Dutch Oven

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other Mexican classics, check out the video classes.

Effort Level: I This is a pretty common and easy trip dessert. You can use fresh or dried apples. Often people add rolled oats or granola to the topping, but in my opinion that can taste too much like breakfast. Without the oats and with lots of sugar it's a gooey and crunchy dessert.
-Mark Scriver

Okay, rabbit is a traditional meat and curry is a classic sauce, but who knew they went together? Of course, in curry-crazy Britain, you shouldn't be surprised. Traditionally, this dish is called a Scottish curry, but it's really just a British rabbit stew with curry added.

A close relative of Brunswick Stew, Burgoo was traditionally made with small, wild game such as squirrel or rabbit. This recipe adapted from B. Smith makes about 1 gallon, an amount that can easily be made on the stovetop in an 8-quart Dutch oven or soup pot. There are two parts to the recipe: first, making the flavorful meat broth, and then cooking the meat and vegetables together. Burgoo freezes well and tastes even better if it's refrigerated a few days before serving. Lawrenceburg is home to the Anderson County Burgoo Festival, held every September.

This recipe is adapted from one in The Lady's Companion (1753), a popular cookbook of the time. Mrs. Washington's sister Anna Maria (Nancy) Dandridge Bassett owned a copy that is now in the Mount Vernon library. This is an example of one of many "made dishes," including fricassees, hashes, and ragouts, enjoyed by the gentry from the Elizabethan period onward; these comprised "meat cooked and served in a flavoured sauce." Sauce was considered "an important part of all such dishes." This stew is best when made a day or so before it is served, giving the flavors time to blend.

Somewhat reminiscent of a puttanesca sauce, but with the addition of olives and lots of vegetables, this is a homey dish that you would find in many Roman kitchens. Long, slow simmering is what makes the sauce so delicious, so if you like, make a double batch and freeze some to use next time you bake fish or chicken, or make a baked pasta dish.

Aside from supporting your eyes, immune system, and heart, Swiss chard helps maintain bones and may protect against osteoporosis, thanks to high doses of vitamin K and magnesium as well as a healthy dose of calcium. Don’t worry if your pan seems overcrowded with the chard; it will quickly wilt and lose most of its volume as it cooks. Cooking the stems a bit longer than the leaves will ensure they become perfectly tender.

Woodsy shiitake mushrooms, protein-rich chickpeas, and brown rice make this a substantial, satisfying soup.

This North African stew is named for the traditional dish it is cooked in. A tagine is a clay pot that consists of a shallow round base and a cone-shaped lid designed to allow all the moisture to flow back down into the base during cooking. The stews known as tagines are often thickened (and flavored) with dried fruits; the recipe here contains dried apricots, but prunes, raisins, and dates are also common. In France, tagines are often accompanied by couscous; while flatbread is more typical in Morocco. This is a nonbrowned stew, similar to the veal stew on page 205, though far simpler to prepare.

Unlike most other vegetables, tomatoes release a lot of moisture as they cook, so there’s no need to completely submerge them in the oil (or added liquid). It is this “cooking in its own juices” that makes this dish a “confit” (see page 232). Because this technique cooks out most of the moisture from the vegetables, it concentrates the sugars, for a sweet, jamlike condiment to serve with roasted, grilled, or sautéed meats (such as the calf’s liver on page 253). While the confit cooks, stir very gently, or the tomatoes and onions may fall apart.

Curry paste, the flavor base for many Indian stews, often begins with a puree of onion, garlic, and ginger, which is sautéed with spice blends (masalas) until golden brown and caramelized. There are countless varieties of curry pastes in Indian cooking, and the one in this recipe is among the most basic and traditional. The spice blends used in Indian curries are first either toasted in a dry pan or sautéed in oil; in both methods, the heat stimulates the oils in the spices—you’ll know they are ready when they are fragrant (keep a very close eye on them, to prevent burning). Once you’ve mastered the technique, you can make a variety of curries using fish, shrimp, beef, lamb, goat, or one or more vegetables, such as cauliflower or peas and potatoes.

This recipe makes good use of a bone-in cut that takes very well to braising. The ribs are marinated overnight in red wine to give them a deep flavor, then the marinade is reduced to a sauce that glazes the meat. You will need to start with more liquid than in other braising recipes, to avoid having to turn the ribs frequently during cooking, but this leaves excess liquid that must be reduced separately later, before it can be used for glazing (all that reducing is advantageous, since it concentrates the flavors for a rich and unctuous sauce). To do this, use a technique called depouillage, whereby the pan is placed off-center over the burner as the liquid simmers, allowing the impurities to collect on one side for easy skimming and discarding.

Like many favorite comfort-food dishes, pot roast was born of frugality. Here was a dish based on inexpensive cuts of meat and basic root vegetables, cooked together in the same pot, that could be stretched to make meals for days to come. Many fans of pot roast think it tastes even better the next day, so it’s also a good make-ahead option for a big gathering. This particular recipe calls for less liquid than other, more typical braises; here, the water will reach only about 1 inch up the sides of the roast, instead of halfway. With less liquid in the pot, you’ll need to watch it more carefully, and turn the roast more frequently, but you probably won’t need to reduce the sauce in the end or add much thickener (only a tablespoon or so of flour). A common frustration of many new cooks—and even some experienced ones—is that their pot roast turns out stringy or dry. It could be that the meat is too lean, causing it to dry out quickly; this is why it’s important to buy a cut with fat marbled throughout the flesh. A loose-fitting lid might also be the culprit, because the cooking liquid will have evaporated. The cooking liquid should remain at a constant, gentle simmer, rather than a rapid boil—lower heat melts the collagen into gelatin more effectively. It might seem counterintuitive, but a dry or stringy pot roast could also result from undercooking, not overcooking, the meat. In fact, one of the beauties of braising is that it occurs at such a low temperature that it’s fairly difficult (and takes quite a long time) for the meat to overcook.

When I was building the Pizzeria menu, I wanted it to be a true Italian pizzeria experience with a nod to the Italian-American pizzerias that I grew up eating in. With those American pizzerias in mind, I felt that we had to offer meatballs. What I really wanted to serve was a meatball sandwich, but as strongly as I argued for it, Matt argued against it. He softened over time and finally, two years after the Pizzeria opened, I got my meatballs—not as a sandwich, but as an antipasto: a bowl of meatballs served with buttered semolina toast on the side. Today they are the most popular antipasto in the restaurant.

In Italy you see “coniglio,” or rabbit, offered in even the humblest trattoria or osteria, and I can almost never resist ordering it. The flavor of rabbit meat is so subtle that my favorite preparations are those that really coax the flavor out, such as this one. We braise the legs in white wine and serve them with a rabbit and pancetta sausage. When you buy rabbit, ask your butcher to separate the legs from the body of the animal, to fillet the saddles, and to reserve the carcass. And if you don’t have a meat grinder, ask your butcher to grind the loin and belly meat for the sausage as well. We got the method for curing the rabbits from the Zuni Café Cookbook, a constant, inspiring resource for us. While nothing in this recipe is difficult, I won’t lie to you: it is time consuming. But when it’s all done and you serve and bite into the finished dish, I think you’ll find it was worth it. If you want to spare yourself a little effort, skip the step of making the rabbit stock and use chicken stock in its place.

In the last few years, it seems like there have been two requirements to opening a successful restaurant in Los Angeles. You have to offer a selection of decent wines by the glass, and you have to offer braised short ribs. You see short ribs served on the bone and off the bone; cooked with Indian spices, Asian spices, and Latin American spices; and served over mashed potatoes, polenta, and who knows what else. I don’t roll my eyes when I see them on a menu because I know how good they can be. Once they’re cooked, they’re good for a few days, so they’re convenient for the home cook. Braise them today; reheat them tomorrow. In the Italian spirit of not wasting any bit of food, shred the leftover meat to make Francobolli di Brasato al Pomodoro (page 177).

Traditionally, lamb shanks such as those in this recipe would be braised and served in all their glory, and subsequently, making lamb ragù would be a way to turn a relatively small amount of leftover meat into tomorrow night’s pasta dinner. We braise the lamb just so that we can pull it apart and turn it into ragù. It’s a decadent thing to do, and results in a luxurious and delicious pasta. Enjoy.

We serve this rich, meaty ragù alternately with gnocchi (page 172) and pici (page 168). When the ragù is tossed with gnocchi, the flavor becomes like a rich and delicious meat-and-potatoes dish. It manages to be exotic and familiar at the same time. We use only duck legs and not the whole duck because the meat from the legs is more moist and lends itself better to long cooking. You will probably have to special-order the legs from your poultry purveyor, so when you do, make sure to ask for the livers, too. Alternatively, you can make this ragù with one whole duck, cut into pieces. Not only will this be easier to find but also you’re guaranteed to get the liver with it.

Baby spinach is easy to find—either loose at farmers’ markets or prewashed and bagged at supermarkets. If possible, get the curly-leaf (crinkled) type, as it doesn’t shrink as much during cooking as the flat-leaf variety does.

Don’t worry if your pan seems overcrowded with the chard; it will quickly wilt and lose most of its volume as it cooks. Cooking the stems a bit longer than the leaves will ensure they become perfectly tender. If you prefer, seed the jalapeño pepper before using.