Leafy Greens

A composed salad that features all the bright and pretty colors of the season.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from chef Neil Perry's book Rockpool. Neil also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. For your convenience, we've converted the measures — with as much accuracy as possible — from Australian to American. For those who have metric equipment and wish to follow Neil's recipe to the milliliter, we've included the original measures too. To read more about Neil and Australian cuisine, click here. In this dish, the combination of pastry, fish, sauce, yoghurt and spinach makes a complete dish. The cardamom and tomato are a perfect match, and the fish steams gently inside as the outside of the pastry crisps up. This dish also works beautifully with the flat fish of Europe and America. It is important that the vegetables are well-seasoned and cooked until they caramelise to impart their flavour to the sauce. The depth of flavour of aromatics is so often lost when they are not allowed to do their job properly. The Tomato and Cardamom Sauce goes nicely with all seafood; its deep, rich flavour enlivens the taste buds. The tomatoes are cut up, skin, seeds and all. Slice into thin rounds, then into julienne and chop the julienne to give a uniform dice. Don't chop them as if cutting for concassé, they lose too much juice that way.

Inspired by the cooking of the American South—and absolutely delicious.

Allow about 5 1/2 hours for the pizza dough to rise. The small quantity of yeast and a long, slow rise give the crust its great flavor and texture.

Gay Koenemann of Bonn, Germany, had dinner at 300 East Boulevard on a recent trip to Charlotte, North Carolina. There he was treated to the most exquisite salad he'd ever had. Although the restaurant calls it Fall Salad on the menu, it's enjoyable year-round. Dried cranberries would make a good alternative to the dried cherries.

Smoked duck adds elegance to this salad. Smoked turkey would also work well.

Gorgonzola cheese adds zip to this salad.

"Lidia's in Kansas City, Missouri, serves a rustic white bean and potato soup that would make a perfect meatless entrée for a winter evening," writes Deborah Johnson of Columbia, Missouri. "I order it every time I go there. Do you think chef Dan Swinney would part with his recipe?" Start this recipe a day ahead so that there's time for the beans to soak overnight.

Freezing the meat for 30 minutes will make it easier to slice. Serve with a crisp, dry Riesling or beer.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 40 min

Linda Forst of Mukilteo, Washington, writes: "I attended a conference in Anaheim, California, and went to dinner at Catal Restaurant & Uva Bar in Downtown Disney. The whole meal was outstanding, especially the 'compressed salad.'" For a "compressed" presentation, the chef uses a three-inch ring mold to mound the salad in the center of each plate. You can use a cleaned-out can, with top and bottom removed, as a mold.

"I am 76 and consider myself a very good cook," writes Dorothy Harley of Norco, California. "I've always looked forward to receiving your magazine. Some recipes I try, love, and make over and over. One recipe I remember most is a shrimp and avocado salad. For our 25th anniversary, I cleaned and cooked 25 pounds of shrimp myself for the dish — it was a hit. And for my daughter's wedding, 21 years ago, I made it again. I'm sure that if you reprinted the recipe, you'd receive praise." Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 25 hr (includes marinating)

For ease of preparation, ask for the full round, not the short cut or partial leg, and have the butcher butterfly it for you.