Eggplant With Capers, Scallions and Parsley
Summer is the perfect time to adopt the Mediterranean custom of serving savory little room temperature dishes for casual nibbling, referred to as mezze throughout the Middle East. An assortment of mezze can precede a larger feast, served as appetizers, or you may make an informal meal of mezze, picnic-style, indoors or out. This lemony Turkish-style eggplant dip fits the bill beautifully, spread on baguette toasts or crisp pita bread.
Pasta With Radicchio, Bacon and Pecans
A char under the boiler shows off radicchio’s pleasantly bitter flavor to its best advantage. Paired with the sweetness of ricotta and pecans, with salty smoked bacon and sharp pecorino, this is a pasta with big flavor. Use round radicchio di Chioggia, long radicchio di Treviso or curly fingered radicchio Tardivo.
Turkey Pie With Potatoes, Squash, Chard and Cheddar
This layered savory pie is basically a complete dinner encased in pastry, and quite an elegant way to have Thanksgiving leftovers (though it can be made any time of year). Serve it with gravy and cranberry sauce, or keep it light with a refreshing green salad.
Wild Mushroom and Butter Bean Pasta
This is a great pasta for autumn, hearty and deeply flavorful. Wild golden chanterelle mushrooms are especially nice and often available in the fall; choose small, firm, unblemished ones. Otherwise use a mixture of pale oyster mushrooms, including royal trumpets. End-of-summer fresh shelling beans work well here, or any dried white bean, such as cannellini. The simple complementary flavors of olive oil, pancetta, garlic and rosemary are just right, mingling with lightly browned mushrooms and creamy beans. Make sure to keep the pasta firmly al dente. To get the best rosemary flavor, chop it at the last moment, and toss a rosemary sprig into the pot while the pasta is cooking.
Risotto Nero with Squid
Squid ink is an extraordinarily delicious ingredient; it adds indescribable complexity, even when it's used in small quantities. You can buy it online or from Italian, Spanish and Japanese shops, and in some upscale grocers. Most fishmongers carry it in 1-ounce packets. (If you are up for it, collect your own ink from whole fresh squid.) To make this black risotto, first simmer the squid with tomato, wine and squid ink until tender. Fold the flavorful stew into plain risotto just toward the end of cooking.
Cod and Mussel Stew With Harissa
Uncomplicated, easy main courses are sometimes the most satisfying, and this fish and shellfish stew definitely qualifies. A simple marinade with cilantro, cumin and lemon juice infuses the fish with flavor and a dab of spicy harissa makes the broth sing. Take the time to toast and grind whole cumin, coriander and caraway seeds for deeper flavor.
Sizzled Five-Spice Shrimp With Red Pepper
This flavorful wok-fried shrimp dish makes an easy but very impressive dinner. Bright and spicy, it calls for strips of ripe red Fresno chiles, which are not very hot and available in the produce section of most supermarkets. Use red bell peppers instead if you want to tame the heat. Look for fresh or frozen wild shrimp when possible, from the Eastern Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico or Alaska. Make sure to buy farmed shrimp from a certified sustainable source; imported farmed shrimp are not always reliable or of good quality.
Roasted Artichokes With Anchovy Mayonnaise
You may see artichokes in the supermarket year-round, but in the spring, they are at their peak, freshly harvested and full of flavor. This is an easy method for roasted artichokes. After trimming and par-cooking them, they are drizzled with olive oil and roasted until crisp without and tender within. Serve them as a first course, or alongside a meaty piece of fish, such as monkfish, swordfish or halibut. The zesty, lemony anchovy mayonnaise is a perfect foil for the artichokes’ sweetness, and goes well with fish, too. You can use any size artichoke for this recipe, but medium is best.
Sweet Corn Blini
Seared Sea Scallops With Ginger-Lime Butter
Day-boat scallops, the kind that are dry-packed (never frozen or dosed with preservatives), are what you want for this decadent but very simple dish. The scallops are seared on cast iron, but gradually, for a crisp, well-browned surface that intensifies their natural sweetness. Ginger, lime and hot pepper enhance the rich meatiness of all fresh seafood, and here especially so. A roasted sweet potato and a pile of blanched bok choy complete this quintessentially elegant, fast-food meal.
Savory Pecan Cookies
These little cookies are packed with savory flavors — black pepper, fresh sage and Parmesan — and are studded with chopped pecans. An ideal nibble with a glass of dry sherry or a cocktail, they are also welcome on a cheese board.
Corn Empanadas
Back in 2013, David Tanis learned to make several versions of empanadas from his friend Fernando Trocca, an Argentine chef, including one filled with sweet corn. Here, Mr. Tanis uses potatoes, peppers and ham, in addition to corn, to fill the handmade dough. It’s not a quick project, but it yields dividends and the satisfaction of pulling dozens of the small pies out of the oven.
Charred Cauliflower With Anchovies, Capers and Olives
This deeply versatile recipe is essentially a robust baked cauliflower salad. You can serve it room temperature as an antipasto, as part of a buffet or warm as a nearly vegetarian main course with rice pilaf, roasted sweet potatoes or pasta. It is also a perfect make-ahead side dish to accompany nearly everything from roasted chicken or fish fillets to steaks and chops.
Endive Salad With Egg and Anchovy
For a cool-weather salad, pale green Belgian endive dressed with an assertive anchovy vinaigrette is a refreshing beginning to a meal — or a nice light lunch. For more color, try adding other endive relatives: the red-leafed variety, frisée, different types of radicchio or speckled Castelfranco chicory. All of these winter salad greens have sweetness and a pleasant hint of bitterness. Belgian endive is the mildest of the bunch. As for anchovies, look for good fat meaty ones. Rinse and blot, then coat with a little good extra-virgin olive oil.