Weeknight Meals

Gina: This dish is a Southerner’s take on the classic French style sauté of chicken, shallots, cream, and tarragon a killer combination of flavors. Give this recipe to anyone who claims they don’t have time to make dinner, because it comes together in minutes, and the results are just as good as or better than anything you can order at a restaurant. I like to serve this dish with white rice to soak up the cream sauce, some steamed green beans with butter, and a crisp white wine. I remember complaining about being served chicken when I was a little girl, and my mother telling me, “Chicken is the house steak.” She was right! My mother could work a chicken over, from grilling, boiling, frying, baking, and so on she served it so many ways that I thought she was a magician. Well, you know the old adage that you become your mother? Spenser asked me the same question the other night (“Chicken again?”), and I couldn’t do anything but respond, “Chicken is the house steak.” We both laughed, and all those memories came flooding back to me. I loved it!

Pat: When I was growing up in Memphis, everyone had their own special mac-and-cheese recipe. Traditionally, the matriarchs used elbow noodles, but my girls love experimenting with different pasta, and we fell in love with cavatappi, because its tubular spiral shape holds plenty of cheese sauce, making every forkful a delight (of course, old-fashioned elbows will also work just fine). A piquant, cheesy white sauce and a crispy topping made from potato chips and bacon creates the best—and most indulgent—version of mac and cheese that we have ever tasted. Served alongside roast chicken, or with a simple green salad and a glass of great red wine, this is the ultimate comfort food.

Gina: We serve plenty of meals that are heavy on the pork fat—and we wouldn’t have it any other way! That’s why I like to balance out some menus with fresh vegetables and this classic creamy herb dip. It’s also a great way to get my girls and (big Neely) boys to eat their veggies. I like to serve this dip with vegetable crudités: try red and orange cherry tomatoes, blanched asparagus spears and broccoli florets, fresh radishes, green onions, and carrots. It also makes a fabulous spread for turkey or ham sandwiches.

Pat: When we were growing up, deviled eggs were a staple at any celebration, like a Fourth of July picnic or Easter Sunday brunch, and at family feasts at Momma’s, alongside fried chicken, pork roast, green beans, and creamed corn. In my mind, deviled eggs are an appetizer or a snack, something you grab when you’re passing through the kitchen or hanging out by the picnic table. But every once in a while, Momma served deviled eggs with tuna fish and crackers for a light Sunday dinner, proving that they can work as a meal just fine. This is our spin on a great Southern tradition (one of the many joys of cooking is infusing a recipe with your own personality). The sweet, tangy flavor of barbecue sauce blends surprisingly well with rich, creamy egg yolks. Topped with thinly sliced scallions, these eggs are perfect for a picnic, a backyard party, a down-home brunch buffet, or a light Sunday dinner (thanks, Momma). Gina: I wonder what the grandmothers would say about our adding barbecue sauce?

Gina: In the South, rice is an essential partner for roast pork or chicken, or anything with a tomatoey sauce or gravy, but even down here, folks sometimes find themselves a little intimidated by the process of making it. If you are the least bit nervous about cooking rice, look no further than our recipe. It delivers foolproof results every time, cooking up fragrant, fluffy rice infused with aromatics (shallots, garlic, and a few fresh herbs).

You know how I feel about wasting food; everything in my kitchen gets used, even old bread. I’d like you to try this dish, so, even if you don’t find yourself with a leftover loaf of bread, buy a fresh one and let it dry overnight. Think of this side dish as a bread lasagna and serve it as a contorno to fish or meat. For a different and delicious brunch dish, top each serving with a poached or fried egg.

Make sure the radishes you choose are roughly the same size and have healthy-looking greens attached. If you find baby turnips in your supermarket or farmers’ market , try them the same way. These radishes go very well with the Veal Chops Stuffed with Taleggio and Broccoli on page 220 or the Chicken Breast Valdostana on page 271.

Traditionally, we made polenta with coarse-grain cornmeal and cooked it for 40 minutes or even longer. Today, there is instant polenta, which cooks up nicely in about 15 minutes from start to end. I’m introducing you to polenta by cooking instant polenta; once you master the instant, you can move on to the traditional coarse polenta and you’ll notice the difference in texture. Polenta is unbelievably versatile. I could give you a thousand ways to enjoy it, because that’s how many ways we ate it while we were growing up. It is delicious poured into a bowl and served as is, or allowed to chill and sliced, at which point you can grill or fry it for the next day’s meal. You can even make a “mosaic” by folding diced cooked vegetables into the soft polenta, packing it into a loaf pan while it is still warm, then allowing it to chill. When you cut the chilled loaf into slices, the vegetables will form a mosaic and make an even prettier presentation when cooked.

You can enjoy this dish slightly brothy, or lightly caramelized by continuing to simmer the fennel after it is tender, until all the stock evaporates. If you are serving the fennel with a grilled piece of fish or meat, keep it nice and juicy. On the other hand, if you are serving the fennel as a contorno with a piece of meat or fish that has its own sauce, then cook off the liquid and serve the fennel dry.

If you’re starting with a whole head of celery, choose the right-size stalks for this dish: Use the larger, outer stalks and leaves for stock or soup, and the celery hearts as a snack or as part of an antipasto spread. Those medium-size stalks in between are ideal for baking. What you’re doing here is making a small amount of marinara sauce to bake the celery in. If you have on hand a little leftover marinara, you can certainly use it instead.

Sometimes you see broccoli rabe cut into little pieces, but I like to serve the whole stems with the leaves attached. If you peel and trim them the way I describe below, the stalks will cook at about the same rate as the leaves. Broccoli rabe is a vegetable I like al dente. By that I don’t mean really crunchy, but with some texture left to it.

If you’re in the habit of throwing away broccoli stems, or even saving them for soup, I’d like you to try cooking broccoli this way. The stems are delicious, and if you peel them, they’ll cook in the same time as the florets. Nothing could be simpler than this way of preparing broccoli—after a quick boiling, just plunk the pieces into the hot oil and let them go till they’re tender. You can skip the boiling step and add the raw broccoli directly to the oil and garlic, keeping more of the nutrients intact. In that case, add some water to the skillet along with the broccoli, and add more from time to time as they cook.