Herbs & Spices

Pork tenderloin is like the filet mignon of the pig, so I serve this with Red Onions Roasted with Balsamic and Honey (page 260) and round everything out with Garlic-Chive Mashed Potatoes (page 237). Charred red onions match perfectly with the sweetness of the dried plums (dried plum is code for prune).

In the convection oven, the baking temperature is reduced from 375°F to 350°F, and the baking time from 12 to 9 minutes. If that alone isn’t enough to convince you to turn on the convection bake mode, I bake three sheets of cookies at one time, which is what the recipe yields, reducing the total baking time from 36 to 9 minutes.

These are shaped rather than rolled cookies. To shape even-sized cookies it is helpful to use a #40 ice cream scoop that measures exactly 1 tablespoon of dough. Arrange the oven racks so they are evenly spaced. This works best for most cookies and multiple pans will bake evenly at the same time.

This moist, even-textured cake is wonderful served plain with a cup of herbal tea. When raspberries are in season, top slices with the berries. To gild the lily, add a dollop of whipped cream.

A ribbon of cinnamon sugar and nuts runs through this coffee cake. This is irresistible served while still warm.

This is a special bread/cake that Danes like to make for the holiday season. It’s a quick version of flaky Danish pastry.

These breadsticks bake to golden crispness in the convection oven, and are a fun project to do with kids.

Sweet potatoes are pale yellow, yams are deeper orange, and red garnets have a reddish hue. If you have trouble finding all three, just buy three pounds’ worth of what you can find. This colorful salad is perfect with roast pork, or on the Thanksgiving menu as a refreshing change from the traditional sweet potato dishes.

Very slow roasting—175°F in a covered casserole—is ideal for whole-kernel grains as well as wild rice. The earthy flavors of whole grains blend well with the flavors we usually associate with another classic—tabbouleh.

This salad is wonderful served warm or at room temperature with French bread and a green salad.

Tandoori Chicken is a classic northern Indian dish. The word “tandoori” comes from the Hindi word “tandoor,” a tall, cylindrical clay oven originally used in northern India to cook meat dishes and bread. Here, we use a tandoori spice mixture as a marinade for salmon. Traditionalists might balk, but when I’m in a hurry, I use a store-bought tandoori spice mixture. In the convection oven, the salmon cooks quickly and is moist and mildly fragrant. A minty cucumber-yogurt sauce adds an authentic flavor.

Roasting brings out all the aromatics in this seasoning mix.

A coating of herbed mayonnaise keeps the fish moist while it bakes.

When I roast salmon steaks, I often like to start a pan of root vegetables in the oven 5 to 10 minutes before the salmon. I toss quartered potatoes and 1-inch chunks of parsnips and carrots with a small amount of olive oil. A complete meal is cooked in less than 20 minutes!

You can double or triple this recipe, although you probably won’t need to increase the egg mixture until the recipe is quadrupled.

Roast turkey is synonymous with autumn holiday celebrations. Because of the dangers of bacterial contamination, I prefer to bake bread-based turkey stuffing separately and stuff the turkey with garlic and herbs. Recipes for a variety of tasty glazes follow below. Check the guidelines chart for roasting time and temperature depending on the size of the turkey you are cooking. With turkeys up to 14 pounds, you can bake two or three accompaniment dishes—I suggest Creamy Garlic Potatoes (page 144) or Sweet Potatoes or Yams Roasted with Orange (page 145)—on the very bottom rack of the oven.

My husband loves tortilla chips, but he won’t touch those little pieces left in the bottom of the bag, so I crush them with a rolling pin to make a coating for boneless chicken breasts. This family favorite can be easily expanded into a party meal. Ordinarily, I serve his with rice, and sometimes I like to add black beans, too.

I’ve baked these spicy chicken breasts for crowds, and always receive lots of compliments. The original recipe was for grill-cooking, but this version works year-round.

This roast is an exception to the guidelines in the beef roasting chart. Some butchers call this the least tender of the rounds of beef, the “knuckle cut.” It needs to be cooked long and slow. When it is low-roasted, wrapped in foil, it cooks in its own juices to tender juiciness. Normally, I would cook the roast at 250°F, but in the convection oven, I reduce the temperature to 200°F. This is a convenient way to roast an inexpensive cut of meat for a large number of people. Espresso coffee beans and a bouquet of spices contribute to the deep, rich color of the beef and the juices are transformed into a delicious mahogany-colored sauce.

Perfect for lunch or brunch, this is a classic soufflé that begins with a thick cream sauce. It bakes in the convection oven in about one-third the time of a conventional oven, although at the same temperature.