Gruyère

If you can’t find this squash, use butternut.

This recipe works equally well with other cheeses: Try a mild fontina or Comté in place of the Gruyère.

Fondue is traditionally made tableside in a stainless steel or ceramic pot over a small open flame. Here is my smoke-infused version of a classic fondue using a wood-fired oven or the indirect heat of a grill or cooker. My favorite way of making the fondue is in a clay sand pot as used in Asian cooking. These pots are inexpensive and fun to cook with (see Resources). You can use a ceramic pot with a lid as well. Or, for a dramatic presentation, place the fondue pot on the table over a small charcoal hibachi to keep hot (see Resources). You can use endive or radicchio leaves and red peppers for dipping in addition to the bread. Serve with a small, simple salad.

This tart has a crunchy cornmeal crust filled with an earthy combination of wood-roasted mushrooms and chard paired with caramelized fennel and nutty cheese. If chanterelles or oyster mushrooms aren’t available, use all cremini mushrooms. The tart will still be sensational.

French onion soup topped with nutty Gruyère cheese is one of the best comfort foods ever! When cooked over a live fire, the deep, rich smoky flavors and aromas are intoxicating. Sweet onion varieties such as Vidalia, Maui, or red Bermuda make the best soup. Of course, if only basic yellow onions are available, by all means use those. A pinch of sugar added during the cooking of yellow onions will bring out their natural sweetness.

This tart with a lattice top is a real showstopper. Your guests’ eyes will light up when it’s brought to the table. Known as a torta rustica in Italy, versions are served around Easter in celebration of the season. The filling is traditionally spinach, though I’ve incorporated other greens for more contrast in flavors. Other versions can have sausage, eggplant, and peppers as the filling.

Panini are pressed and griddled Italian sandwiches that can be filled with any number of simple fillings. They can be made with focaccia, soft rolls, or other breads. My favorite bread for this nutty, smoky combination is multigrain. Smoky Romesco Sauce flavors the bread and is also used for dipping.

Give me almost any combination of toppings, and I’ll turn them into a delicious savory tart. The formula is always the same: the crispy, buttery puff pastry crust; a creamy base of ricotta and crème fraîche; a layer of oozing, usually pungent cheese; and then, of course, the topping. In this case, I sauté an array of winter wild mushrooms until they’re tender, chewy, and still a little crisp. Since they seem to make everything taste better, I can’t resist tossing in a few handfuls of sweet young onions with their spicy green tops. As they all bake together, their flavors unite into this decadent and sophisticated “pizza.”

Lucques had been open only a few months when we were asked to host an Alsatian wine dinner. Working on the menu reminded me of a road trip I had taken many years before through that northeastern region of France. With a corkscrew in the glove compartment and a stinky wheel of Muenster tucked away in the backseat, my boyfriend and I tooled around the picturesque Alsatian countryside. We lived for a few days on tall glasses of Hefeweizen—golden, unfiltered wheat beer always served with a slice of lemon—and on wedges of Flammeküche, warm, cheesy bacon-onion tarts. I made this version of that traditional tart for our wine dinner.

This dish was inspired by an old Julia Child recipe that my mom used to make when I was a kid. Lots of stewed onions are bound with a tiny bit of Arborio rice, like a very loose risotto in which the onion, rather than the rice, is the key player. Finished with Gruyère and a touch of cream, it’s great with grilled lamb, rabbit, and even braised beef.

This grilled pork confit evolved one night when I was making a staff meal at Lucques. I salvaged the leftover ends and trimmings from the day’s pork confit, crisped them in my favorite cast-iron pan, and ran to the walk-in to see what produce I could find to add to the dish. When I got back to the stove, I noticed half the meat was missing. Looking around, I saw that all the cooks had their heads down, suspiciously quiet. Half of my staff meal had disappeared, but I couldn’t be angry. Who can resist succulent pork, hot and crispy, out of the pan? Something so irresistible deserved to be shared with the outside world, so I put this staff meal on the menu!

My grandmother passed this recipe down to my mom and she then passed it on to me. It’s a casserole of pure comfort. First, bitter endive is simmered until sweet, then wrapped in savory ham and smothered with a creamy nutmeg béchamel. Gruyère tops it off before it’s baked until bubbly and golden.