The secret to these potatoes is covering and then roasting them with enough liquid to add some moisture to the flesh of the potato while infusing them with flavor at the same time. They’re a little melty and a little moist. The first time my friend Lily saw them, her reaction was “Yum!” This one’s for the sweet potato lovers.
Sitting gracefully somewhere between an ice cream cake and a pavlova, the vacherin is an effortlessly chic French showstopper of a summery dessert. It is made with layers of ice cream and sorbet, sandwiched between crisp meringue disks. Wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, it can be made ahead and kept in the freezer for up to four weeks.
When you are ready to serve it, simply decorate it with whipped cream, plain or infused, and fresh fruit, herbs, or flowers. If you are feeling extra decadent, you can pour chocolate sauce, hot fudge, or caramel sauce over slices of the cake table-side.
My recipe uses homemade mango sorbet and mint and basil ice cream, but I have also made vacherins with store-bought ice cream, when I wanted to make something delicious but didn’t have access to an ice cream maker.
This giant crumbly cookie is a specialty of Mantua, in Lombardy. But I first tasted it at a cooking class at the home of a chef from Parma, in Emilia-Romagna, where it is also popular. This makes sense, as Parma is just about an hour south of Mantua, and popular cookies tend to travel beyond their place of origin.
Also known as torta sbrisolona, the name of this cookie roughly translates to “crumbly cake.” It comes from the verb sbricolare, which means “to crumble.” The cookie was once upon a time prepared by farmers using simple ingredients that they were likely to have on hand—flour, cornmeal, sugar, a little lard or butter, and almonds. It was eaten as a snack to revive them after a long morning of work.
When assembling your sbrisolona, resist patting the sandy dough into the pan too firmly. It needs to be loosely packed in order to yield that fall-apart texture that makes it so irresistible. Once baked, it is customary to break this cookie into irregular pieces for serving, though you can cut it with a knife for a neater presentation.
This Cottage Cheesecake recipe originated from my great-grandmother and was a cheesecake my dad and Springfield Creamery co-founder, Chuck Kesey, loved to make. Delicious crust, easy to put together and the cottage cheese gives it a richer texture. The crystalized ginger on top is a favorite, but we have often topped with fresh berries as well - perfect!
You’ll find these juicy, sticky, charred wings at Singapore’s hawker centers (or food courts), where there’s usually at least one vendor flipping them over a charcoal grill. The chicken wings are marinated in dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and garlic, then served with a spicy dipping sauce made of chiles and lime.
Quick dinners as a kid were often baked beans on toast, smothered in cheddar and stuck under a hot grill until all melty. I could never be patient enough to wait either, and would burn my tongue on hot cheese lava and tomato sauce (worth it). It’s not uncommon to find some kind of white bean at a Middle Eastern breakfast table, stewed in a tomato-based sauce. This recipe is a happy amalgamation of the two. You can scoop it right out of the pan with warm pitas, or spoon it onto sourdough or baked potatoes and serve it for breakfast, lunch or even dinner.
This is a perfect brunch party dish when served with shrimp and a poached or fried egg on each plate. Leftover grits can be used to make griddled grit cakes or saved and warmed for later.
Tarte Tatin
MAKES ABOUT 1 QUART (4 CUPS), ENOUGH FOR ABOUT 4 PIZZAS