Main Course
8665 recipes found
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.
Naan-o Paneer-o Sabzi (Bread, Feta and Herb Platter)
The heart and soul of the Iranian table, this humble and satisfying meal is a simple combination of briny cheese, fresh herbs, walnuts and flatbread. Taken together, they make a perfect bite, known as loghmeh in Persian. A summer platter can include cooling watermelon, crunchy grapes and crisp Persian cucumber. Think of the suggestions below as an open canvas and add your preferred summer fruits and vegetables. Enjoy this for breakfast or brunch with a cup of hot black tea, as an afternoon snack, or as a beautiful, refreshing and light dinner with a glass of your favorite beverage. This is meant for those long, lazy summer nights when all you want to do is nibble and get lost in good conversation with good friends.
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.
Chicken Negimaki
The simplest way to keep white-meat chicken moist and make it flavorful is to put fat and flavor inside — to stuff it. Here is a chicken-cutlet take on negimaki, the Japanese dish of thinly sliced beef rolled around scallions. You need only briefly cook the scallions in soy sauce and mirin before wrapping some pounded-out chicken cutlets around them. Then baste the chicken with more sauce while it’s cooking, either on the grill or in a broiler, so the salty-sweet glaze permeates the chicken from both inside and out. It takes a little time to pound and roll up chicken cutlets, but not nearly as much time as marinating, and the results are not only more functional but also far more interesting.
Spicy Meatballs With Chickpeas
Meatballs are the ultimate comfort food, and these are especially nice, perfumed with cumin, coriander and cinnamon. (Feel free to use ground beef, pork or turkey if ground lamb isn’t available.) They may be prepared several hours or up to 2 days in advance — they reheat beautifully. Make the tomato gravy as piquant as you like, adding a good pinch of cayenne if you wish. The optional saffron adds a floral note. If you have the time, cook your chickpeas from scratch (it’s best to soak them for at least a few hours or overnight). They’ll cook in less than an hour. One pound dried chickpeas will yield about 6 cups cooked.
Meatball Toad-in-the-Hole
This version of the British classic has meatballs instead of the traditional sausages, but feel free to revert to the original if you like. It is served with a rich onion gravy that is made in the oven, just like the main dish. The secret to a perfect toad-in-the-hole, in which the batter gets airy and crisp on the surface but remains soft and bready on the bottom, is making sure your oil is smoking hot when you pour in the batter, so be sure to heat up the oil well and then work quickly when adding the batter. This is best eaten immediately out of the oven, as it starts to deflate as it sits.
Spiced Grilled Halloumi
The play between salty, hot cheese and sweet, juicy tomatoes is what makes this dish sizzle. Halloumi is a springy Cypriot cheese that bronzes when hit with intense heat, but you must pat it dry before grilling. Pile the singed cheese atop sliced tomatoes, which are seasoned here with salt and olive oil to concentrate their flavor. The salt will also extract water from the tomatoes, creating a light dressing. Finally, for texture, everything is sprinkled with a combination of crushed coriander and cumin seeds, red-pepper flakes and a touch of sugar. (You could also use a store-bought or homemade dukkah if you have it on hand.) Serve with grilled bread or pita, or embellish with herbs, cucumbers, grilled peppers, lentils, beans or grains.
Maque Choux
This classic Cajun side dish is a sweet, hot, juicy, milky, buttery combination of corn, onions and peppers. It’s often cooked in rendered bacon fat and enriched with heavy cream, but this version relies upon only butter and a little water in their place, which allow the ingredients’ flavors to sing more clearly. While it is commonly understood that Fat Equals Flavor, there is a point at which too much fat actually masks complexities in flavors and dulls their vibrancy. Try the maque choux this way and see if you notice how bold and lively it tastes. If you miss the smokiness that bacon imparts, try instead a pinch of smoked paprika stirred in at the end.
Arroz Rojo (Red Rice)
Also known as arroz Mexicano, these tomato-slicked grains of rice taste amazing alongside beans, tacos, enchiladas and just about any spread of meat, seafood and vegetables. Esteban Castillo, the author of the “Chicano Eats” cookbook and blog, toasts the rice in garlicky oil first to give the final dish an even richer flavor. A simple spice blend does, too.
Nashville-Style Hot Tofu Sliders
Nashville hot chicken is seasoned with a bold dose of ground cayenne and hot sauce, deep fried then brushed with a final coat of spicy oil. In these vegetarian sliders, hot butter imparts mild tofu with an extra-spicy kick reminiscent of the chicken that inspired them. Tofu has a high water content, but a quick dredge in rice flour and a dip in batter creates a barrier that prevents excess splattering during frying. The carbonation in seltzer keeps the batter light and airy, perfect for delicate tofu. (This is also a great trick for frying vegetables and shrimp.) The result is a golden sandwich filling with a crispy exterior and soft center. For larger sandwiches, stuff standard hamburger buns with two pieces of the fried tofu and finish with the toppings.
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.
Squash Blossom Quesadillas
Calabrian Meatballs
Featured in my cookbook, “Heirloom Kitchen: Heritage Recipes and Family Stories from the Tables of Immigrant Women” (Harper Design, 2019), this polpette recipe comes from my grandmother’s Calabrian kitchen. The sugo di pomodoro, or tomato sauce, delivers complex flavor, serving as the poaching liquid for the delicate meatballs and as an essential ingredient in the meatballs themselves, adding both flavor and juiciness. Lightened further with milk and Italian bread crumbs, the meatballs are incredibly tender, bursting at the touch of your fork. The recipe yields a crowd-serving portion, perfect for Sunday dinner, but also freezes beautifully. Though the sauce may be tossed with your favorite pasta, this dish is the ideal version of a traditional platter of meatballs, covered in sauce and garnished with cheese and basil.
Thai Rice Soup With Pork-Cilantro Meatballs
Jok, also called congee, is a rice porridge that’s like the oatmeal of Asia -- a soft, soothing, filling breakfast that can be sparked with add-ins and toppings for flavor and crunch. Before dawn in Bangkok, jok vendors begin the battle to make the juiciest meatballs, the tiniest ginger matchsticks and the liveliest pickled fresh chiles. This recipe, which also makes a great lunch on a chilly weekend morning, is adapted from two cooks: Leela Punyaratabandhu, author of Simple Thai Food, who makes a vendor-style, puddingy jok; and Chrissy Teigen, the Thai-American supermodel, who makes a simpler version, adapted from her mother Vilaluck’s home recipe.
Cauliflower Piccata
Piccata sauce — that buttery, briny combination of lemon, butter and capers, silky in texture and tart in flavor — is not just for chicken or swordfish. It’s also a zesty anchor for roasted vegetables. Here, cauliflower is roasted at high heat, which concentrates the flavor, adds nuttiness and encourages caramelization, before being doused with the sauce. Chickpeas make this a fuller vegetarian meal, but leave them out if you’d rather. Piccata dishes are often served with long pasta, which tangle with the tangy sauce, but this one is also great alongside rice or tender-crisp vegetables like blistered green beans. While you are at it, try this sauce with sweet butternut squash, charred broccoli, earthy roasted carrots, golden wedges of cabbage or crispy slices of tofu. To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.
Chung Yul Bang (Scallion Pancakes)
The cookbook author Grace Young learned to make these scallion pancakes from her mother, who is from Hong Kong, and first published the formula in her book “The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen” (Simon & Schuster, 1999). In homage to the Cantonese immigrant experience, Ms. Young phoneticized dish names in the same way they appeared on Cantonese-American restaurant menus and titled this recipe chung yul bang. They have the perfect blend of crispy flakiness and tenderness. The trick is a mix of boiling and cold water: The boiling water gives you a soft, malleable dough that is easy to work, the cold water just the right chewiness in the fried pancake. She prefers these served without any dipping sauce: “Hot out of the wok, they don’t need anything,” she said. “They’re perfect the way they are.”
Vegetarian Meatballs
Seasoned with Parmesan, ricotta, fennel seeds and oregano, these meat-free Italian meatballs capture all the flavors of the classic. Cremini mushrooms and chickpeas mimic the texture of ground beef, bulgur helps bind the mixture together, and ricotta keeps it tender. The balls are rolled in a light coating of bread crumbs and Parmesan that crisps as it bakes, but if you prefer a saucy meatball, skip the coating and simply bake until firm, then simmer in marinara. Any extra coating mixture can be toasted in the oven and sprinkled over roasted veggies or creamy pastas. Leftover meatballs can be frozen and reheated in a 425-degree oven until warmed through, about 15 minutes.
Marjoram-Scented Black Bass, Grilled Over Wood Fire
Grilling has become my favorite way to cook fish, especially when it's still whole. This way the meat is protected by the skin and bones, which allows for gentle cooking, even over low heat. Here, I use relatively strong flavorings and seasongs which, in combination with the mild wood smoke, produces a delicious result.''
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.
Shrimp-Stuffed Mirlitons
The mirliton is a pale green squash with an end puckered up like a toothless granny. They are native to Louisiana, but if you grew up eating from certain Latin American culinary canons, you might know them as chayote. In New Orleans, mirliton stuffed with shrimp is a dish both common and fancy. The chef David Guas, who grew up in Louisiana and now runs the Bayou Bakery in Washington, D.C., ate this version at his Granny Lilly’s holiday table in Amite, La. His recipe is a version of her original, but with a touch of heat from cayenne pepper as influenced by Justin Wilson, a relative who had a long-running cooking show on New Orleans public television that he punctuated with the tagline “I guaranteeeeee!” Use the freshest shrimp you can find. Something from the Gulf of Mexico would lend authenticity. And be careful scooping the flesh from the mirlitons. The skin is thin and can break easily.
Pasta With Meatballs
Carbohydrate avoidance be damned: pasta with meatballs is the perfect culinary counter to the cruel world. Just looking at a slippery, tomato-sauced tangle of spaghetti topped with juicy toothsome meatballs makes you feel better; eating it is the instant antidote to whatever ails you. The recipe here makes more sauce, perhaps, than you'd normally want to use to dress a pound of pasta, but when I sit down to eat with the children I want to make sure I'm not going to have to get up and make them anything else to eat before they go to bed. (Of course you can freeze a portion of little meatballs in sauce for easy access in meals ahead. They need not accompany a bowl of pasta. My children like them just as much with a mound of plain white rice. Who wouldn't?)
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.
Spinach and Pea Fritters
As a vegetable-forward weeknight meal, these spinach fritters have it all: sweet peas, gooey cheese and crispy bits. Made from thawed, frozen peas and spinach, the work is minimal. If you’d like to use fresh peas and spinach, you’ll need to quickly blanch and drain them first. Fresh mozzarella adds a pleasant creaminess, but goat cheese or feta would work, too. Serve these over quinoa or rice, or top with a poached or fried egg for brunch.
Tepary Beans With Chile-Agave Glaze
The small tepary beans that grow in the harsh, dry American Southwest are an heirloom variety that has been cultivated and harvested wild by countless generations of Native people in the region. The Diné (more commonly known as the Navajo) seed savers even protected them during the Long Walk of 1864, a brutal forced march to eastern New Mexico, hiding the beans in their clothing. This is an amazing bean that can withstand and even prosper in the most extreme heat and drought. The white variety I use here is slightly sweet and nutty, while the brown variety has an earthier flavor. The combination of white and brown tepary beans is both visual and flavorful, but you could also simply use 2 cups of one variety of tepary bean. Top the beans with roasted turnips and winter squash for a satisfying vegan meal, or pair them with bison pot roast, roast turkey or other meat.