Recipes By Melissa Clark
1478 recipes found
Charmoula
Seasoned with fresh mint, chiles and toasted spices, this piquant North African sauce is commonly paired with fish or chicken, either as a marinade or sauce. The preserved lemon adds a haunting flavor to the mix. But it’s just as traditional to leave it out, which makes the sauce slightly less pungent.
Sugar Snap Peas With Yogurt, Feta and Dill
Much of the appeal of sugar snap peas comes from their juicy, sweet crunch, which means you’ll want to take care when blanching them. They turn from perfectly crisp-tender to soft in seconds. The key is to have a bowl of salted ice water next to the stove and a slotted spoon at the ready. The salt in the ice water seasons the peas, and the ice stops them from overcooking. In this savory salad, they’re tossed with a garlicky dressing for brightness, and a creamy feta-yogurt sauce for richness. Serve them with crusty bread as a summery appetizer, or as a side dish for grilled fish or meats.
Salad With Anchovy-Mustard Vinaigrette
Anchovies add a salty depth of flavor to this bright, garlicky salad dressing. Here it’s tossed with radicchio and arugula, but it will work on any full-flavored salad greens. Try it on frisée, spinach or raw baby kale. If you want to make this in a blender, double the quantities so the dressing emulsifies properly. Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Mackerel With Olives, Almonds and Mint
Unlike other types of mackerel, which can have a strong flavor, Spanish mackerel is very mild and quite tender. It’s a bit like salmon in that it’s meaty and easy to cook. Here, the fish is roasted in the oven while a buttery, wine pan sauce speckled with olives and toasted sliced almonds is whisked together on top of the stove. Fresh mint adds color and brightness, but use any herbs you like. Basil and parsley are great substitutes.
Smoked Salmon, Fennel and Herbed Mascarpone Tart
This elegant puff pastry tart is flaky, savory and comes together in a snap once you’ve defrosted the dough. Using all-butter puff pastry gives you the richest flavor; it’s worth seeking out. The smoked salmon makes a sophisticated and pretty topping here, but you can leave it off all or part of the tart if you’ve got vegetarians at the table. Just double up on the capers to compensate for the missing saltiness.
Extra-Lemony Meringue Pie
Made with a buttery lemon curd and topped with swirls of lemon zest-infused meringue, this pie is tangier and creamier than many others of its kind. It features a soft, spoonable curd that’s softer than other lemon meringue pie fillings. You can make it with regular or Meyer lemons: The regular ones will be sharper and brighter; the Meyers, a little softer and fruitier. This pie is best served the day it’s baked, though you can make the dough and filling up to five days in advance. The meringue, however, needs to be whipped up just before the pie is baked. Store leftovers in a sealed container at room temperature. (Watch the video of Melissa Clark making extra-lemony meringue pie here.)
Yerushalmi Kugel
A specialty of Jerusalem, this dark, dense kugel is bound by eggs and caramel, and sharpened with loads of black pepper. In this recipe, adapted from the cookbook author Adeena Sussman, the edges crisp as it bakes, providing a crunchy contrast to the soft, springy noodles inside. Don’t stray from the pan while the sugar is caramelizing, or it may burn in spots. Serve it in wedges, either warm or at room temperature. Leftover Yerushalmi kugel will keep for at least five days in the fridge, and reheats well in a 350-degree oven.
Pork Schnitzel With Quick Pickles
When most people think of schnitzel, they default to veal. But pork has its merits. Pork schnitzel is not only more economical than veal, it’s also richer in flavor and easier to cook (you’ve got a bigger margin of error when it comes to timing because pork isn’t as apt to dry out). This recipe calls for panko, which are fluffy Japanese-style bread crumbs that make the coating particularly light. But any bread crumbs will work. If you don’t want to make the quick pickles, serve this with a sliced up cucumber or two and/or fennel bulb with some lime wedges on the side. And if you happen to have lingonberry jam on hand, this is a great time to use it.
Red Wine-Pear Cardamom Cake
This fragrant, fruity cake is a riff on Marian Burros’s original plum torte, one of The New York Times’ most popular recipes. But instead of plums, this buttery, moist cake (here, spiked with a little cardamom and citrus zest) is topped with pears that have been sautéed in red wine and butter. Like the original, it’s good served both plain, or with whipped cream or sour cream on the side.
Onion Quiche
Tender, sweet bits of onion suffuse this classic, savory tart, which gets its brawny, salty tang from browned chunks of cured pork (lardons, pancetta or bacon), all bound with a nutmeg-flecked custard. It’s a dish that feels both delicate and rich, and makes a lovely lunch or brunch dish. You can make the dough up to 3 days ahead, and prebake the crust a day ahead. But the quiche is best served warm or at room temperature on the day you assembled and baked it. This recipe is part of The New Essentials of French Cooking, a guide to definitive dishes every modern cook should master.
Roasted Squash With Cheese Fondue
This autumnal dish turns a classic cheese fondue into a sauce for whole roasted squash. The lightly caramelized squash are filled with the gooey fondue mixture and topped with crunchy, garlicky bread crumbs. When the squash are cut, the cheese sauce runs onto the serving plate, to be spooned back over the soft, amber slices. Serve this as a side dish to roasted meats or fish, or as a rich appetizer on its own. For the best presentation, choose squash that are about the same shape and size.
Apple Gingersnap Crumble
Easier and homier than an apple pie, this gently spiced crumble feeds a crowd. If you don't want to make the bourbon cream, serve this with ice cream instead: Vanilla is classic, but ginger, green tea or salted caramel would also be terrific.
Easy Duck Confit
The name of this recipe may seem laughable. Isn’t confit meant to be an arduous, messy, not-really-easy thing to make at home? Doesn’t it involve large quantities of hot liquid fat and even larger reserves of patience? Surely chefs have a trick to getting those duck legs to be so rich, so luxurious? This version is not traditional, and it is still a time investment for home cooks (the legs are cured for 24 hours, and then cooked for about 3 ½ hours more). But by allowing the duck legs to cook in their own rendered fat, rather than adding quarts of extra fat to the pan, you have a recipe that is far less of a pain to both prepare and clean up. And the method is truly simple, with results that are just as outrageously good. The duck lasts for at least 5 days in the refrigerator, and should be reheated in a 350-oven until warm. Then run the legs under the broiler until crisp.
Phyllo Ricotta Torte With Spring Herbs
This buttery, golden phyllo torte is filled with ricotta and seasoned with spring herbs, prosciutto, pecorino Romano and ricotta salata. Cubes of fresh mozzarella add to the overall creaminess and lend a stretchy, gooey bite. It’s a dish as convenient as it is stunning; you can assemble the torte up to 24 hours ahead and store it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake. You may need to add a few minutes onto the baking time, so watch it closely toward the end. Then serve it for brunch, a light supper or as a first course at a dinner party.
Vegan Mushroom and Leek Rolls
Classic sausage rolls are filled with a meat-based sausage mixture, but this hearty vegan version substitutes mushrooms, fennel and plenty of leeks, along with almond butter for creaminess and farro for a delightfully chewy texture. These are best served warm from the oven, or reheated if they cool down. Ketchup is a traditional sausage roll accompaniment, but these are so flavorful on their own they don't need it.
Butter-Roasted Paneer With Tomato Curry
Roasting mild paneer with yogurt and ghee (or butter) gives it a complex, toasty flavor that’s balanced by the spices and gentle acidity of a quickly made tomato curry. This recipe is adapted from Anita Jaisinghani of Pondicheri in Houston. She prepares her own paneer several times a week to use in curries, salads and crumbled over roasted vegetables. But store-bought paneer will work well here and makes this satisfying dish supremely weeknight friendly. Serve it with rice or flatbread on the side, if you like, to catch the heady sauce. If you have dried fenugreek leaves, you can crumble a tablespoon or so into the curry right at the end.
Spicy Pimentón Popcorn
Using more oil than popcorn, a technique developed by Jessica Koslow of Sqirl in Los Angeles, yields a particularly crisp and rich popcorn. Here, the kernels are popped, then tossed while still hot with a combination of sweet and hot smoked paprikas, and bit of earthy cumin. It's a complex mix that can be as hot as you can take it.
Sparkly Gingerbread
Made with a combination of fresh and ground ginger, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves, these gingerbread cookies are extra-spicy and very crisp. You could leave them plain, if you like, but painting them with brightly colored royal icing and sprinkling them with sugar makes them shine. Gingerbread keeps better than many other kinds of cookies. These will last for at least 2 weeks — probably even longer — stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Arugula and Avocado Salad with Bagna Cauda Dressing
Gluten-Free Apple Crumble
In this unusual recipe by Alice Medrich, adapted from her gluten-free cookbook "Flavor Flours" (Artisan 2014), a combination of white rice flour and oat flour make for an apple crumble with a distinct crunch and butterscotch-like flavor. Ms. Medrich also uses an interesting technique with the apples, baking them halfway through before adding the crumble mixture, which keeps the walnuts from becoming too dark. She also doesn’t peel the apples, though you may if you’d rather. If you can’t find oat flour, you can make your own by grinding rolled oats in a food processor or blender until powdery.
Ratatouille Pie
In this buttery, rustic pie, chunks of eggplant, zucchini and tomato are roasted with olive oil until velvety soft, then covered in a cheesy, mayonnaise-spiked custard. Chopped olives scattered on top cut through the richness and give the whole thing a salty tang. It's the perfect next-day use for ratatouille, should you have some. Use it here instead of roasting the vegetables. You’ll need about 3 to 4 cups (enough to fill the pie crust two-thirds of the way up). You can parbake the crust, roast the vegetables and make the custard the day before, but don’t bake everything together until the day of serving.
Spice-Rubbed Spatchcocked Chicken
A spatchcocked chicken, also called a butterflied chicken, cooks more quickly and evenly than a whole bird, giving you juicy white meat as well as dark meat in less than an hour. Here the chicken is marinated in a brown sugar and chile spice rub before being roasted until its skin is crisp and deeply flavored. If you aren’t up for spatchcocking your own bird, you can ask your butcher to do it for you.
Farro Salad With Corn and Crispy Chickpeas
This nubby, gently spiced grain salad is filled with tender corn kernels, crunchy roasted chickpeas and plenty of thinly sliced fennel, scallions and herbs. Drying the chickpeas before roasting gives them the deepest crunch, so don't skip that step. All together, the salad walks the line between hearty and light, a substantial side to grilled meats or fish, or a summery main course all on its own.
Cherry Rugelach With Cardamom Sugar
These tender, jam-filled confections, adapted from “Rose’s Christmas Cookies” (William Morrow, 1990) by Rose Levy Beranbaum, have a flaky, cream cheese-spiked crust that makes them a little like soft, tiny pastries. This version calls for cherry preserves and some optional walnuts, but you can use any flavor of jam (or nut if you’re so inclined) you like. Apricot and raspberry jam are the most traditional. Rugelach keep well at room temperature for up to one week, or they freeze beautifully for up to six months. (Watch Melissa Clark make her cherry rugelach.)