Recipes By David Tanis
750 recipes found
Herbed Chicken and Spinach Meatballs
These are meatballs to make when you want to eat on the light side, without sacrificing flavor. They are highly seasoned, with chopped spinach and cilantro and lots of aromatic spices. No need for a sauce, they can be served alongside a leafy salad or with steamed rice. Make the meatball mixture a day or two in advance, if desired.
Spring Salad With Bagna Cauda Dressing
Bagna cauda is a traditional Italian sauce that prominently features anchovy and garlic, often used as a dip for raw vegetables. Here it dresses a fresh spring salad. Use the quantities given and suggested vegetables as a guide, choosing whatever crisp offerings are available. Serve with a crusty baguette or hearth-baked loaf.
Spicy Red Pepper Cranberry Relish
A kicky condiment, usually made with cranberries, can offset the neutral (read: bland) yet rich nature of the Thanksgiving meal. This hot red-pepper cranberry relish with jalapeños and cayenne fits the bill. You can keep the seasoning somewhat tame, or ramp up the heat to taste. It will keep for 2 weeks or so; make it in advance, as soon as cranberries are available, and have it on hand in the fridge through the holiday season.
Meatloaf Parmesan
A bit retro, but heartwarming and homey, this recipe is an amalgam of meatloaf, polpettone and meatballs. Ground veal and pork, provolone, pecorino and Parmesan mingle with herbs, broccoli rabe and bread crumbs in what is essentially a sliceable meatball. It is doused with tomato sauce and baked until bubbly, aromatic and mouthwatering.
Polpettone With Spinach and Provolone
Polpette are Italian meatballs; polpettine are meatballs, too, but more diminutive. It follows, then, that polpettone is Italian for meatloaf (or a substantial meatball large enough to share). But polpettone is much more interesting than the somewhat bland everyday meatloaf known in the United States. Made from a mixture of meats and stuffed with spinach, herbs, cheese and mortadella, this moist, savory version is almost like a pâté or terrine, but easier to execute. It is delectable hot or cold. Learn how to assemble the polpettone with this step-by-step tutorial. You can find more of our meatloaf recipes here.
Lamb Chops With Beans, Corn and Zucchini
Lamb chops are always a treat, especially when marinated with lots of chopped rosemary, sage and garlic, then pan-fried slowly in extra-virgin olive oil. A delightful accompaniment is a seasonal vegetable stew of fresh green beans, corn and summer squash. For the best marriage of flavors, cook the vegetables until rather soft. The chops get no sauce; the vegetables are finished with a little gremolata, in this case a mixture of parsley, scallions and lemon zest.
Spicy Calamari With Fregola
In Sardinia, rustic saucy fish stews are commonly served with fregola, simmered golden nuggets of toasted semolina, hearty and satisfying. A relative of couscous, fregola arrived by ship from nearby Tunisia, became popular and melded into the local cuisine long ago. The little round pellets are the size of a peppercorn, or a bit larger. When cooked, they have a pleasant, slightly chewy texture. Traditionally, fregola is used in vegetable soups as a way to add substance; prepared like a juicy risotto with the concentrated flavor of clams or other shellfish; or served as part of a room-temperature salad. Most Italian stores in the United States carry it, but you may substitute Israeli-style pearl couscous, which has a similar flavor.
Red Pepper Mayonnaise
A spicy homemade mayonnaise that's especially good with fried oysters.
Panna Cotta With Figs and Berries
The classic Italian panna cotta — cooked cream — is a pure white custard set with gelatin instead of eggs or starch. It can be prepared up to 2 days in advance, in individual ramekins or a larger mold. In season, it is lovely served with a compote of figs and berries. At other times of year, use other fruits or a simple fruit coulis. Alternatively, a caramel sauce or a bittersweet chocolate sauce drizzled over the panna cotta can be quite nice. Wait until just before serving to unmold.
Mustard Salmon With Spring Vegetable Stew
Fresh wild salmon, which is available in spring and summer, is preferred for its superior flavor and brilliant color. Here, a large piece of boneless fillet is seasoned with crushed fennel seed, coarse black pepper and Dijon mustard, which contrast nicely with the salmon’s sweetness. To accompany the salmon, a combination of spring vegetables is lightly simmered with butter for a French-style stew. Sizzling brown mustard seeds and green chile in oil — the technique called tadka in Indian cooking— supplies a welcome spicy finish.
Strawberry Cassata
The classic Sicilian cassata is a spongecake layered with creamy sweetened ricotta, a heavenly combination. Though usually topped with colorful candied fruits, this summery version is covered with ripe red berries. Ideally, the spongecake should be made a day ahead and the cassata assembled at least several hours in advance. Look for the freshest, tastiest ricotta; most good cheese stores can supply it.
Tuna au Poivre With Red Wine Sauce
Smoked Salmon Tart for a Crowd
This is an easy but elegant cocktail snack to serve year round, but it’s especially nice during the holiday season as a reward for bearing up with frigid winter weather. Essentially, it’s a large buttery cracker, garnished with smoked salmon and cut up like a pizza. The pastry rounds may be baked ahead and left at room temperature. Assembling one tart at a time is the best way to keep everything looking and tasting freshly made. The recipe makes four 8-inch tarts; if you need less, consider making a half batch or freezing some of the dough for future use.
Swiss Rosti With Smoked Salmon and Poached Egg
In Switzerland, rosti (pronounced roosh-ti) is considered a national dish, though it is most popular in the German-speaking regions of the country. Made from grated potatoes, it resembles American hash browns, fried in a skillet like a thick potato pancake and cut into wedges. Rosti is often enhanced with ham, bacon or cheese or served with sausages. This posh version is garnished with smoked salmon, sour cream and a poached egg, perfect for a weekend breakfast. For best results, boil the potatoes one day (or at least several hours) in advance and chill. Cook them until just done and still firm — check with a skewer or paring knife — or they will be impossible to grate.
Red Chile Pork Brochettes
Spicy red chile sauce, made with New Mexico red chile powder, is used as both a marinade and a dipping sauce for these small brochettes, which are ideal party food. They are best grilled outdoors over coals, but also work fine on a stovetop cast iron grill or under the broiler. Threading each piece of meat onto two skewers, rather than one, keeps the meat from twirling and makes it easier to grill. (If you’re using bamboo skewers, soak them in warm water for 15 minutes, so they won’t catch fire.)
Minty Yogurt Chutney
Sometimes Indian cooks use yogurt to make a cooling, barely-spicy raita sauce to accompany a meal. But for snacking, and to give a lift to anything that dips into it, you can also make yogurt into a fiery chutney.
Savory Oatmeal With Greens and Yogurt
Take a break from sweetened oatmeal for breakfast and try this savory version, simple enough to prepare even on a busy weekday morning (though for that matter, it’s good any time of day). With garlicky spinach and yogurt, it is a well-rounded healthy meal. Make the toasted oat and nut topping in advance and you’ll be a step ahead; the quantities below make more than you'll need, so make it once and keep it on hand for up to two weeks. Regular oats take only about 30 minutes to cook and have more flavor than quick-cooking oats.
Ham and Cheese Croque With Dijon
This is a classic French croque-monsieur, but with the added tang of Dijon mustard and sourdough bread. While it may well be the quintessential warm ham and cheese sandwich, it also makes a great snack with drinks. Please note the sandwiches may be prepared in advance and reheated to serve.
Bright Green Leek Soup
A creamy soup doesn’t have to mean lots of cream. Puréed leeks in this soup provide body as well as flavor, and a handful of rice helps give it a smooth consistency. For a brilliant green taste and color, let the soup cool completely before blending in the spinach. Take the time to strain through a fine-meshed sieve for the best texture.
David Tanis's Vegetable Broth
Creamy Wild Mushroom and Parsnip Soup
Ceviche Verde With Tostadas and Avocado
Provençal Vegetable Soup With Basil
This is my version of soupe au pistou, beloved in the South of France in both homes and restaurants. It is quite similar to neighboring Italy’s minestrone al pesto. Made with flavorful ripe summer vegetables, it does not need a meat-based broth. To keep the soup green and fresh looking, some of the vegetables are cooked separately and added to the pot just before serving. A generous spoonful of garlicky basil pistou in each soup bowl gives the soup its bright sunny character.
Roman Egg Drop Soup
Stracciatella alla Romana, or Roman egg drop soup, can be made in any season, and goes together quickly, as long as you have the most important ingredient: good homemade chicken stock. Parmesan and eggs are whisked together and poured into the bubbling broth to make “i straccetti,” or savory, eggy little rags.