Lemon

Small whole fish like trout, char, walleye, bass, and even lake perch are excellent for planking, especially smoke-planking. They get the flavor of the wood plank on one side and a burnished golden color and smoky flavor on the other. An indirect fire is used to slowly cook the whole fish through. Char, in flavor and texture a cross between trout and salmon, is best planked whole. It's easier to fillet after it is cooked and stays moister that way. This method can be used with fish fillets and steaks, too. Whenever you grill fish, grill lemon halves alongside. The little bit of browning adds flavor, and the heat makes the lemons burst with juice. Suggested plank: 2 cedar grilling planks, soaked in water for at least 1 hour
Suggested wood: Sugar maple or apple chips, or chopped corncobs

If the cutlets are thicker than 1/3 inch, slip them into a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag, and pound them with a mallet.

Israeli couscous is small, round, toasted pasta with grains about the size of peppercorns. Serve this dish chilled or at room temperature.

This salad is great with grilled chicken thighs, lamb chops, or leg of lamb.

Aioli (garlicky mayonnaise) is brightened up with fresh oregano, lemon juice, and lemon peel. Roasting the veggies gives them a soft texture and enhances their natural sweetness.

This recipe yields puffy, golden pancakes with minimal effort because they’re baked rather than cooked on top of the stove. Lemon cuts the sweetness of these pancakes and imparts its fresh, citrusy flavor. Serve with Venison Sausages (page 185).

After these plump up from a quick brine, and cook in their shells, they'll eat more like peel-and-eat lobster tails than plain old shrimp. Serve this alongside grilled steak, and it'll be not only a great respite from the meat's richness, but it'll give you a surf-and-turf experience, which for me was one of the most exciting things to get at a restaurant when I was little.

These thin, anise-flavored pancakes are similar to French crepes.

The mildly spicy piment d'Espelette Mayonnaise is France's very own chili powder. It's available at specialty foods stores and from zingermans.com.

Here, grilled chicken turns into a fiesta-style main course. Use leftover canned chipotles to flavor mayonnaise for sandwiches, or butter for chops and steaks.

Pancetta (Italian bacon) is available in the deli section of many markets.

This subtly spicy mayo is great on fish and sandwiches—and on fries, too.

Leftovers are best a day after cooking the fish.

My favorite American sandwich is a BLT, yet it almost didn't make it into this book; the world doesn't need another recipe for it. But after eating at 'ino, a tiny sandwich shop in Greenwich Village in New York, I decided their version—a PLT—was a different story. P is for pancetta, sold at Italian delis and upscale markets. Cut from a large salami-like roll, it is the Italian version of bacon, unsmoked and cured with salt and spices. This is strictly a seasonal sandwich; I forbid you to make it at any time except when tomatoes are at their prime—ripe, juicy, and sweet.

This is a great marinade for chicken fajitas, fish, or shrimp. I seal everything in a Ziploc bag, place it in the refrigerator, and marinate for 2 to 4 hours, to ensure that the flavor soaks in. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes to 1 hour before grilling.

Although the method is very similar to the classic marinated and fried chickens of France, the marinade here has a particularly Greek aroma with its oregano, juniper berries, and coriander seeds. The marinade is also lovely on grilled chicken.

Traditionally, an aioli should be made with lots of garlic and extra virgin olive oil. If you find the flavor too strong, you can use half olive oil and half vegetable oil (and a little less garlic if you must).