This is mostly because tiramisu is one of two desserts that my mom always orders at restaurants (the other being crème brulee; she likes a classic). I’d honestly never encountered tiramisu outside of a restaurant setting! But a few years ago this changed when we hosted our first Christmas dinner and my mom requested tiramisu for dessert. I was definitely a little fearful but went into “what’s the worst that could happen?...

These cookies take some time to make, but they will reward you with their out-of-this-world, tender, and flaky deliciousness. What Is a Butterhorn Cookie? Butterhorns are crescent-shaped cookies made from an enriched, yeasted dough, with a small amount of walnut-meringue filling rolled up inside and a powdered sugar glaze on top. They are very sweet and perfect with a strong cup of coffee. There are three components to these cookies:...

Make a salad to serve alongside while the pressure cooker does its magic, and you’ll have a complete dinner in less than an hour. Ingredients for Chicken Adobo Sauce The sauce for this chicken adobo is made from a handful of pantry staples you probably have on hand: onion, garlic, white vinegar, soy sauce, peppercorns, bay leaves, and a little bit of sugar. The tangy, salty, slightly sweet sauce gives the chicken its unmistakably Filipino flavor....

In it we have subbed in kale for the lettuce, dried cranberries for the grapes, and hold everything together with a tangy mayo dressing. Why kale? Well, we all know that leafy greens are good for you. But the great thing about using kale in a salad is that you can make it in advance, even a day ahead. A dressing that would quickly wilt into a saggy mess the sturdiest of lettuces, will have a tenderizing effect on kale, making the raw kale deliciously easy to eat....

Instead of thinking, “eating seaweed? PHEW!” one gets a warm glow and a faraway look in one’s eyes thinking, “Eating seaweed? Ahhh. Yummm. Which kind do I want? Some sautéed hijiki? Crumpled nori with sesame and shoyu over rice? How about some silky wakame soup?” So when I saw a kale seaweed salad at a local Whole Foods deli counter, I was all over it. It was wonderful! The kale, ginger, sesame, seaweed and seasoning worked so well together....

Usually we just buy them at Trader Joe’s, but if you can get a good deal on a lot of peppers, you can easily make and can your own. It takes a while for red bell peppers to fully ripen into their redness, which I suppose is why they cost more than the green variety. Late August is a great time to find them at a reasonable price at a farmers market or the supermarket....

Smoked Mussels If I weren’t feeding a family of four, my shortcut for an easy summer dinner would be to pop the top of these smoked mussels open and dig in, but since I’m cooking for my family, I do the next easiest thing: spaghetti. While my pasta is boiling, I sauté some fresh summer tomatoes, garlic, and these flavor-packed mussels to make an easy sauce. I’ll add some basil and parsley from the garden and a glass of pet nat to toast a dinner well done....

I’ll take it in any shape or form, especially if I can have a whole one to myself. These individual tartlets give the essence of pie without the fuss! These are rustic and casual tarts. Simply thaw some all-butter frozen puff pastry, cut it into squares, and top it with almond filling and peaches. You don’t have to peel the fruit, just set the slices atop the tarts to give them that little something extra-special....

A classic Philly cheesesteak consists of thinly shaved steak (usually ribeye or top round) and is traditionally cooked on a griddle. It’s a wonderful sandwich. When you bite into it you get the savory pieces of thin steak and melty, gooey cheese. Add in some good bread and caramelized onions and you are in for a treat! It can be served solo just loaded with meat or with sauteed onions and peppers....

Over the course of a week or two, the brine takes away the garlic’s raw, pungent bite and leaves behind sweet, tangy cloves that are as at home on a cheese plate as they are in sauces and salsas. Pickled garlic is a true quick pickle with no need for canning. In fact, we don’t recommend it, since home canning techniques don’t bring the temperature up high enough to eliminate the risk of botulism when stored at room temperature....

Every year, my dad would fry latkes (pronounced LOT-kuz) in a skillet of hot oil, but it bothered him that his batter of grated potatoes would turn gray so quickly from exposure to the air. So he decided to come up with a better latke recipe. The Secret to Crispy Latkes My father was an engineer with chemist envy, and there wasn’t anything he couldn’t figure out with a little trial and error, so he decided to solve this latke problem once and for all....

Risi e bisi simply means rice and peas, and the dish is traditionally made with the fresh new peas of spring. If fresh peas are not available, you can easily make it with frozen peas (avoid canned). Diced prosciutto is important to this dish, although not vital; I’ve seen vegetarian versions of risi e bisi. How much to add? You could go as high as a half pound in this recipe, making the dish more of a main course....

You can guess which one I prefer. Why Roast Beef Tenderloin is Ultimate for Entertaining Here is a perfect example of the latter—a beef tenderloin roast. Imagine a filet mignon, but as roast, one that you slice to serve, tender like a prime rib, but lean. Yes, it is a rather pricey cut of beef; it is not an everyday roast, but one for a special somebody or occasion. My friend Kathi showed me this way of preparing beef tenderloin the other day....

But roasted? Until the edges get all browned and caramelized? Totally different story. When roasted, cauliflower becomes nutty and buttery, but without any nuts or butter. Roasted, it is the perfect vehicle for garlic, olive oil, lemon and Parmesan. I grew up with basic steamed cauliflower, which is fine and good and sometimes all that you need. But if you’ve never had roasted cauliflower, I urge you to try it!...

Overnight brining. We usually roast chickens breast side down to ensure tender breast meat. But with the overnight brining in a roasted garlic and lemon juice marinade, the breast meat was perfectly moist, even cooked breast up. The garlic flavor is subtle, not strong or overwhelming, due to roasting the garlic first. Want to learn how to prep that chicken for the oven? Our guide, How to Truss a Chicken, will show you how!...

Typically, the outer skin is forest green, though some varieties are sunset orange or red as well. My friend Kori gave me a kabocha squash this week, a big beautiful red one she grew in her garden. I had seen several peeking under the mess of sprawling vines and squash leaves when I visited her a while back. They were already red, but not quite ready to pick. Apparently, you have to wait for the vine to almost completely die back before picking the squash....

And they’re right. Bitter greens especially—kale, collard greens, mustard greens, etc. They’re good for you, packed with vitamins, and they help digestion. That said, frankly I never knew what to do with them until I started learning how to cook from my parents. Now I can’t get enough of them! Usually we offset the bitter with bacon. But you can also use nuts to provide balance. With this simple and easy side of sautéed kale I’ve added toasted cashews....

Thank goodness! We still eat fish almost every Friday (old habits die hard) and are always looking for new ideas to cook with the fresh fish we find at the market. Here is a recipe for petrale sole (a Pacific flounder) that is served with a quick sauce made with shallots, white wine, and butter. You could use this sauce over any mild fish fillet. Do you have a preferred way of preparing sole fillets?...

Until I started making them about a year ago, I didn’t realize how easy they were to cook at home! How To Make Scallion Pancakes To make the pancakes, all you need are four basic ingredients: flour, hot (boiling) water, scallions, and salt. The hot water makes the pancakes easier to flatten, especially during the first rollout. I tried this recipe with room temperature water, and the dough shrank back constantly....

Here’s where it gets interesting. Instead of just squeezing some lemon juice over the pasta, or grating lemon zest, we are sautéing thin slices of lemon until they are well browned and caramelized. Those sautéed lemons slices get minced and added to everything else. The browned lemon bits bring zippy bursts of roasted lemony flavor to the dish, providing a wonderful accent to the shrimp, spinach, and linguine. Try it, you’ll see!...