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Cherries With Chocolate In Ricotta
Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken)
At Kunyan, a ramen shop in a mountain hot-spring town near the Sea of Japan, fried chicken is served until 2 a.m., or whenever the last customer leaves. The flesh is firm and flavorful with sweetened soy and garlic, coated in a fox-colored crust of potato starch that stays crisp on the table through a second round of highballs. Kunyan’s “mama,” who presides over pan-frying gyoza and pouring frothy Super Dry beer, would never give up her recipe, but the flavors in this version are awfully similar. To approximate the best Japanese chicken — meatier, fattier, and more flavorful than American supermarket meat — buy your chicken from a farmers' market, and debone it yourself or ask a butcher. Don’t feel pressure to do it perfectly: The pieces will be encrusted in a crisp coating, and the leftover bones make great stock.
Scallops With Artichokes And Jerusalem Artichokes
Steak ’N’ Bacon Cheddar Meatballs
This is essentially a bacon cheeseburger in meatball form. The cooked steak should be diced into small bites, not ground, for the best texture.
Sweet Potato Soufflé
This soufflé is not too sweet to serve as a starter at your Thanksgiving table, but it also makes an impressive dessert and it’s easier than pie to make. You can make individual soufflés or one large one.
Yakamein
Also known as Old Sober, this is a heartwarming and soul-restoring soup with roots in New Orleans, a special dish that makes you feel whole again. Its origins are murky, but some trace them to the 19th century, when Chinese immigrants worked alongside African Americans on plantations and railroads. These days, yakamein can be sought out in New Orleans as a hangover cure. Drawing influence from both Asian and African American cultures, the dish stands alone in what it is. With tender noodles and a rich, savory broth, it can be eaten with ketchup, soy sauce or hot sauce, but it’s a full-bodied recipe on its own.
Baked Camembert Salad
Cheese encased in pastry and baked until brown might seem like an old-fashioned dish, but it’s one of the most reliable ways to please a small group of omnivorous people. Flaky pastry, warm, runny cheese, what’s not to like? Baking is also a great way to turn a mediocre wheel of cheese into something great. Cut the wheel in half, sandwich it with something savory and something sweet and wrap it up tightly with pastry. If you want to replace it with Brie, or another soft cheese with an edible rind, feel free — just make sure there aren’t gaps in the sides of the pastry, or the cheese will leak out in the oven.
Steamed Clams
The recipe that follows is for a mess of clams, which on the eastern end of Long Island translates as a cool 100 littleneck hard-shell clams. You can certainly cook fewer of them, particularly if all you can find is the larger cherrystone clam, but a reasonable human can eat two dozen clams at a sitting, mopping up the broth with crusty bread. You can add herbs or other aromatics to the steaming liquid (thyme or garlic, say, or cilantro, parsley, tarragon). You can add chorizo or bacon. The point is just to create steam, and to allow the clams to open within it. Eat the clams with the liquid from the interior of their shells, and perhaps some melted butter. A fiery jalapeño brown butter is currently a favorite dip.
Seekh Kebab With Mint Chutney
Served at most traditional Indian restaurants, seekh kebabs are made with ground lamb that’s been seasoned with garam masala, cumin seeds, fresh ginger and fresh cilantro, then grilled and served with raw red onion and bright mint chutney to offset the richness and heat. This recipe comes from Chintan Pandya, the executive chef at Adda Indian Canteen, a New York restaurant that specializes in homestyle Indian food. You’ll need to purchase deggi mirch, an Indian chile powder that tastes somewhat like a smoky paprika, but is mild enough to be used in a quantity large enough to color the meat red. The spiced meat mixture benefits from chilling to help retain its shape on the grill, but you could also roll it into meatballs and pan-sear them on the stovetop or roast them in the oven, if the season dictates.
Foolproof Tarte Tatin
Tarte Tatin isn't as American as apple pie, but it's a whole lot easier. With just four ingredients, it's all about the apples: the lovely taste and shape of the fruit are preserved by sugar and heat, with a buttery-salty crust underneath. This recipe from Gotham Bar and Grill in New York has a couple of tricks that make it easier to pull off than others: dry the apples out before baking; start by coating the pan with butter instead of making a caramel; use tall chunks of apple and hug them together in the pan to prevent overcooking.
Maida Heatter's Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies
The year: 1983. The place: Williamsburg, Va., where representatives from across the globe — and “some of the biggest and brightest names on the American culinary scene” — gathered. The Times’s own Craig Claiborne planned the menus; Paul Prudhomme, Wolfgang Puck and Zarela Martinez cooked; and Maida Heatter provided dessert. Among her offerings were these, chocolate cheesecake brownies, “a formidable new creation” for the time. Here, a layer of pecan-studded brownie meets a sheet of chocolate cheesecake. Make them for a group — or for yourself to eat over time. They freeze well, and can just as well be served frozen.
Classic Gougères
These classic gougères are cheesier than many others, with a crunchy, salty crust from a sprinkling of Parmesan just before baking. Take care to serve these straight from the oven when they are still hot and a little gooey in the center. If you want to make these ahead, you can freeze them after forming them into balls, but before baking (it’s easiest to freeze them directly on the baking sheet if you’ve got the freezer space). Then bake them while still frozen, adding a few minutes onto the baking time.
Tsukune Miso Nabe (Chicken-Meatball Hot Pot in Miso Broth)
Naoko Takei Moore makes this comforting hot pot of ginger-spiked meatballs, mushrooms and tofu in a donabe, or Japanese clay pot. She sells them at Toiro, her Japanese cookware shop in Los Angeles, and has written a book on the topic, “Donabe: Classic and Modern Japanese Clay Pot Cooking” (Ten Speed Press, 2015). The traditional cookware can be used to cook rice, steam foods and even set up to work like a small grill. It’s a wonderful, versatile piece of equipment, though if you don’t have one, you can use another heavy-bottomed pot with a lid, and still turn out a beautiful meal. Have this hot pot on its own, or with a side of warm rice.
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.
Turkey-Ricotta Meatballs
Julia Turshen, the author of the cookbook “Small Victories” (Chronicle Books, 2016), cracked the code on turkey meatballs: Ricotta adds milky creaminess and acts as a binder. Taking her lead, the first two steps of this recipe produce all-purpose turkey meatballs that are light in texture and rich in flavor, and the final step of basting the meatballs with an herb-and-garlic-infused butter turns them into a weekday luxury. Eat with mashed or roasted potatoes or other root vegetables, polenta, whole grains, or a mustardy salad. (For oven instructions, see Tip.)
Spaghetti and Meatballs
There’s little more comforting on a weeknight — or any night — than spaghetti, tossed in marinara sauce and paired with savory meatballs. This hearty recipe features three kinds of meat — ground pork shoulder, veal and beef chuck, along with minced bacon — rolled into small balls, which are then browned in a sauté pan, and baked until cooked through. Serve the whole thing with a bowl of grated Parmesan, ready to be heaped on.
Chicken Meatballs
These meatballs started out, funnily enough, as a meatloaf for a meal at home one night with our actual family. For the stewed-chicken-and-rice recipe, instead of forming a loaf, we made small, attractive meatballs, baked them briefly and then added them to the final stew with a chicken-skin garnish.
Cheese Fondue
Fondue is a classic, communal, Alpine dish, and one that's easy to put together. Grate the Gruyère, Appenzeller and Vacherin Fribourgeois in advance (either the day before, or in the morning), and wrap it up tightly so it doesn't dry out in the fridge. When you're about ready to eat, everything is ready to go: Melt the cheeses into a simmering slurry of white wine and cornstarch, stirring until the mixture is smooth, and season with ground pepper and a splash of kirsch. Cut bread, small boiled potatoes and cornichons make for a nice accompaniment, as do any other blanched vegetables that can hold up to a dip in hot cheese.
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.
Scallion Meatballs With Soy-Ginger Glaze
Set these juicy turkey meatballs out on a platter, drizzle with a ginger-spiked sauce of soy, mirin and dark brown sugar and serve with toothpicks alongside wine or cocktails. They'll go quickly.
Grilled Cauliflower Steaks
To enjoy the full-range of cauliflower in one dish, from raw and snappy to caramelized and tender, cut a head into slabs and grill only one side. Flat sides beget more charring than florets because they provide more direct contact with the grill. To ensure the cauliflower doesn’t dry out, grill just one side. The tops will remain juicy and sweet, while the undersides will become deeply browned and nutty. Before grilling, any small bits of cauliflower that would fall through the grates are added raw to a lively sauce of dill, lime juice, chile and peanuts. Feel free to swap in another sauce you like on cauliflower or grilled dishes, like buffalo, parsley-olive or a nutritional yeast dressing.
Rao's Meatballs With Marinara Sauce
This is one of the signature dishes at Rao’s, the East Harlem red-sauce joint that is best-known for a loyal, boldface-name clientele that makes it difficult to get a table. The restaurant now has satellites in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Tomato Salad With Cucumber and Ginger
The classic combination of tomatoes and cucumbers gets new life here from a lively dressing of lime zest and juice, fish sauce and serrano chile inspired by Thai papaya salad. It’s a study in contrasts: Bracing on its own, the salty-spicy vinaigrette is mellowed by fresh summer tomatoes and cucumbers. Large pieces of fresh ginger add a punch of spice without the heat, while cilantro and basil serve as fresh, cooling elements. Enjoy with red curry chicken, coconut rice and a nice crisp beer.
Boston Baked Beans
Squat, glazed ceramic bean pots lurk in cabinets all over New England. They're traditional for Boston baked beans, but enameled cast iron is faster. Beans in cast iron can be brought to a boil over a burner before the dish goes into the oven; this saves about an hour.