Apples make great pies because they don't release a lot of liquid, which can make the crust soggy. Buy tart apples, preferably heirloom varieties from a local farmers' market. The sliced apples are tossed with a small amount of flour to thicken what little liquid they do release.

This ragout is on my menu when I’m ready for spring but it’s not altogether ready for me. In this transitional dish, the peas and asparagus are the link to spring, but the rest of the vegetables—carrots, rainbow chard, mushrooms—hang back a bit, still in winter. As this is not a hefty stew, ..

Very few foods are as satisfying as a perfectly grilled steak. Grilling steaks also affers an occasion to gather guests around the grill and give opinions about when the steaks are ready. Remember, if you're in doubt, there's no shame in cutting into a steak to see whether it's done. ..

When Is It Done? Check the thigh meat by inserting the probe of a thermometer in the thickest part [but not touching the bone]. If you don’t have a thermometer, insert a thin knife between the thigh and drumstick. The juices should run clear and the meat should no longer be pink at the bone.

When Is It Done? The USDA recommends cooking chicken and turkey until the internal temperature of the breast meat is 170°F and the thigh meat has reached 180°F for optimal safety. But most chefs today cook the breast meat to 160°F and the thigh meat to 170°F for juicier results. Keep in mind ..

This filling is very much, in fact almost exactly, like cheesecake.

This soup is a basic leek and potato soup to which cut-up asparagus stalks are added and simmered along with the vegetables. After pureeing this mixture, the asparagus tips are simmered in the soup for a few minutes before serving.

This is the simplest marinade. No mess, no fuss; a small child could make it. I usually use with chicken or pork chops. This makes enough for two breasts or chops, but the quantities can easily be scaled up or down as desired.

Once the chicken pieces have a nice golden brown color on all sides, move them over indirect heat.

Here is a pasta that I make regularly from August until the end of the first hard freeze in October. It is the lightest, most perfumed summer pasta I know—and vegan. You can enjoy it hot or warm. Because our season is short, I grow the small (that is, quick to ripen) “fruit” varieties of ..

You can make these any size you like. These miniature ones are perfect in a breakfast basket, but you can also make large ones, like those sold in American bakeries and cafes. These versatile Danish pastries have a hollow spot in the middle into which you can put just about anything from the cream ..

When you bite into one of these cookies, you'll get the impression of butter suspended in ain as the bite of cookie immediately falls apart into dust. Sometimes these fragile buttery cookies are called Russian tea cookies or Mexican wedding cookies. They can be made with pecans, hazelnuts, or ..

A cuttlefish risotto made with cuttlefish ink looks very much like gravelly tar. However, it's extremely delicate, with much of the delicacy coming from the ink, which imparts an evenness to the cuttlefish flavor of the risotto that would have been absent otherwise. You could also make this ..

I consider one of life’s luxuries to be a huge bag of glistening spinach leaves from the farmers’ market to dip into at will. In winter, I turn to organic baby spinach leaves that are packed so that the leaves are fresh but dry, ideal in this recipe. How many this frittata feeds depends on ..

What to look for in Chicken? Today we are seeing more and more premium chickens available, and usually they are worth their higher price, though not always. Any chickens you buy should have skins that fit their bodies well, not spotty or shriveled or too far overlapping. The color of the skin says ..

If, as I believe, a nation's cuisine is at the core of it's culture, barbecue is as important to the American heritage as is jazz, both festive activities perfected by African Americans in the South. To this day, nothing says "party" like barbecue so it should not be surprising ..