I was always taught that good risotto starts with high-quality bone broth, but what if I don’t want to spend twenty bucks on dinner? Here I skip the broth and instead deeply char cut lemons in olive oil until the fat is speckled with bits of burnt flesh. Don’t be alarmed, the bitterness from the blackening, once combined with salty parmesan and butter, adds unbelievable depth and richness. The charred lemon juice also slaps you with its brightness, so even with all that creaminess, your palate is never weighed down.
Read MoreThis brothy soup is made from a distinct blend of ground seeds, spices, chiles, and fresh herbs. For me, peppersoup embodies the playfulness and inventiveness of our cuisine. The delicate layering of flavors is a hallmark of so many of our best dishes. One generous spoonful of this heady broth is all it takes to feel the sensation of sweat sweeping over you and a sharp tingling flare in your nostrils— exactly what you’d experience in the humidity of noontime Lagos. While whole cuts of bone-in meats are essential to the broth, a lively mix of mushrooms will make for a satisfactory vegetarian version. Fresh scent leaf is the ideal finish, but in its absence any herb with a sharp bite, such as basil or cilantro, will work.
Read MoreThese cedar-planked salmon ‘bon bons’ are miraculously easy to cook in the Big Green Egg.
Read MoreThis pasta is so impressive-looking, you’d never guess how easy it is to make (the best kind of pasta dish). You’re romancing classic cacio e pepe with a deep, dark, shmoody red wine sauce, a technique I learned from the amazing Montreal pizza and natty wine joint Elena. You’ll reduce an entire bottle of wine (!!!), along with lots of garlic and black pepper, until it’s thick and fragrant and devoid of any astringency, and then add boatloads of salty cheese. I like to use a fifty-fifty mix of Pecorino Romano (salty, sheepy) and Parmigiano Reggiano (nutty, sweet), but you could use one; just know that pecorino is a supremely salty cheese, so you might want to hold back on the salt elsewhere in the recipe.
Read MoreConsidered one of the crown jewels of Shabbat and holiday cooking, brisket has decidedly humble beginnings. Inexpensive due to its toughness and originally considered a throwaway cut, brisket became a staple of cold-weather Eastern European Jewish cooking when farmers realized it was less expensive to butcher a cow than to feed it all winter long.
Read MoreWhen I opened Beverly Soon Tofu in 1986, I had four soon tofu options on the menu. This combination of beef, oysters, and clams was one of them.
Read MoreI live for tomatoes. In summer I am constantly seeking and eating them. Here they play together in all their forms – the pop of fresh, the collapsing roasted, and the smoky sweet chewiness of the semi-dried smoked versions. The slathering of feta and fragrant hit of zhug make this salad the life of any party. When showcasing a few ingredients like this there is nowhere to hide, so buy the best that you can find and afford.
Read MoreThis recipe is based on my mother’s lentil fritters, with all the toppings from the Bohri Bazaar version. You should be able to find urid daal, carom seeds (ajwain), tamarind sauce, chaat masala, sev and papri in Asian shops or online.
Read More