Root Vegetable

Salmon roe, a sushi bar standard here in America, is a very popular ingredient in Japan. I love how these orange-colored pearls explode with a burst of flavor when you bite into them. They add a wonderful zing to this classic fettuccine recipe. Try this dish in the spring when broccoli is at its peak.

This light and flavorful noodle dish is one of my favorites. We use a lot of Asian ingredients at my Chicago restaurant, foods I shop for myself at the local Asian market. The best part of those trips is the Vietnamese place next door, where I stop regularly, shopping bags in hand, for a delicious bowl of pho before heading back to my kitchen. Lightly dipping the beef in broth to cook it, as I describe below, is referred to as “shabu-shabu” in Japan.

Oxtail is a favorite ingredient in countries as diverse as Jamaica, France, and Korea. When you taste it, it’s not hard to understand why. To release oxtail’s rich, sublime flavors, though, you must slowly braise it for hours until the meat is absolutely tender. It’s worth the wait.

This soba gnocchi is one of the most popular dishes at my Chicago restaurant, Takashi. My customers love it and often ask me how to prepare it at home. Well, here’s the answer! The recipe is a little challenging, but I guarantee you it will more than impress the guests at your next dinner party. You can prepare the gnocchi in advance, and even freeze it (be sure to coat the gnocchi with vegetable oil before refrigerating or freezing). You can also prepare the celery root sauce ahead of time. And like the gnocchi, you can freeze it, too.

Yakisoba is an extremely popular casual dish in Japan, especially with kids. During the country’s annual summer festivals you can always find yakisoba stands crowded next to shrines and temples, ready to feed hungry visitors. Traditionally, this dish is prepared with pork loin or pork belly, but I think it tastes really wonderful with beef. Also, I prefer to use dried ramen noodles rather than frozen because they stay al dente when added to the stir-fry.

Tsukumen means, literally, “dipping ramen,” and it’s a dish that’s taken Japan by storm. When I was growing up, we didn’t eat ramen this way, but now you can find this dish offered in shops across the country. It’s not hard to understand why—eating ramen in this deconstructed way gives you a chance to enjoy the noodle and each of the garnishes on its own, dipped in the flavorful broth. This dish is also a delicious play between cold ramen and hot broth. Think of it as noodle nouvelle cuisine! Naruto has a signature spiral swirl, and interestingly enough, it’s an ingredient used almost exclusively for ramen (and on rare occasions, udon).

A Southern tradition, chow-chow is a spicy, pickled fruit-and-vegetable relish that utilizes the produce at the end of the harvest. The fruit and vegetables can vary from recipe to recipe, and can include green tomatoes, sweet peppers, onions, cabbage, carrots, and cucumber. Since Meme and Dede had a pear tree in their yard, they made chow-chow with pears. When I called Aunt Louise to ask for this recipe, she started reciting, “A peck of pears, peeled, cored, and sliced.” I laughed. Members of my family teasingly offer loving sentiments accompanied by the phrase, “A bushel and a peck, and a hug around the neck.” But that is pretty much the extent of my definitive knowledge about a peck. However, a peck is an actual measurement: one-fourth of a bushel, which is about fifty pounds, depending on what is being measured. Bushel and peck baskets made of curved wooden slats with thin wire handles are still seen at farmer’s markets and farm stands all across the South.

I’m not fond of a garlic press—cleaning out all the holes is a chore. I prefer chopping garlic, but finely chopping or mashing large quantities to a paste (see page 72) can be tiresome. Recently I picked up my Microplane, a rasp-type grater, and grated the garlic directly over my saucepan. A couple of swipes back and forth and the garlic had disappeared into the pan below.

Rémoulade is a cold French sauce made with mayonnaise, mustard, pickles, capers, and various herbs, and is very similar to American-style tartar sauce. It’s important the onions and celery are very finely chopped. It’s a dip, not a salad. To cut the celery, first cut the stalk into even, manageable lengths. Then cut into very thin matchsticks, line them up like little soldiers and slice across in thin cuts to make small perfect dice.

The secret to a creamy, emulsified dressing or vinaigrette is mustard. You’ve probably noticed that when you combine oil and vinegar in a bowl they form separate layers. If you whisk the mixture it will combine only for a brief period, then separate out again. Mustard helps thicken liquid sauces by absorbing some of the liquid and allows the suspension of one liquid in another. Try this savory-sweet combination over crisp salad greens or buttercup lettuce or as a dipping sauce for the Oven-fried Chicken Breasts with Pecan Crust (page 102). If Vidalias are unavailable, use another sweet onion, such as Walla Walla or Texas Sweet.

This soup is decidedly uptown and was inspired by one I had at the Ritz-Carlton dining room in Atlanta. It’s a perfect marriage of Southern ingredients and French techniques that clearly states, bon appétit, y’all! I like to serve it in mason jars or French glass yogurt cups so you can see the layering.

Since this soup is the liquid version of a baked potato, calories and all, you can use low-fat milk with no detrimental effect on flavor, if it gives you any comfort. But don’t do anything silly, like use low-fat cheese, which melts poorly and tastes worse. It’s important to add the cheese a little at a time, so it incorporates and doesn’t become an oily mess.

The Savannah River is one of Georgia’s longest and largest rivers and defines most of the boundary between Georgia and South Carolina. I’ve seen photos of my grandfather and his brother with catfish almost as big as a man that they caught in the Savannah River. Wild catfish that live in rivers, lakes, and ponds are bottom dwellers, and the flesh picks up a distinctively earthy flavor. For years, there were catfish in our pond even though the pond was solely stocked with bass and bream. Dede explained to me when I was young that the catfish eggs would be transported on the wings and feet of the water birds. So, it was something special when we would catch them. We’d catch these monsters, and they terrified me, with their flat black mouths and whiskers popping as they flailed on the shore. The whiskers are scary, but they are not what hurts. Dede had a few special tools in his tackle box to deal with catfish. The fish have sharp spines on their fins, and he would fearlessly grab them behind the head and clip off the fins with pliers. Catfish also differ in that they don’t have scales. But their skin is tough and they have to be skinned before they are eaten. He’d hammer a nail through their head into the tree and, using the same pliers, peel the skin off the fish like taking off a sock from your foot. If you are not catching your own, make a point to buy American farm-raised catfish, which are fed a diet of high-protein pellets made from soybean meal, corn, and rice that give the flesh a consistent, sweet, mild flavor. You just don’t know what you are getting if you buy imported fish.

Chowders are thick soups containing fish or shellfish and vegetables such as potatoes and onions in a milk or tomato base. People most often associate these hearty soups with cold New England winters, but the Gulf of Mexico also has a history with them. Poor people living on the coast were able to supplement a diet of salted, preserved meat and inexpensive potatoes with seafood they caught or harvested. Meme would prepare this soup in the fall more often, using fatback for salt and flavor instead of bacon. Both meats produce a smoky, salty layer of flavor that is complemented by the sweet oysters. Use canola oil if you prefer a lighter, healthier version.

This French dish, which translates to “pot on the fire,” consists of meat and vegetables slowly cooked in water or stock. The broth is traditionally served with croutons as a first course, followed by an entrée of the meat and vegetables. The combination of meat and vegetables varies according to the region. It’s traditionally a slow-cooking dish that takes hours. This version makes use of more tender cuts of meat and therefore cooks much more quickly.

Mama loves this soup. What’s not to love? It’s a hearty bowl of sweet, brown, caramelized onions in a rich beef broth, enriched with a dose of sherry and topped with deliciously nutty, golden brown, melted Gruyère cheese. Why does Gruyère taste so good? Aged, low-moisture cheeses such as Gruyère and Parmigiano-Reggiano have a stronger protein structure than younger, softer cheeses like fontina or fresh mozzarella, and require higher temperatures to melt. The higher heat, combined with less moisture, causes the protein to actually break down, bringing out their nutty flavor.

A French classic, this soup marries humble ingredients and well-executed technique to produce an excellent first course or a warming meal with cornbread on a cold winter night. When chilled, this is the famous vichyssoise, a great soup for a cool day. Omit the cream if you want a lighter soup.

Southerners love a casserole. They are church supper staples, great to take to the new neighbor, and equally welcome to a new mom. Cheddar, sometimes called “rat cheese” in the South, ranges in flavor from mild, nutty, and creamy to extra-sharp, rich, and robust. Gruyère is a low-moisture cow’s milk cheese from eastern France and western Switzerland. It has a sweet, rich, almost nutty flavor and is excellent for a cheese sauce. Cheddar cheese is more Southern, though, if you wanted to stay truer to those roots. Turkey sausage is much lower in fat than sausage made from pork and other kinds of meat. Use country-style or coarse-ground sausage, and if purchased in links, remove it from the casing before cooking.

This recipes involving as few dishes as possible. (I like to cook, not do dishes.) It’s also a bit larger than many of my vegetable dishes—it makes for delicious leftovers. Succotash has many versions, but all contain corn and beans. If butter beans are not available, I often substitute shelled edamame or black-eyed peas. Small farm stands, local and state farmer’s markets, and even the Whole Foods in my area usually carry shelled peas and butter beans in the summer. They are both doubly precious—extremely delicious and fairly expensive, the result of the luxury of not having to shell your own.