Gluten Free

You can’t really go wrong with a beef tenderloin. It’s a prime cut of meat that can be pricey, but I consider it for the holidays and special occasions. Really, it’s so tender and flavorful that you don’t have to do too much to make it taste delicious. The crust on this tenderloin, with garlic paste, cumin, and coriander, is so simple yet a wonderful surprise, and the basil-curry mayo is perfectly herby, spicy, and creamy. With any leftovers, you can make some pretty gourmet sandwiches, too.

In Italy, as in this country, steak and eggs are a classic combination. But while you’ll most often find the dish on breakfast menus here, Italians would be more likely to eat it at lunchtime, their most substantial meal of the day. I remember Todd flipping for it when he first tried it many years ago at my uncle’s house in Rome, and now it’s one of our favorite easy dinner recipes. Sometimes I serve the steak on a bed of greens, such as arugula, and serve slices of rustic bread alongside to sop up the runny yolk and meat juices. Steak, salad, egg, and bread—what more could you want, any time of day?

This is a dish typically found in the Lombardy region of Italy, or in the Veneto. The extra-creamy consistency of this risotto belies its bold flavors: each super-rich bite is woodsy and earthy all in one. Because it’s so rich, a small portion makes a big impact. I serve it with a simple side salad and a full-bodied red wine, such as a Barbera.

This dish has become very popular on restaurant menus, because it seems extra-special—and tricky to make at home. Special it is, but in fact it’s quite easy to pull off, as it uses frozen lobster tails—no live lobsters to boil. The key is to brown the butter well for a deep, nutty flavor.

Italy is best known for its short-grain rice dishes, like risotto, but long-grain rice is popular there as well. My grandmother Nonna Luna loved to cook rice, and her secret was toasting the grains before adding the broth and a tablespoon of hot sauce. Unlike in a risotto, the grains stay fluffy and separate, not starchy. This dish is super easy to make—the only trick is taking the full six to seven minutes needed to toast the rice grains. That step gives the dish a nutty flavor that takes it from good to great, and the shrimp make it a full meal.

Spezzatino is an Italian vegetable stew that has meat in it. This one boasts small bites of chicken and a sprinkle of crunchy pancetta. I love artichokes, so I add them, along with the beans, to make this soup a meal.

Beef filet always makes an occasion special, but in the case of these mini beef kebabs it’s the parsley sauce—almost a fresh salsa—that makes the dish shine. For an interesting change, mix it up and substitute fresh pineapple chunks for the tomatoes; they make for a surprisingly harmonious combination. One note: Don’t marinate the beef any longer than three hours because the vinegar in the marinade will break down the meat and ruin its texture.

The sight of a platter of jumbo shrimp at a party always makes guests happy, but the usual shrimp cocktail is served ice-cold and, in my opinion, is pretty flavorless. I think shrimp taste so much better served warm—especially with this simple and colorful dipping sauce to dunk them into. The ingredients are an interesting combination, and their unique flavors, along with the color of the turmeric, yield a creamy, tangy, and slightly sweet sauce.

The sweetest, best kind of dates are Medjools. They’re large, so they are easy to fill, meaty, and chewy. Stuffed with goat cheese and wrapped in prosciutto, they provide a perfect sweet-salty mouthful in every bite. Serve these with a crisp white wine as the ideal before-dinner tidbit.

Pots de Crème are always great, but flavored with ginger they become exotic yet there’s nothing to it.

If you use vanilla in place of the cinnamon and omit the caramel (step 2), you can call these pots de crème. No matter how you make them, though, be careful not to overcook, or the eggs will curdle instead of becoming silky and creamy.

If you have an ice cream machine, this is one of the fastest, easiest, most satisfying desserts you can make.

A special combination, decidedly Asian. Use fresh ginger if at all possible.

Unlike almost every other frozen dessert, granitas take no special equipment. They do take some time, however, and do not keep well, so timing is important. Figure two to three hours for this, start to finish.

I make these skewers, the creation of my friend Johnny Earles, several times each summer. The bananas, especially, drive everyone wild.

If you take soft, ripe fruit, top it with a fancy sauce like crème Anglaise, and run the whole thing under the broiler, you have a four-star dessert. But if you top the fruit with something like sweetened heavy cream, whipped just enough so that it holds some body when broiled, or sweetened sour cream—which hardly needs to be whisked—you can produce a similarly glorious dessert in less than half the time. Although this preparation is lightning-quick, it has to be constantly watched while cooking. Get the broiler hot, put the dish right under the heating element, and keep your eyes open. You want the topping to burn a little bit—it will smell like toasting marshmallows—but obviously not too much. When the topping is nearly uniformly brown, with a few black spots, it’s done. The fruit will not have cooked at all.

Look for Large Pears, just about ripe; their “shoulders” should yield to gentle pressure, but they should not be mushy. Serve these, if you like, with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream, or ice cream, or sour cream.

Nothing can match dried fruit for convenience and intensity of flavor. And when you poach an assortment with port and a few spices, the results belie the ease of preparation. This is not a summer dessert—no one would mistake this for fresh fruit—but it is delicious, low-fat, and a welcome change from heavy winter desserts. One tip: Use a port you’ll enjoy drinking (or buy a half bottle), because you’re going to use less than a third of a full-size bottle in this recipe.