Appetizer
3523 recipes found
Spiced Shrimp And Carrot Soup
Crispy Polenta Medallions
Anson Mills polenta, once it stiffens, is particularly well suited to this recipe for crispy rounds, though any polenta will work. The Anson Mills remains very creamy on the inside and crisps up beautifully on the surface. Make sure to cook these long enough in the oil – they should be a deep golden brown, and crispy. I topped the hot medallions with a dab of blue cheese, which softened and partially melted onto the crisp surface; heaven. I also love romesco with these, as well as green pipian and simple marinara sauce.
Fried Green Beans, Scallions and Brussels Sprouts With Buttermilk-Cornmeal Coating
This buttermilk batter fries up to a fluffy/crispy coating. When I was deciding what vegetables I wanted to coat and fry with this batter I knew that I would use scallions and green beans. (I used green beans with almost all of my recipe tests this week) Then I found a half-pound of brussels sprouts that had seen better days in my crisper. I trimmed off the yellowing outer leaves, quartered them, gave them a dunk in the batter and eased them into the hot oil. Now I will never throw out old brussels sprouts again. Okra would also be a good choice for this recipe. You can serve these plain or with any number of dips, either spicy (think Sriracha or chipotle aioli) or Japanese.
Winter Citrus and Red Chicories Salad
A crisp colorful salad in the dead of winter can make a meal feel luxurious. Radicchio and its crimson cousins in the chicory family, Chioggia, Treviso and Tardivo, make an eye-popping display with red citrus like blood orange and ruby grapefruit. The combination of slightly bitter leaves and sweet juices is utterly refreshing. Here's our video showing how to peel the citrus.
Goat Cheese and Walnut Galette
Deep-Fried Cauliflower With Crispy Dukkah Coating
Deep-fried cauliflower is a Middle Eastern specialty, so why not make it even more Middle Eastern and use a batter made with dukkah, the complex Middle Eastern condiment made with a mixture of nuts, seeds, spices and, in this version, chickpea flour. The batter is thin (you have the option of adding a bit more chickpea flour) but the cauliflower gets just enough of a coating to come out of the oil with a perfect thin crispy shell. Serve it with garlic-laced yogurt or with tahini sauce. In this recipe you have the option of using olive oil, which is traditional; but use a work-horse oil, not the expensive oil you reserve for drizzling and dressing salads.
Summer Tomato and Basil Soup With Farro
Sea Scallop Salad with Meyer Lemon and Pomegranate
Italian Bread And Tomato Salad
Cervelle de Canut (Herbed Cheese Spread)
The author Bill Buford spent years in Lyon, France, researching French cuisine for his book “Dirt.” He picked up this recipe from a modern Lyonnaise bouchon, Le Bouchon des Filles. The simple, savory mixture of fromage blanc with shallots, garlic and other seasonings is a mainstay in Lyon, where it often appears with the cheese course. (Or it may be the cheese course.) The name means silk worker's brain, a mysterious reference to the days when silk weaving made Lyon rich. This version is set apart by its lavish use of fresh herbs.
Cucumber and Sake Granita
Herb Fritters
Inspired by a recipe in Clifford A. Wright’s “The Little Foods of the Mediterranean,” these fritters are light and delicate. You can use a mix of herbs and finely chopped greens – mild ones like spinach and chard, or more robust greens like dandelion or arugula – or all herbs, or all greens. You can also use this batter as a vehicle for other finely chopped or grated vegetables, like cabbage or carrots, onions or leeks. The fritters make a great hors d’oeuvre or side dish.
Gorgonzola Walnut Crostini With Pear Salad
Potato Cavatelli
These are an easy, homey version of handmade pasta that freeze well. They are sturdier and more toothsome than gnocchi but have more character than dried cavatelli. It takes a little practice to get the flip of the indentation just right, but once you get the feel for it you can turn out enough for dinner quickly. They hold up well under a heavy tomato ragù, but also take well to a simple sauce of butter, a little pasta water and Parmesan or pecorino. This recipe is easy to double, too, which leaves plenty to freeze for another night. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet dusted in flour, then store in a zippered plastic bag.
Teff Polenta Croutons or Cakes
One of the things I like most about teff is the texture of the tiny grains. This is particularly nice when you cut up stiff teff polenta into rounds or squares and fry them in oil. The surface browns beautifully and the little round grains on the surface become toasty and crunchy while the centers remain soft. I serve thin slices with salads, or in place of a cracker, topped with something. The thicker cakes can be used the same way you would use the softer teff polenta, drizzled with oil, topped with a sauce or a vegetable dish, or sprinkled with Parmesan, feta or blue cheese. They can serve as a side dish or at the center of the plate or bowl.
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.
Spiced Green Beans and Baby Broccoli Tempura
Deep-frying is not something I do often, but after I’ve eaten well-executed tempura at a restaurant and can’t shake the memory of delicious batter-fried vegetables, I get out my wok. I turn on the hood fan, open the window and start heating up oil. I like to play around with different batters and coatings. This spicy, delicate batter is somewhere between a puffy beignet-type coating and a simpler egg, flour and bread-crumb dusting. It’s mostly cornstarch, with a small amount of cornmeal and whole wheat flour — just enough to hold the batter together. I add dukkah, cilantro and cumin for flavor and texture. Ice-cold sparkling water helps keep the batter light; it fries up crispy rather than bready because there’s very little gluten to toughen it. You can use this batter with all sorts of vegetables, but I particularly love green beans and baby broccoli. The batter wraps itself nicely around the smooth beans and nestles in among the spindly flowers at the end of a baby broccoli stem, resulting in lacy, extra-crispy tempura. A wok is ideal for deep-frying. It can accommodate a lot of vegetables at one time without crowding, and it holds heat well. The oil should hover between 350 and 375 degrees so that the vegetables cook quickly and crisp up without absorbing too much oil. Be sure to let the oil come back up to temperature between batches, and use a thermometer. You will be amazed to find a green bean tender and hot inside its crispy coating in two minutes or less.
Freekeh, Chickpea and Herb Salad
There is a lot to love about freekeh, an earthy grain that I’d like to see catch on in more kitchens. It cooks up in about 25 minutes, and it’s light, like coarse bulgur, which it resembles, except that the color is darker and greener. But freekeh has a more complex flavor than bulgur. What stands out is its smokiness, a result of the production process, in which durum wheat — the type used for many pastas — is harvested while still green and soft, and carefully roasted in the husk over open fires. The wheat is beaten to remove the chaff, and in the Middle East it is sold whole or cracked. The cracked version is what you’re more likely to find here in the United States, and happily it’s become easy to do so. Look on the shelves of Middle Eastern markets, at whole-food markets or online. Cracked freekeh is tastier and easier to work with than whole freekeh. Add it to soups or stews, or use in the same way you would use rice or bulgur. The cracked wheat has a grassy, herbal quality that also makes it great for use in lemony salads like this one, in which the freekeh is tossed with chickpeas, scallions and a welcome dash of bright green in the form of fresh mint and parsley.
Arancini With Brandy-Soaked Raisins
These Italian fried rice balls have a surprise filling of brandy-soaked raisins, which gives them a gentle sweetness that contrasts with the savory fontina and mozzarella cheeses. You can make the rice mixture up to a day ahead, and form the balls up to four hours ahead. Then fry just before serving so the cheese is warm enough to gush when you bite in.
White Gazpacho With Watermelon Rind
Brazilian Cheese Puffs (Pao de Queijo)
Cabbage, Feta and Dill Piroshki
There are as many possible fillings for piroshki as there are countries that claim the yeasted, stuffed buns as their own. In Russia and Ukraine, where they are an especially popular street food, you’ll find versions that are baked and versions that are fried with fillings both sweet and savory. In this baked version, the slightly sweet, butter- and egg-enriched dough encloses a filling of silky cooked green cabbage, which provides a nice counterpoint to salty feta. Once you’ve made these a couple times, you might start dreaming up your own fillings. Piroshki are a wonderful way to use up odds and ends.
Ribollita (Tuscan Bread Soup)
Herb and Radish Salad With Feta and Walnuts
This light, crunchy salad is inspired by sabzi khordan, the heaping platter of fresh herbs, radishes, walnuts and feta cheese that accompanies nearly every Persian meal.