Garlic

I can’t begin to quantify the sheer number of new ingredients and splendidly unexpected flavors that my friends in the Nguyen family introduced me to many years ago, but it is their barbecues that really hold a special place in my heart. Besides falling in love with the delicate, fragrant aroma of lemongrass, I couldn’t help but feel welcomed by their astounding hospitality

Spain just might be the genius of the food world. While Spanish cuisine certainly isn’t my all-time favorite, Spain sure does churn out a lot of my favorite dishes. Among them is gazpacho, a delightful chilled soup that cries for a hot summer day and a cold, crisp cerveza. If you are unable to find Persian cucumbers, feel free to substitute the English or hothouse variety.

Kimchee is the signature dish of Korean cuisine and a staple in my kitchen. While I certainly love, adore, and crave its stiff aroma and sharp pucker, I understand that it can be an acquired taste for some. It’s quite polarizing—you either love it or hate it. either way, just to be safe, you may want to warn your cohabitants and neighbors of your culinary goings-on so they don’t alert the police to a strange odor emanating from your home.

If veggie sticks just don’t have enough oomph for you on their own, this may be the ticket that helps you get your recommended daily intake. Or maybe you’re just looking for something amazing to dunk your pizza crust in. Naturally, this makes for a tasty twist on the usual salad dressing, and I assure you that it’s absurdly good alongside Honey-Sriracha Glazed Buffalo Wings (page 40).

Piquant garlic and creamy cheddar make this muffin a mouthwatering appetizer or an excellent accompaniment to soup or salad.

Although this excellent traditional Italian bread is yeasted, it does not take as long to make as other yeasted breads, since it requires only one rather brief rising. If you are making a long-simmering soup, this bread will likely fit into the time frame. It’s a natural pairing with Italian-style soups such as Minestrone (page 50), but it’s good with most any tomato-based soup.

This smooth soup will win you over with its elegant simplicity and intense celery flavor. Serve with Garlic Croutons (page 159).

This broth may be used as an extra-flavorful soup stock or as an alternative, with a little extra kick, to Basic Vegetable Stock. It’s also a soothing remedy for the common cold!

This is a basic stock that may be used in place of water in most any vegetable soup to give added depth of flavor. It’s also a good way to use up vegetables that are limp or less than perfectly fresh.

My grandmother used to spend all day making her Old World cabbage rolls stuffed with ground beef, onions, rice, and raisins. We all loved them, but I don’t have the time or the patience to do it her way. Feel free to substitute chopped mushrooms in place of the ground meat for a vegetarian version. Hope you enjoy my take on this heirloom recipe!

The basic flavors of Italian cooking are olive oil, garlic, oregano, and basil. Add either tomatoes for a hearty ragout, or white wine, parsley, and some lemon for a lighter taste. You can use dried basil and oregano instead of fresh, but you’ll need only 1 teaspoon of each.

This meal sings with the Mediterranean flavors of garlic and olives. Substitute 4 ounces of ripe pitted California olives for the kalamatas, a 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes for fresh tomatoes, and 1 1/2 cups of frozen broccoli florets for the zucchini to change this meal from a taste of summer to an easy midwinter solution without losing the essence of the dish.

For rarer meat, chop the potatoes, carrots, and cauliflower into smaller pieces, as they will cook more quickly that way and become tender before the meat is cooked through. Try this recipe with steak tenderloin or a turkey tenderloin if you don’t want lamb. Use boneless lamb fillets in this meal as bones just take up precious real estate in your pot. Trim the meat well of fat. Sun-dried tomatoes come either packed in oil or dry. Either is fine to use here.

All of the ingredients in this festive meal can be found in your pantry or freezer, making it a convenient wintertime treat. However, try to break up a frozen block of ground meat before adding it to the pot. There’s no need to defrost a package of frozen spinach. Let it sit on the counter to soften while preparing other ingredients. Cut it into chunks using a sharp knife, then stir the chunks into the meat mixture. Fresh spinach can be chopped slightly and mixed with the meat, or kept whole and layered on top.

Turkey sausage—especially the hot and spicy kind—is excellent in this dish. Wild mushrooms add a hearty flavor that complements the sausage, but common white mushrooms do just fine here as well. To use dried mushrooms, place in a bowl, cover with boiling water, and steep while you prepare the rest of the ingredients (ten to twenty minutes). When softened, drain well and slice. If using frozen spinach, try to break the block into a few pieces to spread around in the pot. If it is simply too hard to break, don’t worry. It will still cook fine, although you may find you need to cook the meal another five to ten minutes for the polenta to soften completely. As always with these recipes, use your nose as your guide.

If time and busy schedules allowed, we’d still show up at Mama’s table around 3:30 p.m. every day begging for an afternoon snack of cheese bread. Instead, we now work the bread into our dinner routine. You can even serve this on its own or with a salad for lunch. Or, try it with Braised Chicken with Peppers and Mushrooms (page 129) and Not-Your-Mama’s Tuna Casserole (page 62).

Folks love this recipe, whether or not they’re broccoli fans. It’s dressed like a salad, with a nice little tang from the vinegar. It adds something green and healthy to meaty mains like this one, and we also love it with Mama’s Hamburger “Hobo Sacks” (page 7) and Smothered Pork Chops and Rice Bake (page 22).