Herbs & Spices

People's Pops At first lick, these pops will bring back memories of summer afternoons—but with the distinction that these sophisticated frozen treats are made with fresh fruit and herbs. You can use any watermelon, although yellow is an unexpected change from red. Basil and tarragon are good alternatives to the mint.

Dickson's Farmstand Meats Dickson's Farmstand Meats is a unique butcher, sourcing their meats from farms with extraordinarily high standards. It is only natural (pun intended) that their chili recipe would be uncommonly good, loaded with flavor as well as detailed techniques for great results. This is not your granddaddy's chili! For example, the main meat is beef shank, a highly gelatinous cut that gives a luscious smoothness to the sauce. The meat is marinated overnight before cooking, and the seasoning gets complexity from smoky Turkish Urfa chile flakes. If you have the time, refrigerate the chili overnight before serving to mellow the flavors.

This may be more of a rémoulade than a tartar sauce, but we've been making it this way since I came to the Oyster Bar. Has it changed at all since 1974? There's no way for me to know—but I doubt it. Be sure the hard-cooked egg and potato are cold when you make this.

I introduced this recipe to the Oyster Bar in the early 1990s. We serve about 12 gallons of it every day.

"This is as good as it gets!" Alan exclaimed as he took his fourth forkful of this creation, followed by a fifth. Picture a warm, creamy, puffy bread pudding, straight from the oven, that tastes like it was made in a praline confectionery shop in New Orleans. You start with a loaf of challah, cut it into thick slices, and pour over a rich, creamy custard. Marble it with a buttery brown-sugar praline crunch filled with pecans and flavored with cinnamon. The secret is to refrigerate the pudding for several hours or overnight before baking; it's the long soak that makes this bread pudding the best you've ever tasted!

I think "pumpkin pots" might just be one of my new word combinations. Pumpkin pots. Pumpkin pots. Pumpkin pots. It just makes me happy the way the words flow together. It also makes me happy the way the flavors of the pumpkin, sausage, herbs, and eggs come together in this perfect little side dish for fall feasts.

I insisted that the theme of my coming-of-age party be mocktails and canapes because I wanted to be grown up, and had often seen my mum eat canapes at parties. My Rose Beef Bites are delicate and also delicious, with beef and horseradish being lifelong friends. Spending a tiny amount of time to be sure the beef looks pretty makes these canapés stunning to behold. Assemble the beef before the party, so then it's only a matter of spread, drop, serve, and smile!

Cornish game hens are just the right size to serve two people and nestle into the slow cooker with ease. Port wine is an excellent ingredient for slow cookers, as it always provides a little richer color for the ingredients. Preserves, jams, and jellies are handy ingredients to create easy sauces for poultry and meats. For a darker skin, baste the hen during cooking with sauce from the bottom of the slow cooker.

These protein "truffles" are so ridiculously easy that I feel somewhat silly adding them to this collection. Then again, my super-simple, silly recipes are often my most popular. They are certainly favorites in my repertoire, in large part because of their fast factor, but also because of their portability and candy-like appeal. Plus, they are endlessly customizable by varying the spices, extracts, and other add-ins, or by giving them a chic coating of chia seeds, cocoa powder, or chopped nuts. Who says pretty and power can’t go together?

When we visited Kyoto, a few hours' ride from Tokyo on the famous Bullet train, we found a little restaurant in the heart of town that won us over with the names of dishes listed on the menu: Firecracker Tofu, Pickled Mixed Radish Salad, and the mysterious sounding Okonomiyaki. The chefs were clearly having fun at this place, and we were blown away by the depth of flavor they achieved with such simple preparations. We threw back some sake and tore through plate after plate of food. This salad is inspired by that meal, featuring quirky sea beans (a seaweed-like swamp/beach vegetable) and the haunting flavor of shiso (Japanese mint). You can find fresh sea beans at a gourmet market. If they're not available, substitute pencil-thin asparagus. Look for shiso in Asian markets, but substitute fresh cilantro if you can't find it.

Pomegranate seeds sub in for cranberries in this bracing, colorful relish.

This cut of pork can be very lean, so take care not to overcook it or it will be dry. Ideally, it should still be a little pink in the center.

Yeasted doughs might seem daunting to novice bakers, but these rolls are very simple to make.

Thyme syrup adds a savory note to this rum-cider punch that'd be great as a pre–holiday dinner drink.

Basil is wilted like a leafy green in this stir-fry, then added raw at the end for a double dose of its aromatic flavor.

Kierin Baldwin's pie dough method is special in a couple of ways. First, she uses a combination of butter, which lends rich flavor, and shortening, which makes the flakiest crusts. The best of both worlds. Her technique of repeatedly flattening and stacking the dough coats the flour with fat, which helps make the crust tender.

Transform leftover turkey into the ultimate grilled cheese.