Make Ahead

This recipe for a typical Puglian snack comes from Donatella Arpaia's aunt. Keep in mind that the ricotta cheese needs to drain overnight.

There are a thousand and one recipes for this easy staple of outdoor cooking, and it feels like I've tried all of them. But none quite match up to this one. After you've charred the peppers on the grill, you just pop them in a resealable plastic bag until you can slide the skins right off. Then you submerge them in a mixture of olive oil, vinegar, and garlic until they pick up a bit of tang. These will last a week in the fridge, but I bet you'll finish them before then.

Our dough is a little wetter than a standard bread dough, but this style produces the best results with our method of cooking: we use a hot griddle to parcook the pizza crusts. Our pan of choice is my own enameled cast-iron pizza griddle, but you can also use a 10-inch enameled cast-iron frying or grilling pan or a smooth cast-iron pancake griddle.

Although legend has it that the red velvet cake originated in the early 1900s at New York City's Waldorf Astoria Hotel, it's been a Southern favorite for as long as I can remember. (A friend of mine recently reported seeing a version of it at a Starbucks in Mississippi.) Years ago, I made an armadillo-shaped red velvet cake for a wedding couple, complete with gray cream cheese icing for the animal's shell and scales. The idea may have come from the popular 1989 movie Steel Magnolias, which featured a red velvet armadillo groom's cake, a popular Southern tradition that continues to this day. The inspiration for my red velvet cupcakes came from my high-school boyfriend's grandmother. My mother was quite ill during those years, so I spent a lot of time with Bob Yarborough's family. His Birmingham, Alabama–born grandmother cooked and baked frequently, and I never forgot her red velvet cake. I wrote the instructions in my high-school recipe notebook and used it as a guide for developing these cupcakes. The mint extract and crushed mint candies add bit of holiday flair, but easily can be left out at other times of the year.

I pair the pecorino with a homemade fig paste that takes a little while to make—only because you have to let the figs dry in a warm oven—but is an absolutely spectacular condiment. There's no point in making just a little, so the recipe makes about three times as much as you need here, but that's okay; if well wrapped, it keeps in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks and goes well with other cheeses, meats, and poultry.

Yes, you read the title of the recipe correctly. I make gnocchi with ricotta cheese, not potatoes as you might expect. My grandmother taught me how to make them this way, and though they are less forgiving than potato gnocchi, I love their soft, delicate texture and flavor. They practically melt in your mouth. It's crucial to find high-quality ricotta cheese from a good Italian market, cheese shop, or gourmet store and then drain it, and to handle the gnocchi gently. Because this is more about the gnocchi than the sauce, the sauce is exceedingly easy to make, but nevertheless very tasty.

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.

These nifty combinations of finely diced fruit and all-fruit preserves create nearly instant sauces. Each combination makes enough for four to six 1/3- to 1/2-cup servings as a topping.

I fell for this soup on a trip to the Yucatan Peninsula, where it is a mainstay. It’s light and refreshing—a tasty first course that whets the appetite without ruining it for the main event. It’s a smart way to go if you’re serving heavier fare, such as Cheese Enchiladas with Chile Gravy (page 152) or Fiesta Chiles Rellenos (page 145) for a main course.

These little crescents are gone in a couple of bites and can be surprisingly addictive. Their cinnamon sugar coating reminds me of churros, the deep-fried, cinnamon-sugar-coated lengths of sweet dough so popular in Mexico and in my own home state. For a dramatic buffet presentation set them on a tiered dessert tray along with Pequeño Chocolate-Pecan Tartlets (page 166) and Chubby’s White Pralines (page 168).

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from A Kwanzaa Keepsake by Jessica B. Harris. The traditional roast pork is given a southern accent with a crust of well–seasoned crushed pecans. Thinly sliced pork loin with a slathering of chutney makes perfect sandwiches to take to work or school.

The ricotta needs to chill for about two hours. Consider making it the night before so the ricotta is ready to go when you assemble the carpaccio.

In this East Coast-style breakfast treat, a tender sour cream coffee cake is topped with a thick layer of cinnamon-scented streusel.

Any fat from the consommé can be used to make the matzo balls. If you need to purchase chicken fat, it's available in the freezer section of some supermarkets. Look for fresh lemongrass in supermarkets and Asian markets.