Herbs & Spices

Blanching fresh basil leaves before blending is the key to this vibrant, ultra-herby pesto. Perfect for pasta, it also dresses up pizza, scrambled eggs, and more.

A warm, richly spiced oil turns a bowl of mixed olives into elegant party fare.

Bone-in turkey breasts are easy to find, and as impressive as a whole bird when you roast them in butter and herbs.

This light and brothy stew is just the thing for crisp autumn nights.

If you don't have both spices, it's okay to omit one or the other.

The gooey toffee sauce is both absorbed by the cake and served on the side. For a glossy, polished presentation, brush the still-warm cake with a clean pastry brush after it comes out of the pan, which will remove some of the excess syrup.

Make your next party a falafel party with this irresistible recipe.

Mustard seeds give these steak house-style wedges great flavor and crunch.

Neither long simmering nor heat-canned, this vibrant, lightly spiced jam couldn't be simpler to prepare. Red-fleshed plums lend a gorgeous garnet color, but any variety works well.

I found this recipe while working with a lady who is gluten intolerant. At that time there weren't many recipes for her dietary needs and I wanted to make a special cake for her birthday. It's quite large, always popular and well suited for dessert. It's also great for Passover—a bonus!

This dish, featuring many Indian flavors, is a little unusual. Instead of calling for lamb as the base, I use beef, which is not so common in Indian cuisine. But I find it goes very well with the cardamom, cinnamon, and curry leaves that make up the aromatics in the pot. It's a fragrant dish, not spicy-hot, but very flavorful. Since you can make it in advance, it's perfect for when you are having a lot of friends coming over and you want to be able to spend time with them. Like many of the recipes in this book, it will braise while you socialize.

A quick blanch helps take away the bitterness in the kale for the pesto. A bit of lemon brightens it up and help the pesto retain its bright, green color.

To choose a fresh tomatillo, they should be firm and the husks mostly intact. A split is ok, but you want them looking pretty tight. Roast the onions here if you like a deeper, caramelized flavor, or add them in raw for a more authentic salsa.

The glorious thing about delicata squash opposed to other autumn squash is that the skin is absolutely edible once roasted. The maple and spice here play off it's naturally sweet flavor.