Ingredients

• Vegetable oil cooking spray
• 1 1/2 pounds Italian plums, pitted and sliced
• 1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 refrigerated ready-to-bake pie crust dough (7.5 ounces)
• 1/4 cup marzipan, crumbled into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preparation

Heat oven to 375°. Coat a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. In a bowl, toss plums with 1/3 cup sugar and cardamom. Dust flour on work surface; roll out dough to a 14-inch diameter and transfer to baking sheet. Leaving a 2-inch border, sprinkle marzipan on dough. Arrange plums in circular pattern over marzipan. Fold and pleat edges toward center. Brush dough with egg and sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon sugar. Bake until crust is golden, 22 to 26 minutes. Cool; serve.

Epicurious

Ingredients

• ¼ c. olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, pressed
• ½ tsp. red pepper flakes (JP: reduce to make less spicy)
• Salt
• 8 oz. sweet Italian sausage
• 1 fennel bulb, halved, cored, and sliced thin
• ½ c. pine nuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
• ½ c. coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 lb. whole-wheat spaghetti
• 1 oz. grated parmesan (~½ c.)

Preparation

1. Combine oil, garlic, pepper flakes, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in small bowl; set aside.

2. Heat sausage in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; cook, stirring to break sausage into ½-inch pieces, until browned and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to paper towel-lined plate, leaving rendered fat in skillet. Return skillet to medium-high heat, add fennel and ¼ teaspoon salt, and cook, stirring frequently, until fennel is tender, about 5 minutes.

3. Push fennel to sides of skillet to create 3-inch clearing; add oil-garlic mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir to combine garlic mixture with fennel and cook for 1 minute longer. Remove skillet from heat and stir in sausage, pine nuts, basil, and lemon juice.

4. Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in large Dutch oven. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt to boiling water; cook until al dente. Reserve ¾ cup pasta cooking water, drain pasta, and return pasta to Dutch oven.

5. Add sauce and reserved cooking water to pasta and toss to coat. Season with salt to taste. Transfer to serving bowl, sprinkle with cheese, and serve.

CI

Ingredients

• One 3-pound corned beef brisket (uncooked), in brine
• 16 cups cold water
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons black peppercorns
• 4 whole allspice berries
• 2 whole cloves
• 1/2 large head green cabbage (about 2 pounds), cut into 8 thick wedges
• 8 small new potatoes (about 1 1/4 pounds), halved
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Horseradish sauce

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Place the corned beef in a colander in the sink and rinse well under cold running water. Place the corned beef in a large Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid, add the water, bay leaves, peppercorns, allspice and cloves. Bring to a boil, uncovered, and skim off any scum that rises to the surface. Cover and transfer pan to the oven, and braise until very tender, about 3 hours and 45 minutes. Transfer the corned beef to a cutting board and cover tightly with foil to keep warm. Add the cabbage and potatoes to the cooking liquid and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cabbage to a large platter. Slice the corned beef across the grain of the meat into thin slices. Lay the slices over the cabbage and surround it with the potatoes. Ladle some of the hot cooking liquid over the corned beef and season with pepper. Serve immediately with the mustard or horseradish sauce.

Food Network

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons jarred grated horseradish (with liquid)
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, horseradish, zest, and 2 teaspoons salt. Season generously with pepper to taste. Refrigerate the horseradish sauce for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Food Network

Ingredients

• 2 oz vodka
• 1 oz lime juice
• chilled ginger beer
• sprig of mint
• lime wedge

Preparation

Combine vodka and lime juice. Pour into ice filled Moscow Mule lug. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with mint and lime wedge.

Ingredients

• 6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 Tbs. minced shallots
• 6 to 8 leeks, about 3 lb. total, white and light green portions, chopped
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. freshly ground white pepper
• 2 cups milk, plus more as needed
• 3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded Gruyère cheese
• 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs

Preparation

Preheat an oven to 400°F.

In a fry pan over medium-high heat, melt 2 Tbs. of the butter. Add the shallots, leeks, 1/2 tsp. of the salt and 1/2 tsp. of the white pepper. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until the leeks are translucent and very soft, about 15 minutes.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the 2 cups milk until small bubbles appear around the edge of the pan. Cover and remove from the heat.

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt 3 Tbs. of the butter. Remove from the heat and whisk in the flour, the remaining 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. white pepper and the cayenne. Set the pan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the hot milk and simmer, stirring, until the sauce thickens, about 15 minutes. If the sauce is too thin, increase the heat; if it is too thick, whisk in a little more milk. Then stir in the leek mixture.

Pour the mixture into a baking dish or a gratin dish. Sprinkle evenly with the cheese and bread crumbs, then dot with the remaining 1 Tbs. butter. Bake until the cheese and bread crumbs are golden and the gratin is bubbly, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve. Serves 6.

Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients

• 24 oysters
• 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
• 1 ½ cups grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Turn off heat and add remaining ingredients (except Parmesan). Stir to combine and set aside. Shuck oysters and place on a hot grill until the oysters start to ruffle around the edges. Pour 1 tablespoon of butter sauce onto each oyster and cook for 1 minute. Scoop 1 tablespoon of Parmesan on top of each oyster and cook until melted and bubbling.

Casamento’s, via Thrillist

Ingredients

• 6 shallots (3 whole, 3 chopped)
• 3 whole cloves, stuck into 3 shallots
• 1 carrot, peeled
• 2 celery stalks
• 6 peppercorns
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 pounds lamb steaks, cubed
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
• ½ cup Crème Fraiche
• ½ cup dill, chopped
• 6 ounces white corn, cooked

Preparation

Place 3 clove studded shallots, carrot, celery, peppercorns, bay leaves and stock in heavy saucepan. Simmer 10 minutes, add the lamb and cook for 2 hours. Discard vegetables and spices. Reserve lamb and stock. In saucepan on low heat, sauté 3 chopped shallots in butter. Stir in sugar and flour. Remove from heat, add reserved stock and stir. Return to heat and stir constantly while adding Crème Fraiche. Fold in lamb cubes and ½ pkg. chopped dill. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over corn. Garnish with remaining sprigs of dill.

Fresh Herbs

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower
• 1 slice white bread, torn into 1-inch pieces
• 5 tbsp. olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tsp. lemon zest, plus lemon wedges for serving
• ¼ c. chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

1. Trim outer leaves of cauliflower and cut stem flush with bottom of head. Turn head so stem is facing down and cut head into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Cut around core to remove florets; discard core. Cut large florets into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Transfer florets to bowl, including any small pieces that may have been created during trimming, and set aside.

2. Pulse bread in food processor to coarse crumbs, about 10 pulses. Heat bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon oil, pinch salt, and pinch pepper in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until bread crumbs are golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer crumbs to bowl and wipe out skillet.

3. Combine 2 tablespoons oil and cauliflower florets in now-empty skillet and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cover skillet and cook over medium-high heat until florets start to brown and edges just start to become translucent (do not lift lid), about 5 minutes.

4. Remove lid and continue to cook, stirring every 2 minutes, until florets turn golden brown in many spots, about 12 minutes.

5. Push cauliflower to edges of skillet. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil, garlic, and lemon zest to center and cook, stirring with rubber spatula, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir garlic mixture into cauliflower and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is tender but still firm, about 3 minutes longer.

6. Remove skillet from heat and stir in parsley. Transfer cauliflower to serving platter and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Serve, passing lemon wedges separately.

CI

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 2 oz. hazelnuts, toasted, skinned, and cooled
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 5 oz. animal crackers
• 3 tbsp. melted warm butter

For the filling:

• 1 tbsp. lemon zest
• ¼ c. lemon juice
• 1¼ c. sugar
• 1 lb. cream cheese, cut into rough 1-inch chunks at room temp.
• 4 eggs, room temp.
• 8 oz. mild goat cheese, room temp.
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• ½ c. heavy cream

[CP: consider either changing the balance toward more goat cheese, or try very hard to get very strong goat cheese]

For the lemon curd:

• ⅓ c. lemon juice
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• ½ c. sugar [CP: less than this! icing was too sweet]
• 2 tbsp. butter, cut into ½-inch cubes and chilled
• 1 tbsp. heavy cream
• ¼ tsp. vanilla extract
• pinch salt

Preparation

1. FOR THE CRUST: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. In food processor, process hazelnuts with 3 tablespoons sugar until finely ground and mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, about 30 seconds. Add Nabisco Animal Crackers or Social Tea Biscuits and process until mixture is finely and evenly ground, about 30 seconds. Add warm melted butter in slow, steady stream while pulsing; pulse until mixture is evenly moistened and resembles wet sand, about ten 1-second pulses. Transfer mixture to 9-inch springform pan; using bottom of ramekin or dry measuring cup, press firmly and evenly into pan bottom, keeping sides as clean as possible. Bake until fragrant and golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 30 minutes. When cool, wrap outside of pan with two 18-inch square pieces heavy-duty foil; set springform pan in roasting pan.

2. FOR THE FILLING: While crust is cooling, process 1/4 cup sugar and lemon zest in food processor until sugar is yellow and zest is broken down, about 15 seconds, scraping down bowl if necessary. Transfer lemon sugar to small bowl; stir in remaining 1 cup sugar.

3. In standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and goat cheese on low to break up and soften slightly, about 5 seconds. With machine running, add sugar mixture in slow steady stream; increase speed to medium and continue to beat until mixture is creamy and smooth, about 3 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Reduce speed to medium-low and add eggs 2 at a time; beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping sides and bottom of bowl well after each addition. Add lemon juice and vanilla and mix until just incorporated, about 5 seconds; add heavy cream and mix until just incorporated, about 5 seconds longer. Give batter final scrape, stir with rubber spatula, and pour into prepared springform pan; fill roasting pan with enough hot tap water to come halfway up sides of springform pan. Bake until center jiggles slightly, sides just start to puff, surface is no longer shiny, and instant-read thermometer inserted in center of cake registers 150 degrees, 55 to 60 minutes. Turn off oven and prop open oven door with potholder or wooden spoon handle; allow cake to cool in water bath in oven for 1 hour. Transfer springform pan without foil to wire rack; run small paring knife around inside edge of pan to loosen sides of cake and cool cake to room temperature, about 2 hours.

4. FOR THE LEMON CURD: While cheesecake bakes, heat lemon juice in small nonreactive saucepan over medium heat until hot but not boiling. Whisk eggs and yolk in medium nonreactive bowl; gradually whisk in sugar. Whisking constantly, slowly pour hot lemon juice into eggs, then return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with wooden spoon, until mixture registers 170 degrees on instant-read thermometer and is thick enough to cling to spoon, about 3 minutes. Immediately remove pan from heat and stir in cold butter until incorporated; stir in cream, vanilla, and salt, then pour curd through fine-mesh strainer into small nonreactive bowl. Cover surface of curd directly with plastic wrap; refrigerate until needed.

5. TO FINISH THE CAKE: When cheesecake is cool, scrape lemon curd onto cheesecake still in springform pan; using offset icing spatula, spread curd evenly over top of cheesecake. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours. To serve, remove sides of springform pan and cut cake into wedges. (If desired, to remove cheesecake from springform pan bottom, slide thin metal spatula between crust and pan bottom to loosen, then slide cake onto serving plate.)

CI