Simmer

This riff on classic potato salad will surprise you with its zing. Lemon, both juice and zest, helps lighten the mayonnaise dressing, and plenty of celery adds crunch.

The timeless combination of steak and potatoes gets extra pep from jarred roasted peppers and aromatic charmoula, an herb and spice blend typically used in North Africa as an instant flavor booster for grilled meats and fish.

Cook your mussels in one pot with garlic, fennel seeds, and white wine while your linguine cooks in another pot. Combine the two and then toss them with your favorite herbs from the garden and some grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Now make believe you're vacationing on the Italian coast.

This one-pot meal—lobster, corn, and green beans—conjures summer in New England. The simple sesame mayonnaise is outstanding for dunking and slathering.

Beneath a creamy layer of tapioca pudding lurks a silky strawberry base. Ground fennel seeds perk up the flavor of the fruit.

Beets are in season in July, but if you don't want to turn on your oven to roast them, try a stovetop braise with butter. It's faster and takes them to a wonderfully tender place. A flurry of fresh mint adds panache.

This recipe is from Eben Freeman, bartender of Tailor Restaurant in New York City.

Let the ganache cool to lukewarm before you use it. If it's too hot, it will simply absorb into the cake and disappear. Editor's note: This recipe is used to complete Sarah Magid's Goldies , an organic take on Twinkies.

Freshly ground coffee adds a depth to the spice rub and brings out the flavor of the meat. Be sure to keep the rub recipe handy. The spice rub would also be great on steaks and chicken.

Praline, a southern candy, forms the top of this showstopping cake.

The term shell bean generally refers to any bean that has to be removed from the pod before eating.

Texans take their barbecue—and their barbecue sauce—seriously. This is a classic central Texas-style sauce, which is a tomato-based mixture that's a little sweet and a little spicy.

Travel the world's barbecue trail and you’ll find meat on a stick almost everywhere. South Africa's version goes by the Afrikaans name sosatie. Like all good Cape Malay meat dishes, fruit and curry are never far off—the former (usually apricots) interspersed with the meat on the skewers, the latter used to flavor the marinade and sauce. "Cape Malay," by the way, refers to the descendants of Indonesian and Malaysian slaves and indentured servants brought to Cape Town to work in farming. "There is perhaps no other single dish that can be regarded as more genuinely Afrikaans than sosaties," wrote South African poet and food writer C. Louis Leipoldt. Writing in the 1940s, Leipoldt was to Afrikaans food what James Beard was to our own. Like all great food writers, Leipoldt dispensed not only recipes but the wisdom gleaned from considering cooking a manifestation of culture. The following sosaties are based on Leipoldt's.

For more of a bite, add two to three teaspoons of whole grain mustard along with the olive oil.

The sweet and savory jam is terrific served on grilled baguette slices that are brushed with olive oil and topped with aged goat cheese.

To read of my travels, you might get the impression that for most of the last three years, I've done nothing but prowl night markets and food stalls. True, a lot of great grilling takes place at these markets, but you can also find some pretty amazing barbecue at luxury resorts. One such place is Amandari, a hotel built right into a rice paddy near the artist town of Ubud, Bali. There, a team of chefs cooks glorious grilled dishes such as grilled shrimp with fiery lemongrass sambal, Balinese grilled chicken, and whole grilled fish with makrut lime leaves.

An all-new version of franks and beans: The dogs are topped with lentils and an innovative take on raita, India's ubiquitous yogurt-based condiment. If you’d like to use naan (tandoor-baked flatbread) instead of hot dog buns, look for it at Trader Joe's stores—in both the bakery and the frozen foods aisle—or at Indian markets.

Mojo is a Cuban sauce made from the juice of sour oranges (or, in this case, a mix of orange juice and lime juice). It's truly versatile—the sauce works as a marinade or salsa for beef, fish, pork, and poultry—so no wonder it tastes great with hot dogs, too.

Leeks and apples simmered in cider add a hint of sweetness—a nice contrast to the sharp melted cheddar. If you can find oblong pretzel rolls at your market, they'll make an ideal accompaniment to these English-style hot dogs.