Recipes By Melissa Clark
1476 recipes found
Caviar Sour Cream Dip With Potato Chips
This simple snack is a slightly fancier version of the time-honored practice of topping potato chips with sour cream and caviar. Here, the sour cream gets zipped up with scallions, chives and white pepper and the caviar — preferably bright orange beads of salmon roe — glow like jewels on top. One of the easiest hors d’oeuvres to put together, it’s also one of the most festive.
Smoky Eggplant Dip With Pita Chips
The most persuasive way to convert an eggplant hater is to fry it (the eggplant, not the hater). A less messy approach, however, is to make dip. Velvety, smoky dip with a tangy bite has seduced many an eggplant-hating guest.
Cumin Lamb Meatballs With Tahini Yogurt Dipping Sauce
Meatballs are not the kind of thing one would usually think of as quick-and-easy-dinner fare. All that rolling and frying can take forever, making meatballs a weekend project for a leisurely afternoon. There are, however, shortcuts — if you can suppress your perfectionist urges. You can use this recipe as a template for whatever kind of ground meat you like. Lamb is earthy and works well with the creamy tahini sauce, reminiscent of a carnivore’s falafel. But beef, turkey, veal or pork are good substitutes. And all will make equally good blobs and none will be a project. Just a fast and filling dinner any night of the week.
Roasted Shrimp Cocktail With Aioli
Many renditions of shrimp cocktail are dull and bland, with over-boiled shrimp and cloying cocktail sauce. Not this one. The shrimp are roasted, which brings out their sweetness and allows them to absorb the seasonings and a little olive oil. Though traditionally made with garlic, this aioli replaces it with horseradish. And instead of cocktail sauce, they are paired with a horseradish-laced aioli seasoned with ketchup and hot sauce. If you like an even edgier sauce, feel free to increase the hot sauce and horseradish to taste. The sauce, which can be made up to 3 days ahead, is also terrific on roasted fish.
Brandied Pumpkin and Chestnut Pie
This is quite possibly the best pumpkin pie recipe out there. Why? It's got two layers (chestnut and pumpkin), and it calls for fresh squash in lieu of the canned stuff (although canned works just fine, too). We've heard from readers that people who think they don't like pumpkin pie love this one. And don't fret: You don't make the chestnut paste, you buy it. It's available online and at most specialty markets.
Hot Crab and Oyster Dip
This fairly traditional hot crab dip, rich with mayonnaise, Monterey Jack and plenty of hot sauce, has one major difference: the addition of chopped oysters, which add a saline note to all the creaminess. You can mix the ingredients together a day ahead and store it in the refrigerator. But be sure to bake it just before serving. You want the cheese hot, melted and very gooey.
Nutmeg-Maple Cream Pie
This pie is a delicious twist on a custard standby, and it is exceedingly easy, a humble yet grandly flavored addition to any celebration. Don't let making your own pie crust intimidate you: our pie guide has everything you need to know.
Lemony White Bean Soup With Turkey and Greens
Bright with lemon and herbs, and packed with hearty greens, this highly adaptable soup can be either light and brothy or thick and stewlike, depending on your preference. Smashing some of the beans to release their starch will give you a thicker soup that’s almost worthy of a fork. To keep it on the brothy side, add a little more liquid and leave the beans intact. Either way, it’s a warming, piquant, one-pot meal that’s perfect for winter.
Mashed Potato Salad With Scallions and Herbs
Creamier than a classic potato salad, and chunkier and zestier than regular mashed potatoes, this hybrid dish can be served warm or at room temperature, when its texture is at its softest and best. (Never serve this cold; no one likes cold mashed potatoes.) The key to getting the right texture is to cook the potatoes a little more than you would for potato salad, but not so much that they completely fall apart. You are looking for chunks of potatoes coated in a fluffy layer of highly seasoned mashed potatoes. Potato salads tend to absorb their seasonings as they sit, so for the most flavorful dish, be prepared to add more salt, lemon juice and olive oil to taste just before serving.
Bacon and Shallot Potato Salad
The German-style potato salad doesn’t contain any mayonnaise, but is rich with bacon, whole-grain mustard and sweet fried shallots. It’s best served warm while the bacon still glistens with fat, but is also nice at room temperature. Make it as close to serving time as possible. Or if you do make it ahead, consider popping it into the microwave for a minute or so just before serving.
Garlic Aioli Potato Salad
Homemade garlic aioli gives this otherwise classic potato salad a pungent kick. If you don’t want to add the hard-cooked eggs, use another 1/2 pound of potatoes instead. This is best served at least an hour or so after making to allow the flavors to mellow. Or make it the day before and store it in the refrigerator; bring it to room temperature before serving. If you can find garlic chives, there’s no better place for them than here.
Caviar Potato Chips and Lemon Cream
There couldn't be anything simpler about this festive cocktail snack, in which potato chips are topped with lemon zest-infused crème fraîche and salmon roe. This dish is more about shopping than cooking. You need to get the salmon roe, available at fishmongers and specialty markets, and some good, small-batch potato chips. But once you have those, it's a snap to assemble. Do so at the last minute so the chips stay nice and crisp.
Beef Bourguignon
Like coq au vin, its sister dish from the Burgundy region of France, beef Bourguignon is a stew of meat slowly simmered in hearty red wine along with pearl onions, mushrooms and crisp, cubed bacon. Use a good wine here, something simple but drinkable. It makes all the difference in the finished dish. As with all beef stews, this one is best made a day or two ahead; don’t sauté the mushrooms and onions until just before serving. This recipe is part of The New Essentials of French Cooking, a guide to definitive dishes every modern cook should master.
Maple-Roasted Squash With Sage and Lime for Two
Slathered with a mildly spicy maple glaze, chunks of winter squash are roasted until velvety soft and browned at the edges, then brightened with lime and fresh sage just before serving. Unless you’re using a squash variety with a particularly thick rind, you don’t need to peel the squash before roasting. The skins of butternut or delicata roast up wonderfully crisp, adding texture to each bite.
Meatless Meatballs in Marinara Sauce
These “meatballs” use plant-based ground meat, and a combination of onions, garlic and tamari give them a satisfying chew and robust flavor. Because there’s no egg for binding, these are slightly more delicate than other meatballs, so use a light touch when shaping them, and make sure the mixture is very cold. Serve them on their own, covered in marinara sauce, or stuff them into hero rolls for sandwiches. They are also excellent over spaghetti.
Green Pea Guacamole
Adding fresh English peas to what is an otherwise fairly traditional guacamole is one of those radical moves that is also completely obvious after you taste it. The peas add intense sweetness and a chunky texture to the dip, making it more substantial on the chip. They also intensify the color of the green avocado — and help the guacamole stay that way. Pea guacamole keeps its bright hue in the fridge for a few days without turning brown around the edges. A good dose of lime juice helps this cause. This dish, a collaboration between ABC Cocina’s chef-owner, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and his chef de cuisine, Ian Coogan, is the best kind of greenmarket tweak upon a classic.
Spicy Kimchi Potato Salad
A spicy take on the usual pink potato salad recipe (which is made with Russian dressing instead of straight mayonnaise), this unusual mix also includes sriracha and kimchi to liven things up.
Coq au Vin
A coq au vin is a classic French stew in which chicken is braised slowly in red wine and a little brandy to yield a supremely rich sauce filled with tender meat, crisp bits of bacon, mushrooms and burnished pearl onions. Traditional recipes call for a whole cut-up chicken, but using all dark meat gives you a particularly succulent dish without the risk of overcooked white meat. However, if you would rather substitute a whole cut-up bird, just add the breasts in the last 30 minutes of simmering. If you want to skip the croutons for garnish you can, but they do add a lovely, buttery crunch alongside the soft, simmered meat and vegetables. This recipe is part of The New Essentials of French Cooking, a guide to definitive dishes every modern cook should master.
Wild Mushrooms and Brussels Sprouts
Here, wild mushrooms and brussels sprouts get crisp and golden in the oven while brandy-glazed chestnuts add a touch of sweetness. You can make the shallot-chestnut mixture the day before and refrigerate it in an airtight container. Sprinkle it evenly over the roasting vegetables during the last 5 minutes of cooking to warm it through.
Tomato Fruit Salad
Because tomatoes are technically fruit, they work very well in this colorful and savory take on fruit salad. Try to find interesting grape varieties (like Concord, Himrod and Niagara), which have spicy skins and a more complex flavor than regular red and green seedless. Then go lightly on the vinegar and pepper — you want just enough to bring out the flavors of the fruits, but not enough to take over the bowl.
Sweet Potatoes With Bourbon and Brown Sugar
These silky mashed sweet potatoes are spiced with cloves, nutmeg and a little black pepper, brightened with lemon zest, and spiked with bourbon (or orange juice, if you'd prefer). Puréeing them in a food processor yields the smoothest, airiest texture, but for something a little more rustic, you could mash them by hand. Whichever you choose, these reheat well, either in a microwave or in a pot over low heat.
Roasted Butternut Squash Salad With Green Goddess Dressing
This colorful salad of sweet, soft roasted squash and crisp, bitter greens finished with a creamy, tangy green goddess dressing is an elegant mix of contrasting flavors and textures. The squash is good both warm and at room temperature, so feel free to roast it ahead of time. Some bitterness is nice against the sweet winter squash, but if you want to mellow radicchio’s bite a bit, you can soak the pieces in ice water for 10 to 30 minutes, then drain and dry before adding to the salad. Just taste before you soak; you’ll want a little bit of its bitterness. The dressing will keep for at least three days in the fridge. Serve it over other salads, or as a dip for cut-up vegetables and chips.
Scalloped Potato Gratin
Is there anything better than a molten, golden-topped potato gratin? I don’t think so, either. This one stays fairly classic — scented with sage, garlic and nutmeg, then showered with lots of nutty Gruyère. My tweak is in form rather than flavor. Instead of piling the potatoes an inch or two deep in a gratin dish, I shingle the slices in a shallow sheet pan. It gives the whole thing a more elegant look, and you get maximum browning and crunch on top. There’s less of the gooey center, but what it loses in ooze it makes up for in increased surface area for the crisp-edged baked cheese.
Sweet Potato Salad With Lime Pickle and Cashews
Melissa Clark calls for homemade mayonnaise in this richly flavored yet light salad. It’s an easy task and well worth doing — but if working with raw eggs makes you squeamish, Hellmann’s or Duke’s are fine stand-ins. Lime pickle can be found in the South Asian food section of the supermarket. It is spicy, so use a light hand when adding it to the mayonnaise.