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These are no ordinary poached eggs. Rich, tender toasted brioche—or challah, if you can’t find it—adds subtle crunch while shaved Parmesan lends just the right hint of saltiness. But the real star is the pistou. France’s version of pesto, this basil-and-garlic–infused oil brings an herbal vibrance to the beloved egg, cheese, and bread combo. You might want to make extra pistou; pour leftovers over pasta for an effortless dinner.

I love a recipe like this, in which one familiar item (balsamic vinegar) combines with something else very familiar (in this case, the elements of a homemade barbecue sauce) to form something entirely new. The end result, which gets slathered all over spareribs that have been slow-roasted in the oven and baked at a high temperature until the two entities combine, makes for a sticky, tangy, unforgettable take on good old-fashioned ribs. If you're feeding a crowd, the oven is your best bet for that final step; if you have the time, though, try broiling the ribs with the glaze on top. The rib and the glaze fuse together and, if you take it far enough (just before it turns black), you get a crispy, sweet, and succulent rib that'll be your new standard from now on.

When I was a kid and my mom made tomato soup, she would cut buttered toast into squares and float them on top of each bowl. My twist on Mom's toast is to make brown butter croutons, though when I'm really feeling feisty I go all the way and make grilled cheese croutons to float on the soup. To cut the bread for the brown butter croutons, take a 4-inch chunk of rustic bread (5 to 6 ounces) and cut off and discard the crusts using a serrated knife. Cut the bread into 4 slices, then cut the slices into 3/4- to 1-inch cubes.

Despite their names and their common family, the Jerusalem artichoke and the globe artichoke aren't at all alike—one is a tuber, the other a thistle. Yet, flavorwise, they relate perfectly in this pasta dish. Add some slivers of red onion, lots of garlic, a kick of red pepper flakes, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a shower of thinly sliced fresh mint and you have a boldly seasoned pasta dish worthy of serving to company yet easy enough for a family meal.

You will find that the garlic has been tamed in the cooking and acquired a delicious buttery quality. Serve with hot toast or thin slices of pumpernickel—to be spread with the garlic sauce.

A tartine is an open-faced sandwich usually composed of a slice of crusty artisan bread topped with a spread, vegetables, and sometimes meat or fish. They are usually served along with a soup or a salad to make a complete meal—definitely one of my favorites. In this recipe, figs, Serrano ham, goat cheese, and greens are piled on top of a savory hazelnut crust.

This is a very simple recipe for crêpes that can be filled with all kinds of savory ingredients or turned into a sweet dessert by omitting the herbs and black pepper and adding a touch of honey. I like them sweet-savory: Spread a little bit of sweetened yogurt over a Chestnut Crêpe, roll it, and drizzle with honey. It makes the perfect snack. If you cannot find chestnut flour, use a combination of 1/2 cup (70 g) superfine brown rice flour and 1/4 cup (35 g) buckwheat flour.

You say potato; we say, Ahhh. The tubers help restock your magnesium stores; low levels can up mental stress.

Chef Kris Wessel of Florida Cookery in Miami Beach, Florida, shared this recipe as part of a Palm Tree Christmas menu he created exclusively for Epicurious. Look for firm fish with bright eyes and red gills, Wessel says. It should smell sweet, not fishy. If you prefer to grill the snapper, see the Cooks' note for cooking times.

Omega-3 fatty acids in salmon may alter certain gene expressions in your body to tell it to melt fat, not store it. Eat up and burn, baby, burn!

Protein and B vitamins in chicken promote healthy hair. Stay gorgeous, girl.

Scallops only taste rich: A 4-ounce serving has just 78 calories, and the shellfish can cost less than a good cut of beef. Plus, they’re super easy to cook. See&151;and enjoy&151;for yourself!

This flavorful ham is glazed with orange juice, bourbon, brown sugar, and apple jelly that's spiced with cloves, allspice, and ginger.

Chickpeas make this hearty dish even more gratifying. A half cup of the high-fiber legumes daily can cut your consumption of fatty foods.

The bell peppers in this dish work to keep your skin looking great. Their vitamin C helps build firming collagen and fends off damaging free radicals.

This is the stew that made such an impression on the final episode of the first season of Top Chef Masters. Each of us had been asked to create a meal that would be an autobiography told through the dishes we would present to the judges. I immediately thought of baeckeoffe ("baker's oven"). The name refers back to the time when bakers used wood-fired ovens. After the bread was done, this dish would be baked long and slow in the falling temperatures of the cooling oven. Since everyone in town would see the baker every day for the family's daily loaf, each would often bring a casserole to be baked in the oven. It was traditional, particularly on Mondays, when the women went to the river to do their laundry. They would have marinated their meats and vegetables overnight, dropped their casseroles off in the morning on their way, and then picked them up—plus a loaf of bread—on their way home. Even though my father was not the bread baker and had a modern, gasfired oven, people still took their casseroles to him. They liked to drop in because he always had some joke or story to tell. Before the village baker also invested in a modern oven and was still using wood, when my father turned over a fresh loaf of bread to give it the traditional blessing, he would sometimes see pieces of charcoal embedded in the crust. That would send my dad wild, muttering that "he [the baker] did not thoroughly clean his oven!" I make this dish often, both at home and at the restaurant. But these days we tend to increase the vegetables and use less meat, and sometimes we use only vegetables and leave out the meat entirely. While there is never a mushroom in the classic recipe, you can add them or make a vegetarian version with mushrooms and a rich vegetable stock. I've also made this stew as the centerpiece for Christmas dinner, adding plenty of sliced black truffles. The classic dish uses a mix of meats including a pig's foot, which gives a rich, gelatinous texture to the stew. You may be able to special-order a pig's foot. Ask the butcher to slice it crosswise into three pieces. But even at the restaurant I sometimes have trouble ordering them, and your stew will still be delicious without one. You can also use just one or two kinds of meat instead of all three.

This is one of my favorite recipes in this book, mainly because of the fun evening I had developing it while visiting my dear friend Kevyn in New York City. I prepared it in his kitchen while he and our mutual friend Jennifer looked on, sipping wine. We enjoyed the meal with a bottle of Côtes du Rhône wine and then, with dessert, drank port left over from the recipe. This is one of the most elegant dishes in the book, and while it's by no means difficult to prepare, it's an indulgent recipe that is ideal for a special occasion or a dinner party.—JH

Pinhead oats, which are similar to steel-cut oats but contain some oats that are ground finer, like flour, make a foolproof crunchy-crisp gluten-free crust for pan-fried fish. You can exchange the catfish for just about any common white fish here—use a lower heat level under the pan and a longer cooking time for thicker fillets. Some good options include U.S. farmed tilapia, ocean perch, Pacific halibut, and line-caught Atlantic cod. Wild salmon would also be delicious—just be sure to avoid overcooking it.

The ultimate comforting supper, bursting with flavorsome vegetables and a rich herby gravy. You can either use some of the pre-frozen chicken filling , in which case thaw it, then assemble the pie and eat straight away. Alternatively, you can make the filling, let cool, and assemble the pie, then freeze the whole thing uncooked ready to defrost and bake in the oven at a later date.