Recipe Sifter

Pan-fried chicken breasts in a bright lemon butter sauce with garlic and fresh parsley. Pounded thin for even cooking and ready in 45 minutes with just seven ingredients.

Velvety Greek cream of green bean soup pureed with carrots and onion, thickened with a buttery roux, and finished with a swirl of butter. Serve with crunchy croutons for a comforting Mediterranean bowl.

New Orleans-style artichoke oyster soup built on a shallot-butter roux with cayenne, Tabasco, and oyster liquor. Oysters simmer exactly 5 minutes to stay tender, finished with whipped cream.

Greek marinated smelts fried in flour, then simmered in a white wine and vinegar marinade with herbs and mustard. A classic cold appetizer served chilled, perfect for a meze spread.

Beefsteak smothered in onions (filet braise aux ognons): pounded round steak braised for two hours over six sliced onions with vinegar, thyme, bay, and garlic. Classic French-Creole comfort.

This recipe is delicious but might be too barbaric for some.

Creamed turkey with pastry pillows: leftover roast turkey and Italian sausage in a mushroom-sherry cream sauce, served over buttery puff pastry squares. Holiday-leftover dinner for a crowd.

Sweet and sour chicken saute with orange juice, white wine, raspberry vinegar, and rosemary, finished with fresh orange segments and avocado. Bistro-style chicken with bright pan sauce.

Cajun stuffed crabs loaded with claw meat, bell peppers, onions, and celery, breaded and fried until golden and crunchy. A Louisiana seafood classic ready in 30 minutes.

Poule-au-pot is the French farmhouse chicken pot pie: poached chicken in aromatic broth, layered with paper-thin potatoes under a rustic parsley pinwheel biscuit topping. Sunday comfort with a French twist.

Dad's chicken fried steak, minute steaks pounded thin, breaded crisp and pan-fried, then smothered in a creamy milk gravy built right from the pan drippings. A down-home Southern supper.

Lamb Creole gumbo with browned riblets, stewed tomatoes, okra, black-eyed peas, white wine, and lemon. A Cajun-Louisiana stew with a lamb twist that freezes well.

Cheese and beer soup with cheddar, provolone, bacon, bell pepper, and chicken bouillon in a butter-flour roux base. Thick, creamy, and loaded with smoky, cheesy flavor.

Brook trout sauteed with mushrooms, finished with brown butter, lime juice, and fresh parsley. A French meuniere-style preparation with whole fish or fillets.

Poulet a l'Intrigue: a Louisiana-style stuffed chicken breast marinated, packed with a sausage-eggplant dressing under the skin, lightly hickory-smoked, and finished with an andouille-pecan cream sauce.

Chicken in corn cream sauce layered in a baking dish with Parmesan, nutmeg, and heavy cream, then broiled golden. A from-scratch roux-based casserole with broth-poached chicken.