Recipe Sifter

Broiled scallop and mushroom skewers marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, bay leaf, and coriander seeds. A simple seafood brochette served with tartar sauce.

Seafood gumbo loaded with shrimp, crab, and five pounds of okra smothered with tomatoes, garlic, and hot sauce. An authentic okra-thickened Cajun gumbo, no roux needed.

New Orleans-style red beans and rice slow-simmered with salt pork, the holy trinity, hot sauce, and Worcestershire. A Cajun Monday tradition from dried beans.

Mom's chili with ground beef, kidney beans, tomato paste, and a touch of ketchup simmered low and slow. A no-frills homestyle chili that gets better the longer it cooks.

Lamb carnitas braised in milk with coriander, savory, and bay leaves until fall-apart tender. Served in tortillas with broiled onions, tomatoes, sour cream, and salsa.

Texas-style chili made with coarse-ground brisket, no beans, and a full bottle of beer. A deep, meaty bowl of red simmered low and slow with cumin, oregano, and a fistful of dried chiles.

Vegan red beans and rice: two kinds of red beans simmered with chili, cumin, and tomato, folded into brown rice and served with fresh salsa. A high-fiber, gluten-free, meatless take on the Southern classic.

Spiced pot roast marinated in a blended paste of cumin, turmeric, ginger, rosemary, French mustard, poppy seeds, and lemon. Braised tender on the stovetop or in a slow cooker.

Italian pasta and bean soup (pasta e fagioli) simmers Great Northern beans with onion, carrot, celery, zucchini, and tomato paste, then finishes with al dente pasta. A rustic, hearty peasant-style bowl.

Open-faced black bean nachos with spicy chorizo, melted Monterey Jack, and a smoky black bean pesto thickened with ham hock. Fried flour tortillas baked into crisp wedges. Loaded restaurant-style nachos.

Old-fashioned veal stew is the French classic blanquette de veau: blanched veal gently simmered with pearl onions, mushrooms, and chicken stock, finished with a velvety egg-yolk and cream velouté sauce.

Fisherman's seafood chowder loaded with clams, crab legs, shrimp, and scallops in a bacon-laced milk broth thickened with instant potato flakes.

Pot roast with roasted vegetable sauce turns the braising veg into the gravy itself. Beef round roasts low and slow with tomatoes, red wine, thyme and bay, then the vegetables get pureed into a silky, spoon-it-over sauce.

Homemade white stock made the classical French way: blanched beef, veal, and chicken-feet bones simmered with mirepoix and a sachet of herbs for up to 18 hours. Crystal-clear, gelatin-rich, and the foundation of every great sauce.

Orange venison stew with mushrooms, shallots, white wine, tomatoes, and potatoes baked in a casserole. A refined wild game stew with citrus and earthy depth.

Louisiana red beans and rice simmered with a meaty ham bone, smoked sausage, the holy trinity, and hot sauce. Soaked overnight, slow-cooked, and served over fluffy rice with scallions.