contents

my kind of dish

a few good ingredients

Bread Makes the Meal

james cagney egg-in-a-hole

real garlic toast

spaghetti with bread crumbs and pepper

niçoise salad on a roll

waffle-iron grilled cheese

gorgonzola and walnut crostini

fried bread in the iberian manner

vietnamese vegetable baguette

ham and gruyère bread pudding

breaded eggplant cutlets

spicy stovetop flatbreads

cornmeal popovers

My Kind of Snack

a few ways with salted nuts

quail eggs with flavored salt

tomato and egg salad

speckled sushi rice with nori

cheese in a jar

cucumber spears with dill

moroccan carrots

cold chinese chicken

radishes à la crème

potato salad with peppers and olives

polenta “pizza” with crumbled sage

mussels on the half-shell

prosciutto and fruit

mackerel rillettes

braised artichoke antipasto

seaweed salad with sesame dressing

A Dab of This and That

middle eastern green sauce

north african red sauce

anchovy-garlic spread

italian hot pepper oil

tomato-onion chutney

fresh-pickled ginger

quick scallion kimchee

mrs. paganelli’s “pesto”

mustard from scratch

olive relish, black or green

Eating with a Spoon

save-your-life garlic soup

confetti vegetable broth

spanish garbanzo bean stew

egyptian breakfast beans

fresh shell beans with rosemary gremolata

rice porridge with salted egg

mexican corn and squash blossom soup

saffron and lemon risotto

clams in the shell with fennel and parsley

polentina alla toscana

semolina and ricotta gnocchi

very green fish stew

tunisian meatballs

winter minestrone

Vegetables to Savor

south indian cabbage with black mustard seeds

warm french lentil salad

young turnips, greens and all

classic frisée salad

just-wilted arugula

long-cooked kale, please

well-charred endives with anchovy butter

steamed new potatoes with aromatics

steamed asian greens

slow-roasted tomatoes

braised lettuce and sweet peas

broccoli rabe, italian-style

chrysanthemum greens with silken tofu

swiss chard al forno

vegetable pot-au-feu

Strike While the Iron Is Hot

scorched sweet peppers and onions

peppery duck steaks with parsley salad

griddled polenta scrapple

spanish pork skewers

sizzling shrimp in the shell

fragrant sea scallop cakes

bistro chicken liver salad

rare-seared tuna with crushed fennel

crispy potato galette

wok-fried lamb with cumin

A Little Something Sweet

espresso-hazelnut bark

after-dinner dates

candied grapefruit peel

sweet-and-salty nut brittle

tangerine granita

golden coconut cookies

ginger spice wafers

brown butter almond cakes

figs with thyme and honey

persimmon and orange salad

sweet fresh cheese

A Few Remarkable Drinks

watered-down wine

flavored water for a heat wave

hibiscus flower quencher

a cultured drink

provençal cocktail

gunpowder and fresh mint tea

lemongrass tisane

real chai made to order

acknowledgments

about the author