LOUISIAN A BARBECUE D SHRIMP is that sort of magical dish that’s intensely flavorful, quick to cook, and perfect for sharing—all you need to do is spend a few minutes revving at the spice drawer first. Despite the name, the recipe isn’t cooked on a barbecue but simmered straight in a spicy-bright pan sauce. As Toni Tipton-Martin explains in her book Jubilee, drawn from her collection of nearly 400 African American cookbooks, “‘Barbecue shrimp’ is just the name Louisiana Creole cooks assigned to shrimp braised in wine, beer, or a garlic butter sauce.” This one is Toni’s favorite version, based on one from the late model/chef/restaurateur B. Smith.
Sometimes, Toni doesn’t even wait to get the shrimp out of the pan, serving it in the kitchen as an appetizer, right in the skillet it’s cooked in, with lots of hot crusty bread to get every bit of sauce. No more than 10 minutes have passed.
FOR THE SHORTCUT DAN DAN SAUCE (makes 2¼cups sauce, enough for 18 servings):
This recipe is specific in calling for a certain variety of olive, shallots instead of onion, and a particular hue of vinegar. But know that it is LGD's equation that makes it heroic, not its details. To make your own variant of LGD, you need fresh, fragrant herbs; something onion-esque; the combined brine power of olives, capers, and anchovy; the juxtaposed acid of both vinegar and citrus; and the fruity fat of a good-quality olive oil. Don't get hung up on the variety of vinegar you don't have or the fact that you’ve got onion and no shallot. Just follow the equation and taste what happens.
I am always looking for quick and easy weeknight meals, but I am never willing to sacrifice taste. That’s why I created this stew. It’s easy to make, and it’s literally bursting at the seams with flavor. I recommend making a double batch and freezing some. That way, on nights when you are feeling tired after work and want a comforting meal, you can defrost it in minutes and enjoy. For this recipe, I like using orzo or any small pasta shape, and if you are gluten-free, feel free to use a gluten-free pasta. Gluten-free pasta often requires a few more minutes of cooking time, so be sure to keep an eye on it. And while I love using spinach in this stew, use whatever greens you have on hand: kale, escarole, chard, or the like. Once the stew is done, I recommend adding a generous pinch of freshly grated cheese on top. Serve with a side of crusty sourdough bread.
The savory taste of this lemon, butter, and white wine sauce with capers over fish has made it a melt-in-your-mouth favorite in our family. The secret addition of cornstarch to the flour really helps the light coating stay on the fish while it cooks. Where we live in South Florida there is a wide variety of snapper available, such as red, hog, mutton, and yellowtail. All are delicious, and if you don’t have access to those varieties, another mild, white, flaky fish will work nicely.
This hot and fiery soup is seen only in the Indo-Chinese restaurants of India. When the weather is cold or I’m feeling unwell, I often make this soup. To boost the protein, you can add bits of leftover rotisserie chicken or tofu. Serve this with rice wine vinegar, Chilli-Soy Vinegar Sauce, or Indo-Sichuan Sauce on the side.
Similar to red-braising (紅燒 hóngshāo) , when you cover and slowly cook an ingredient in a flavorful liquid, smother-braising (燜 mèn) is simpler and shorter and often relies on more delicate, lighter-colored condiments instead of dark soy sauce, allowing the color of the vege- table to shine through.
In this dish, the squash’s natural sweetness is complemented by the salty, savory fermented black beans, and the squash is cooked until buttery and tender, on the verge of falling apart. My favorite is kabocha squash, which has a velvety, starchy softness and flavor rem- iniscent of roasted chestnut, but any firm-fleshed winter squash, like red kuri, butternut, or Hubbard, will work.
The easiest way to cook tofu is to quickly blanch it, then season with salt and sesame oil and fold in a handful of finely chopped scallions or fresh herbs. This preparation, called liangban, is minimal and yet divinely tasty. My favorite version of this dish is with toon (xiangchun), a savory, onion-garlicky leaf common in southern China, and after some tinkering, I found that the combination of basil and garlic has a similar aroma that’s just as intoxicatingly fragrant, flecking the creamy tofu cubes like a pesto. I probably make this three or four times a week, it’s that good.
We make a lot of shakshuka in our house, both red and green, for brunch and for dinner. This green version is milder and lighter than its tomato-based cousin, and is perfect for when you are looking for ways to increase your leafy vegetable consumption, or just want to try something new. The joy of shakshuka of any color is the soft egg yolk running all over the savory, lightly spiced vegetables. Here, crumbled feta adds a salty bite, and avocado slices, a velvety texture. Serve it with some crusty bread to sop up all the saucy goodness.
This salad is my riff on kasha, the name given to toasted buckwheat groats cooked (in water or milk) throughout Russia and Ukraine. The word kasha basically translates as ‘porridge’ but although in the west we think of porridge as a breakfast food, kasha is commonly a comforting, hearty, savoury dish or side at lunch or dinner – often far less liquid and overcooked than oat porridge. By all means you can serve this salad hot, but I especially like it served at room temperature. The key really is toasting the buckwheat first – it brings out an extra nutty flavour and also stops it all from being too mushy.