This simple recipe highlights the sweetness of fresh shrimp, and their comforting flavor when they are marinated and then charred on a hot grill. The technique that separates this recipe from others is grating the garlic over a fine microplane. Microplaning the garlic (instead of just slicing it), leads to an added depth of flavor and intensity.
This is a really easy quick dish that tastes delicious and—okay, okay—works even if you insist on peeling off the shells after cooking. But I hope you will trust me and give the whole shrimp a try. Frying the shrimp in hot olive oil quickly crisps the shells up and seals in the juices, and throwing the salt on hot shells just as they come out of the hot oil really bonds the salt on to the shell, granting plenty of flavor. I like to squeeze a little lemon over everything for the acidity, and also because it softens both the flavor and the texture of the shells.
This dish is full of vibrant, contrasting flavor and texture combinations: crisp hot edges; smooth, cooling yogurt; sweet coconut milk; spicy, salty, and sour toppings. Balachaung is a Burmese condiment similar to XO sauce that I like using on everything, from sautéed string beans to cucumber salad to soft boiled eggs. You can also make the pancake with leftover sticky rice, even if it was made with water as opposed to coconut milk. It will still be delicious.
This classic Finnish seafood soup somehow straddles the line of being hearty and comforting while also being light, bright, and refreshing. Do not skip the flurry of dill that comes at the end. These are flavors that know each other well, but the final hit of fresh herbs, along with that hint of allspice, ties everything together to make this soup truly greater than the sum of its parts. For a thinner, lighter broth, some recipes skip the cornstarch slurry.
"Risotto is the kind of food you make for people you love." My ex said that to me once, referring to how long it takes to stir it, how no one would ever set aside all that time just for themselves and a plate of risotto. I disagreed. Maybe it's because I'm an egoist and love myself. More, I appreciate the calmness of having to stand there by the stove, watching the shallot and butter–slicked rice soak up ladleful by ladleful of Better Than Bouillon stock. Then the way the pesto simultaneously dyes it a glorious green and loosens it all'onda (meaning it ripples like a wave). Stirring my soon-to-be dinner for 18 minutes straight is my own way of practicing mindfulness, how I like to be, as they say, with myself.
"These are delicious if you like pesto! An easy, quick appetizer to make. You can also garnish each slice with either green or black olive slices, or top with a thin slice of tomato. The basic recipe lends itself to many interpretations. Originally from a Junior League of Denver cookbook."
For New Year and birthdays, it's customary to wish people a long life by serving this symbolic dish. It's important to never cut the noodles and leave them as long as possible. If you make your own noodles, you can make them even longer than what you might find at the market. If you aren't able to make your own noodles, you can use store-bought or dried fresh noodles instead.
This recipe is one of a dozen from my father's server days: "Vito's Shrimp Scampi," which isn’t really a scampi but a roasted garlic cream sauce that blushes pink with chopped tomatoes served over linguini—simple enough to wing, and really, really good.
Paglia e fieno, or “straw and hay” tagliatelle, is a happy tangle of green and yellow pasta you’ll find in northern-central Italy, particularly Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna.
In Spain we were humble and never went to the one restaurant in town. Little did we know that, decades later, my dad—a man with whom I had very little in common as a kid—would go to his son’s restaurants and order everything off the menu. But the one dish he loved ordering most was my fidueà, a rich, briny reminder of home and everything we had left behind.
"I never could make fried rice, it always turned out sticky and nasty. Until one night when I couldn't sleep, I turned on the tv and watched this infomercial for cookware and they made fried rice. And what do you know, its a good recipe! Only thing good that ever came out of a infomercial, lol. Anyway my whole family loves it and have been asked for the recipe many times. If you have leftover chicken, toss it in too. I've also added hamburger and other veggies with good results too."
This was the first dish I made in the air fryer that required using a pan to cook something in the basket. Once I tried this, I was hooked and other ideas for air fryer recipes started to come to me. What I like about this is that it’s one dish, no splatters to clean up, fairly hands-free, and fast. Many of my readers have told me this is the best shrimp scampi they’ve ever had.
Nothing, and I mean nothing, is cozier than pulling up to your favorite pub with some friends and having a few beers and some righteous food. One of my favorite places in Portland, Oregon, is McMenamins.
"I felt like carbs for dinner but also wanted something more than just plain spaghetti. I also needed something quick to put out for dinner as dinner was in an hour. Working parents all know this feeling."
The underlying flavor of this piri piri sauce comes from caramelized onions and red bell peppers. Bird’s eye chilis bring some heat to the sauce, and lemon juice and fresh oregano round everything out with a complex mix of acidity and herbal notes.
When I read Beatrice Hightower Cates’s 1936 Eliza’s Cook Book, I was surprised to find a recipe for salmon croquettes that refused to conform to a “heritage” mixture—that is, it didn’t have a roux-based white sauce to hold the croquettes together.
