Whether by choice or not, a lot of us have beans on the brain lately. Beans and greens, beans on greens, green beans—I love them all. But sometimes I want beans that are less brothy, more meaty. And when you consider all that beans need to sing—salt and fat—a luscious cut of meat is, really, the bean’s natural partner (forgive me, greens!). Enter: lamb belly.
A chunky chicken chili topped with a cornbread-y/polenta-y batter situation baked up to a crisp in your oven, also known as everything you want in one pot. If you're craving even more layers, top it with a scoop of salsa.
The summer between my junior and senior years of high school, I studied abroad in France, in the small town of St. Brieuc, located in the Celtic region of Brittany (or Bretagne). At that point my French was largely untested
My mom always grills a leg of lamb for Easter, and over time I have successfully wrestled that responsibility away from her. This was done under the guise of “helping,” but selfishly I’d rather be outside grilling than setting the table or answering the door! This annual experience also taught me how to manage a larger cut of meat on the grill. (Though this can also be easily made by roasting in the oven instead.) There are a few different muscles that come together in the leg, some thick and some thin. Turning the lamb frequently during grilling helps cook it evenly. That method applies to this Xinjiang-inspired lamb shoulder here; it’s a little smaller and fattier, which makes it extra tasty
My famiglia loves spices of all kinds, and I created this recipe using some of our most flavorful favorites. These ribs are a fast weeknight meal or great appetizer or snack food for entertaining
Inspired by axoa—a traditional Basque stew of braised veal and peppers, flavored with piment d’Espelette—these braised lamb shanks are an ode to my great-grandmother Jeanne-Marie. While I never had the pleasure of meeting her, or experiencing the gustatory delight of eating one of her coursed meals, I grew up listening to my mom tell me stories of those dinners, especially my great-grandmother’s roast lamb (as my mom would say—a thing of beauty!).
Shawarma is one of those dishes that many think of as a "takeout-only food." While it's difficult to beat the freshly shredded meat straight off a spinning rotisserie skewer, there's a different comfort found in a homemade shawarma, starting with the fact that you can spice and dress it to your exact liking. It's also much easier than you think and can be a fun and interactive meal perfect for a family.
This recipe is shared in partnership with GREAT British Food. Each dish was inspired by the new season of Top Chef World All Stars, which was filmed in the U.K. This season's contestants get to cook with amazing British foods like lamb, seafood, and fantastic cheeses. This dish uses Welsh lamb, which you can get right here in the U.S.
The allure of these skewers lies in their marriage of bold, contrasting flavors and textures. On the one hand, the marinade for the lamb is surprisingly simple. There’s no salt, as the salt can cause meat to seize and tighten too much. The eggs and onions gently tenderize the meat thanks to their proteolytic enzymes. On the other hand, the barbecue seasoning is built from a heady mix of cumin, chili, garlic, and Szechuan peppercorns, and the meat is threaded onto skewers and seared over charcoal until they sport a tantalizingly caramelized crust. The result is a gustatory fireworks display: the gamey richness of the lamb, the smoky char from the grill, the warm earthiness of cumin, the prickly heat of chili, and the unique numbing sensation of Szechuan peppercorns, all conspiring to create a taste experience that is as complex as it is satisfying.
A panade is a broth thickened with toasted cubes of levain or bâtard bread, creating a hearty, soulful soup. It’s a lighter, fresher version of French onion soup, and can be served to vegetarians because it’s made with a cheese broth instead of beef or veal stock.
We've been living back and forth between France and the United States for the past 4 years. When back in the US, even though I’m theoretically a great fan of local products, I just can’t help myself. I keep buying French wine, much as it pains me to cough up $15 for a vin de pays. But my palate is so tuned to the restraint and structure of French wine now that everything else tastes over the top. So I had a nice bottle of French wine, and I wanted to make a dish to complement it. I tasted a small sip, hastily decanted it and came back again in an hour, tasted again, mmm, coffee, pepper, chocolate. Et voilà, Dark Mocha Lamb was born.
This is a recipe passed down from my great-grandmother on my father's side -- he missed these so much when my family came to the United States that he taught himself to cook just to make them again. They are, in many ways, the epitome of Shanghainese cooking: flavorful but not overwhelming, savory-sweet,
I love a good one-dish meal because it is a busy cook’s romantic ideal: efficient, thoughtful and, when cooked properly, almost necessarily resulting in clean and simple flavors. Here, the recipe is exactly
I loved the idea of this contest, but I found it difficult to come up with just one recipe. I come from a family of really wonderful cooks. For us, sitting down to a meal is not just about eating to nourish our bodies, but food provides comfort, sustenance, and, most of all, love. The recipe that I finally decided to submit is one that I grew up eating, and throughout my childhood, was my favorite dish. I first tasted it in my great-grandmother's kitchen.
Tom Kha Gai is a creamy, aromatic, and zesty soup that is distinctly Thai. Made with coconut milk, chicken, lemongrass, galangal, and chili, its very easy to make but certainly delivers impressive flavors
We entered our first chili cookoff years ago, and in our travels along the way we've not only tasted some amazing bowls of red, but met some amazing characters. Ormly Gumfudgin immediately comes to mind. Ormly was such a chili purist that he once physically attacked a Houston chef who put baked beans in his chili. The Texas Rangers came, and, according to reports, yelled at the chef.
I love to come up new ideas for dumplings. There are so many variations you can explore by just changing the stuffing, or even the wrapper. By simply changing the wrapper base from wheat flour to rice flour changes the whole experience, and of course the stuffing can be anything you imagine. Dumplings can be Chinese, Japanese, or even American, European, or African. There is no end to the combinations.
