120 porch recipes

Oysters au champagne is a classic French appetizer: fresh oysters poached in champagne and oyster liquor with garlic butter, plated over a bed of wilted spinach, and cloaked in a silky roux sauce.

Chilled poached shrimp served with a bold, spicy peanut dipping sauce made with ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, and soy sauce. Both the sauce and shrimp can be made days ahead for easy entertaining.

Laksa lemak with thick rice noodles, shrimp, bean sprouts, and cucumber in a rich coconut curry broth. A classic Malaysian noodle soup where the shrimp poaching liquid becomes the base of the laksa gravy.

Steamed salmon in orange-tomato sauce poaches skinless salmon fillets over a bright reduction of orange juice, white wine, garlic, and plum tomatoes, perfumed with fresh basil. A light, low-fat 35-minute weeknight dinner.

Reptile pot pie poaches alligator, snake, or iguana meat in a Thai-Indian curry sauce of coconut milk, fish sauce, turmeric, and coriander. Served over baby vegetables with fresh cilantro. Bold, unexpected, and surprisingly approachable.

Golden Wardens are whole pears poached slowly in honey, white grape juice, and lemon until the syrup turns burnished and the fruit collapses to butter-soft. An English heritage dessert built for the hardest, most stubborn pears.

Fresh figs poached in port and creme de cassis, the wine reduced to a glossy syrup, served over vanilla frozen yogurt. An elegant, low-fat dessert with deep berry and fig flavor from just a few ingredients.

Creamy chicken wild rice soup made from scratch with homemade broth, earthy mushrooms, and fresh thyme. A lighter take on the Midwestern classic with sour cream stirred in for velvety richness.