From ten cloves garlic lemon chicken to Welsh cakes, these 12 recipes were tops with Cook This newsletter subscribers
12. Cavatelli with roasted artichokes and preserved lemon
“This can be the kind of thing that you can mostly prep in advance and then finish it and serve hot for a dinner party. It’s also the kind of thing you can put together an hour or two before company arrives, toss to freshen it up and serve at room temperature as a pasta salad,” says Pashman. “It’s the kind of thing you can whip up very quickly and easily and in almost any circumstance and blow people’s minds.”
11. Toasted Selkirk bannock with marmalade syrup
Coinneach MacLeod (a.k.a. the Hebridean Baker) puts his spin on the treat by toasting the bannock until golden brown and topping it with marmalade syrup and an optional dollop of mascarpone. “Move over, French toast,” he says. “We have a Scottish rival to your crown.”
10. Fern cake
The cake is pure nostalgia, he says. “If you were growing up or if your mom or granny was baking in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, every bakery in Scotland, every bakery window, would have had a fern cake.”
9. Taiwanese savoury egg crepe
“It is so simple. It’s really delicious. It reminds me of a softer, green onion pancake wrapped in egg. And you can customize it with any ingredients you have in the fridge.”
Chen fills it with ham and cheese — and sometimes corn for crunch and sweetness. “I’m very excited for when people try out the cookbook, what kind of fillings they put inside.”
8. Creamed lobster dip
“Everyone loves dips! Dips are unbelievable. But often, it was served cold. And you certainly can do that. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I love a warm dip. It’s great whether you’re having a dinner party or if you’re a sports fan and you have game night with friends over — it works across the board.”
7. Turnip gratin
“(I always think about) people in Acadia cooking with these big earthenware pieces. And how they ate these specific things that would last through a winter that we know nothing about here in South Louisiana,” says Martin. “You need it to be cold to be able to enjoy something so rich. I really love that recipe.”
6. Brown stew chicken
Growing up in London with roots throughout the Caribbean, Phillips didn’t give the dish much thought. But as an adult, he developed a deep appreciation for it. “Brown stew chicken is not one of the dishes that gets the same hype or plaud as jerk chicken, barbecue chicken or curry chicken. Stew chicken is the unsung hero.”
5. Busted sausage on toast with beans
Oliver worked in Japan for three years and draws on one of the techniques he learned there in this recipe. Dry-grilling mushrooms gives them a “nutty freshness” that steaming, boiling, frying or roasting doesn’t. And then there’s the sausage (meat or veggie).
“A perfect sausage actually requires a bit of time, and if you rush it too much, it bursts. I busted open the sausage and made it become part of the slice of bread, so there was no difference between the bread and the sausage.”
4. Lump crab, spinach and artichoke dip
“That’s a quick, quick, quick recipe. If you have all the ingredients ready to go, you can put it together in a couple of minutes. Because spinach just melts, and you’re not steaming artichokes or anything.”
3. Welsh cakes
Her granny always had a tin in the freezer, and it took Wynne a long time to duplicate her recipe. “I was so overjoyed when I finally got it.”
Wynne thinks the key lies in the spice, which she uses in the dough itself and in a sugar-nutmeg mixture used to coat the cakes after cooking. Plus, there’s the fun of the cooking method. “There aren’t a lot of pastries that we cook on a griddle anymore. So, it’s time to bring that back.”
2. Ten cloves garlic lemon chicken
“Greek food, Cypriot food, it’s frugal stuff,” says Michaels. “It’s about humble ingredients cooked well to create something that belies how cheap it was. And I think the chicken dish is a bit like that.”
Ten cloves may seem like a lot of garlic, but Michaels asks for our trust. “It slowly melts away and just becomes another thread woven into the tapestry of flavours in the dish.”
1. Calcutta-style kathi rolls
“You can DIY it with what you have, what you love to eat, and what your kids love to eat. Mix and match it, roll it up, add your egg, and it’s a high-protein, totally affordable, totally delicious meal. You can make it completely from scratch, as I have in the book. And you can also swap it out with various ingredients that are not from scratch.”
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