808 style recipes

A bright Italian-style vegetable sauce with three sweet bell peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, and garlic, simmered in stock and tossed with pasta. Vegetarian, low-fat, ready in about 30 minutes.

Southwestern black-eyed peas simmered with diced carrots, onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, and hot sauce. A simple, flavorful side dish ready in 30 minutes.

Memphis-style dry rub for ribs with paprika, cayenne, green peppercorns, and Jamaican allspice. A 12-spice blend with real heat and smoky depth. No sauce needed.

Pit-style smoked pork shoulder grilled over hickory wood chips with a tangy mustard-vinegar barbecue sauce. Low and slow for 3 hours until fall-apart tender.

Romesco-style roasted pepper dip made with broiled red and yellow bell peppers, roasted garlic, almonds, and sherry vinegar. A low-fat vegetarian appetizer with a striking two-tone presentation.

Pit-style pork shoulder roast smoked over hickory wood chips with a tangy mustard-vinegar BBQ sauce. Slow-grilled for 3 hours using indirect heat until falling-apart tender.

Two-ingredient New Mexico style barbecued salmon. Salmon fillets brushed with red chile barbecue sauce and grilled over wood embers. The Southwestern way to cook a piece of fish.

Southern-style curried sweet potatoes: tender sweet potatoes with Madras curry, plump apricots, and raisins. A warmly spiced side dish that bridges Southern and Indian cooking.

Classic country-style hearth loaf built on a slow poolish pre-ferment for deep, tangy flavor and a chewy open crumb. Three simple ingredients (flour, water, sea salt, yeast) and the patience to let fermentation do the work.

Cantonese-style oven-steamed flounder (or red snapper) with ginger, scallions, soy sauce, and sesame oil. A light, clean Chinese fish recipe that uses the oven instead of a steamer and comes together in under an hour.

Slow-braised beef eye of round simmered with soy sauce, dry sherry, fresh ginger, and mushrooms until fork-tender. Sliced and served over hot rice with a rich pan gravy.

Traditional Cree pea soup with soaked green peas, celery leaves, and savory herbs, thickened with hominy grits for a hearty Indigenous comfort soup.

Homemade Sai Oua: ground pork packed with lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime, cilantro root, and dried chilies, stuffed into natural casings and charbroiled. Northern Thai sausage done right.

Light fiesta shrimp dip blends chopped shrimp with reduced-fat cream cheese, picante sauce, horseradish, cumin, and green onions. Lighter than your average shrimp dip, full of southwest punch.

Texas chile con queso, two ingredients only: a block of Velveeta and a can of Rotel tomatoes with green chiles. Melt, stir, dip. The Tex-Mex queso every Texan grew up on, ready in 20 minutes.

Chinese pickled pigs' ears simmered with ginger and vinegar, then chilled in a sweet-sour brine with cucumber, carrot, red onion, and bell pepper. A classic Cantonese cold appetizer.