Linguine with clams, white wine, fresh garlic, lemon, and parsley– Francis Lam’s One is a nod to a childhood dish his parents used to make when family or friends came for dinner. It’s a simple and loose recipe that can be adjusted based on desire– add more wine and butter to make it more saucy, use additional clams for extra dinner guests, add herbs, or not depending on what you have on hand.
GLUTEN FREE, DAIRY FREE, PESCATARIAN
If there’s such a thing as a sexy salad, this might be it. Baby gem lettuce is a small lettuce variety that resembles a bite-sized version of romaine. Topped with brilliantly green pistachio-pesto crumbs and garnished with rose petals, this is a salad to make when you’re looking to impress. And I mean impress yourself, not anyone else.
No ordinary Joes.
THE MAN’OUSHE (SINGULAR for mana’eesh) is the quintessential street food of the Levant. Wherever you go in the streets of Damascus, Beirut, or Jerusalem, you’ll see professionals, students, families, and their children all enjoying piping hot flatbreads, usually slathered with herbaceous za’atar. They’re eaten while walking down the street on the way to work or school, sitting in cafés, or around the breakfast table. Among my favorite memories in Syria and Lebanon is heading to one of the corner bakeries and ordering flatbreads by the dozen. Slid right out of the oven into pizza boxes, my cousins and I would rush back to an aunt or uncle’s home and devour them without a single word exchanged.
I have been baking olive oil cakes for years. I often make them for my kids’ birthdays—they are excellent for rainbow layer cakes and sturdy for decorating, and they also freeze well. (I always have homemade cakes in the freezer for my kids’ school lunches.) If you are a lazy baker like me, olive oil cakes are essential to have in your repertoire. Oil is much more forgiving than butter, and helps keep cakes moist. I like to use a fruity extra-virgin olive oil for a stronger taste, but use a lighter oil if you prefer. I adore the richness of this cake—the delicate savory undertones pair so elegantly with the herbaceous rosemary and zesty citrus. Feel free to omit the rosemary if you want a plainer finish. A simple yet impressive cake for all occasions.
Dried chorizo adds big flavor to this fifteen- minute meal. It’s packed with garlic and paprika and renders stunning—calling Bob Ross fans—burnt sienna–colored oil in which you cook the shrimp. Toss with more garlic, parsley, and some crushed croutons (though a handful of salty cracker crumbs would work, too), and dinner’s done
You know that classic squishy, cozy pumpkin bread? This is that same lovable loaf—except pastry chef Nicole Rucker ratchets up every flavor, then splashes a genius, extra-glossy glaze over the top. And just like the classic, it makes a very happy gift that keeps astonishingly well for days.
As former Gjelina chef Travis Lett wrote in the Gjelina cookbook of Nicole’s cake, “This cake goes down equally well as a breakfast pastry, tea cake, or simple dessert. The deep mineral flavor of the kabocha, and the rustic crumb it produces is swirled with dark bittersweet chocolate.”
A few more tips: If you’re wondering if you can bake this cake ahead, yes—not only does it keep extremely well, but I happen to love the flavor most on days two and beyond. If you can’t find kabocha squash, red kuri squash is a good substitute, or other dry, creamy squash varieties. If you needed to substitute butternut or other more watery varieties, Nicole recommends adding in this step from the original recipe: “In a large piece of cheesecloth, wrap the pureed squash in a tight bundle. Put in a colander set over a bowl, and let drain at least 4 hours. Squeeze by twisting the cheesecloth to remove extra water.”
Recipe adapted slightly from Gjelina: Cooking from Venice, California (Chronicle Books, October 2015).
These roasted blooms just might be the prettiest dish in this book. Inspired by a recipe from chef Laurent Tourondel, they are also one of the simplest and most delicious.
You'll love the combination of nutty sweet potato with the fragrant heat of green chile.