SOUP BASE
I think of salads in two distinct camps: 1) the classic tossed salad, where everything is added to a deep bowl and moved around to evenly distribute, and 2) flat salads built in layers on a shallow platter. The latter is best when you have delicate greens (like butter lettuce) that won’t take well to tossing. Building in layers also means that the construction of the servings will be roughly the same if you are the first person to be served or the last—no more lettuce-only bites for the last in line.
Beef stew is the quintessential winter comfort food but I usually find it boring. I kept the classic vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and peas but ramped up the flavor of the stew by using boneless short ribs instead of the usual chuck, plus lots of full-bodied red wine and Cognac for the sauce. This is definitely the most satisfying beef stew I’ve ever made!
Sweet, earthy beets and tangy, bright citrus are a heavenly pair, but when you toss some cool, crisp fennel into the mix you have a truly memorable trio.
Bitterness in a salad is fundamental.
The classic accents of briny olives and tart oranges balance the mellow sweetness of fennel when it is cooked until fork-tender.
This is one of our favorite salads to make at home, and we consider it a meal in itself.
Fennel and Apple Slaw:
I've gotten complacent when it comes to shrimp cookery. Out of the dozens of methods possible for cooking the crustacean, I've reduced it to two, which fall along a seasonal divide.
Ingredients