Dried Fruit

Here is my super bougie restyling of an everyday Ghanaian hot chile condiment. My bet is that once you’ve made it, you’ll be shouting at your West African friends because no one told you about it before. Until now, you thought XO sauce solved everything. Until now, you thought sambal belacan was the only smoked fish dip the world needed. But now, you’ve realized: I Shito, therefore I am. This recipe is luxurious, it is decadent, it is rich and textured for lavish enjoyment. Right here is where hot pepper sauce dreams comes true.

This super-flavorful dish spins the flavors of shish barak—lamb and pine nut dumplings from the Levant—in a pasta direction.

Bound together with honey and nut butter, these just-sweet-enough bars are sturdy enough to throw in a beach bag and substantial enough to power you through til sunset.

Flatfish is ideal for grilling if you cut it into wide planks but leave the skin and bones intact. The skin insulates its tender meat during grilling, and the bones help keep the pieces together.

This all-purpose condiment is an ideal finisher for anything you might care to grill. Make it ahead and have it ready to spoon over grilled meats, fish, and vegetables.

Running out of Thanksgiving pie is the biggest drag of the holiday season. Console yourself by making these cookies with oats, chocolate chips, dried fruit, and nuts.

Dried red dates, also known as jujubes, contribute an earthy-sweet caramel flavor to this toffee-glazed cake from Pastry Chef Danielle Spencer of Win Son Bakery in Brooklyn. Look for red dates in most Asian groceries or health food stores.

These fluffy buttermilk rolls are filled with a cinnamon-scented date purée to capture all that sticky bun glory without being overly sweet.

These energy bites not only hit the spot for something sweet, they’re also nutrient-dense and hit all your macros.

This salad evolved from my father’s favorite road-trip snack—carrot sticks with roasted almonds, lemon juice, and salt. I’ve punched it up with fresh ginger, lots of parsley, and dates.

Dried barberries are incredibly tart, more so than any other dried fruit you’ll encounter. Look for them at Middle Eastern markets or specialty foods stores, or order them online. 

With its crinkly texture, savoy cabbage is our go-to for stuffed cabbage, but the regular ol’ green variety also works. Both will become meltingly tender.

Using both syrupy date molasses and pitted, sliced dates gives this dish rounded sweetness. It gets a dash of sourness from apple cider vinegar and some heat from cayenne.

We took the classic, beloved Chicken Marbella recipe from The Silver Palate Cookbook and made it weeknight-friendly by using quick-cooking pork tenderloin instead. 

While brandy is the traditional partner for fruit cake, you could also try using a dessert sherry such as Pedro Ximénez. It’s an intensely sweet, dark sherry made from the Spanish grape variety of the same name. Perfect in festive cakes, puddings and custards, you can find it in liquor stores.

The secret weapon in this summery salad is the golden raisins: They're soaked in apple cider vinegar, which not only sweetens the vinegar but also transforms them into plump, sweet-tart balloons.

There is little more nourishing than milk and rice together—easy to eat and cleansing in the best possible sense of the word. Make a double batch and reheat it with a little extra milk on the following days.

Combine puréed dates, peanut butter, and puffed rice into these no-cook treats and gloss with a generous coating of chocolate for a (healthier-than-store-bought) candy bar whenever a craving strikes.

Cinnamon, ginger, and dates add spicy, bright, sweet dimension to this warming lamb stew.