Ingredients

• About 1 pound of cauliflower
• ½ cup pitted black olives, coarsely chopped
• 1 heaped tablespoon salt-packed capers, rinsed and drained
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• Grated zest and juice of a lemon
• Sea salt
• Pinch of crushed red-chile pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
• ⅓ cup olive oil

Preparation

Trim the cauliflower, and break the head apart into florets.

On a chopping board, combine the olives, capers, parsley and lemon zest, and chop together to mix well.

Bring a pot of water large enough to hold the cauliflower to a rolling boil. Add a big pinch of salt, and when it returns to a boil, add the florets. Cook until the florets are just barely tender, about 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a skillet large enough to hold all the ingredients, warm the chile flakes and the garlic in the oil over medium-low heat until hot, about 3 or 4 minutes. The chile and garlic should be starting to melt in the oil, rather than sizzling and browning. Stir in the lemon juice, and cook for another 2 minutes, then add the olive-caper mix, give it a stir, take it off the heat and set aside.

Drain the cauliflower well, shaking the colander. Combine the cauliflower with the olive-caper dressing in the skillet, and set the skillet back on medium heat. Warm it up to serving temperature, taste to make sure the seasoning is right and serve.

The New York Times

Ingredients

• 4 medium-thick pork chops, bone-in or boneless
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil
• 8 chiles de árbol
• 3 plum tomatoes
• 1 small onion, peeled and thickly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• ½ cup raw, hulled, unsalted pumpkin seeds
• ⅓ cup unsalted peanuts
• ⅓ cup hulled sesame seeds
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon ground allspice (or 2 allspice berries)
• 1 canned chipotle pepper
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil, lard or chicken fat
• 1 cup chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Preparation

Make the sauce: Remove the stems from the chiles de árbol, and gently roll the chiles between your fingers to remove the seeds. Discard seeds. Set a bare skillet over high heat for 5 minutes, then add the chiles. Toast until they are darkened and fragrant, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Place them in a bowl, cover with 2 cups boiling or very hot water, and set aside to soak.

Return the skillet to high heat. Add the tomatoes, onion and garlic, and cook, turning occasionally, until charred, approximately 10 minutes. Put the vegetables on a plate, and set aside to cool, then slip the skins off the cloves of garlic.

Return the skillet to medium-low heat. Place the pumpkin seeds, peanuts and sesame seeds in the skillet, and cook, stirring and shaking the pan continuously, until they are toasted and fragrant, approximately 2 to 4 minutes. Put the seeds and nuts in a bowl, and stir in the cinnamon, cloves and allspice.

Put the chiles and soaking liquid in a blender with the tomatoes, onion, garlic, the nut-seed mixture and the chipotle. Purée until smooth. Add the oil, lard or chicken fat to a large, heavy-bottomed pot, and heat over medium heat until it is nearly smoking. Add the purée. It will sputter a lot. Lower the heat, and stir, cooking the mixture down to a thick paste. It will continue to sputter and pop. Add the broth to the paste, and stir, then season with the salt, sugar and vinegar, and cook for another 15 minutes or so, until it resembles a thick, creamy soup. Lower heat to a bare simmer.

Make the pork chops: Season the pork chops aggressively with salt and pepper, and dust them with the flour. Add the oil to the skillet, and heat over medium-high heat until nearly smoking. Add the chops, and let them cook undisturbed, in batches if necessary, until crisp and well browned, about 5 minutes per side. Set them aside to rest for 5 minutes or so. Serve a chop per person on a generous amount of sauce, with tortillas to mop it up. Extra sauce can be used to braise chicken, lamb or more pork, or as a topping for enchiladas.

The New York Times

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon egg white
• 1 tablespoon rice wine or dry sherry
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon salt, more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 pound boneless leg of lamb or lamb shoulder, cut into strips about 1/2 inch by 2 inches
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons cumin seeds, lightly cracked in a mortar or grinder
• 2 tablespoons whole dried red chili peppers, about 2 inches long
• 4 scallions, white and green parts only, cut on diagonal into 1-inch lengths
• Sesame oil, for seasoning

Preparation

1. In a bowl combine egg white, wine, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Add lamb and set aside to marinate 1 hour.

2. Heat a large wok or skillet over high heat until a drop of water sizzles on contact. Swirl half the oil into wok and carefully add lamb, spreading it in a single layer. Let sear a moment, then stir-fry briskly just until lamb is no longer pink. Transfer to a plate. (If your wok is not large enough to hold all the lamb, do this in 2 batches, using extra oil.)

3. Swirl remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil into empty wok, add cumin seeds and chilies and stir-fry a few seconds until cumin seeds start to pop. Press chilies against sides of wok to char their skins.

4. Add scallions and stir-fry 1 minute. Then return lamb to wok and stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes more until lamb is cooked through. Turn off heat, sprinkle with salt and drops of sesame oil, and serve immediately.

New York Times

Ingredients

• 2 pounds small/fingerling gold potatoes (~2"), or peeled and 2" cubed Yukon Gold
• Salt
• 1/2 cup cold milk
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400°. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Put the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Salt the water and bring to a boil, then simmer the potatoes over moderate heat until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain the potatoes, return to the saucepan and shake over high heat for 1 minute to dry. Pass the potatoes through a ricer into a large bowl. Beat in the milk and 6 tablespoons of the butter and season with salt and pepper.

In a large stainless steel bowl, whip the cream to soft peaks. Beat one-third of the cream into the potatoes, then fold in the remaining cream. Scrape the potatoes into the prepared dish. Dot with the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and sprinkle the Parmesan over the top. Bake the potatoes for 25 minutes. Preheat the broiler and broil the potatoes for 2 minutes, or until browned. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Food & Wine

Ingredients

Dressing:

• 3⁄4 cup canola oil
• 1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1⁄4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 3⁄4 tsp. dry mustard
• 1⁄2 tsp. Worcestershire
• 1⁄4 tsp. sugar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Salad:

• 1⁄2 head iceberg lettuce, cored and shredded
• 1⁄2 head romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1⁄2 bunch watercress, some of the stems trimmed, chopped
• 2 oz. blue cheese, preferably Roquefort, crumbled
• 6 strips cooked bacon, roughly chopped
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut into 1⁄2" cubes
• 2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1⁄2" cubes
• 1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and cut into 1⁄2" cubes
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1⁄2" cubes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp. minced chives

Preparation

Make the dressing: Combine the canola oil, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, Worcestershire, sugar, and garlic in a blender. Purée the ingredients to make a smooth dressing and season with salt and pepper. Set the dressing aside (or refrigerate, covered, for up to 1 week).

Make the salad: On a large platter, combine the iceberg and romaine lettuces along with the watercress. Arrange the blue cheese, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, chicken, and avocado on top of the greens in neat rows. To serve, drizzle salad with dressing, season with salt and pepper, and top with chives. Alternatively, toss everything together in a bowl.

Saveur

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 6 oz. cold unsalted butter, cut in 1/2-inch pieces

Filling:

• 6 large eggs
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup flour

Preparation

Crust: Preheat oven to 325. Mix flour and powdered sugar. Cut in butter until pea-sized. Mixture will be very dry. Gently press in bottom of 13-by-9 inch pan. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and reduce oven to 300.

Filling: Whisk together eggs and sugar until smooth. Stir in lemon juice and then flour. Pour filling on crust and bake until set, about 40 minutes. Cool completely. Cut into 21/4 inch squares. Dust with powdered sugar. Makes 24.

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 6 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 8 tbsp. melted butter

Topping:

• 3/4 c. packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 c. light corn syrup
• 7 tbsp. melted hot butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 4 c. (1 lb.) pecan halves, toasted
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt (optional)

Preparation

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Make foil sling for 13 by 9-inch baking pan by folding 2 long sheets of aluminum foil; first sheet should be 13 inches wide and second sheet should be 9 inches wide. Lay sheets of foil in pan perpendicular to each other, with extra foil hanging over edges of pan. Push foil into corners and up sides of pan, smoothing foil flush to pan. Lightly spray foil with vegetable oil spray.

Whisk flour, sugar, and salt together in medium bowl. Add melted butter and stir with wooden spoon until dough begins to form. Using your hands, continue to combine until no dry flour remains and small portion of dough holds together when squeezed in palm of your hand. Evenly scatter tablespoon-size pieces of dough over surface of pan. Using your fingertips and palm of your hand, press and smooth dough into even thickness in bottom of pan.

Whisk sugar, corn syrup, melted butter, vanilla, and salt together in medium bowl until smooth (mixture will look separated at first but will become homogeneous), about 20 seconds. Fold pecans into sugar mixture until nuts are evenly coated.

Pour topping over crust. Using spatula, spread topping over crust, pushing to edges and into corners (there will be bare patches). Bake until topping is evenly distributed and rapidly bubbling across entire surface, 23 to 25 minutes.

Transfer pan to wire rack and lightly sprinkle with flake sea salt, if using. Let bars cool completely in pan on rack, about 1 1/2 hours. Using foil overhang, lift bars out of pan and transfer to cutting board. Cut into 24 bars. (Bars can be stored at room temperature for up to 5 days.)

Ingredients

• 4 Cornish game hens, patted dry with paper towels
• 8 thin slices of butter
• 4 sprigs each of fresh rosemary and thyme (or herbs of choice) plus some extra leaves of each
• 4 large cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 lemon, scrubbed well and cut into quarters
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup dry white wine
• ½ cup chicken broth

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Pat the hens dry with a paper towel. Use your index finger to loosen the skin on the top of the hen and slip a thin slice of butter under the skin on top of each breast. Add a few rosemary and thyme leaves (or herb of choice). Repeat for each hen. Put a quarter of a lemon in the cavity of each hen along with a clove of garlic and a sprig of fresh rosemary and thyme (or herb of choice). Truss the hens by tying the wings and legs.

Rub each hen all over with some extra virgin olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place then hens on the rack of a roasting pan lined with aluminum foil, spacing them out so they are as far apart from each other as possible. This will enable their skins to get browned and crispy.

Place the hens in the preheated oven and roast for 25 minutes.

While the hens are roasting, combine the chicken broth and wine in a bowl.

After the hens have been roasting for 35 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Pour the broth/wine mixture over the hens and continue to roast for 30 minutes, basting the hens with the juices at the bottom of the pan every 10 minutes or less. The hens are done when an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees F and the juices run clear. If you prefer darker skins, turn up the temperature to broil for a couple more minutes, watching closely to prevent burning.

Carefully remove the hens and pour the juices from their cavities into the roasting pan. Transfer the hens to a warmed platter, remove the trussing string, and tent with aluminum foil to week warm. Pour the juices from the roasting pan into a saucepan and boil for about 5 minutes until the liquid is a thin sauce-like consistency. Serve the hens whole per guest or cut in half lengthwise and place cavity-down on each serving plate. Drizzle the sauce over the hens and garnish with fresh herb sprigs and a slice of lemon. Serve immediately.

Daring Gourmet

Ingredients

• 1 ½ oz. brandy
• ¾ oz. Calvados
• ¾ oz. sweet Italian vermouth

Preparation

Chill a coupe glass. Stir all ingredients with ice in a mixing glass. Strain into coupe.

The New York Times

Ingredients

• ¾ oz. dry gin
• ¾ oz. Cointreau
• ¾ oz. Cocchi Americano
• ¾ oz. fresh lemon juice
• Scant teaspoon absinthe

Preparation

Chill a coupe glass, and evenly coat the inside with absinthe. Shake remaining ingredients with ice. Strain into coupe.

The New York Times