Peanut

Peanuts reached the American South through a rather circuitous route: Although they were first brought to the United States from Africa in the 1700s, they appear to have originated in South America. The Incas used peanuts in trade, and jars filled with them have been found in ancient Inca graves. This recipe, which may have first come from George Washington Carver’s pot, makes an unusual but surprisingly tasty soup.

Snacking is as much a Mexican pastime as it is an American one. These snacks, which are sold by street vendors, go great with beer and cocktails. Served as a trio or on their own, they are incredibly addicting!

One of the most beloved Asian sweet dumplings is crisp-chewy fried sesame seed balls. A Chinese New Year specialty that may have originated during the Tang Dynasty as palace food, they have been adopted by cooks of countless cultures to be enjoyed year-around. At Cantonese dim sum houses, this treat is called jin deui and usually contains sweetened red bean paste. In Vietnam, the filling typically features buttery mung beans. Ground peanuts are a quick and tasty filling option; if you select the peanut filling, use an electric mini-chopper to grind the nuts, sugar, and salt, and aim for a sandy texture. Sesame balls can be made without a filling, though I find those to be a tad lacking. The sugar used in the rice dough makes for a golden brown skin that slightly shatters with the first bite. Slab brown candy, called peen tong in Cantonese and sold at Chinese markets, looks like pieces of parquet flooring. It has a complex flavor not unlike maple sugar and lends a glorious rich brown color to the finished dumplings. When it is unavailable, light brown sugar is a fine substitute. Pressing on the balls during frying is the trick to getting them to expand, resulting in their signature hollow center.

The Cantonese dim sum repertoire would be incomplete without this wonderful contribution from the Chiu Chow, a seafaring people from a region located on the Taiwan Strait. Robustly flavored by briny dried shrimp, this dumpling also tastes light because it’s packed with vegetables, including jicama and shiitake mushrooms, and peanuts. The varied texture of the filling gets rounded out by a touch of pork, though you can use any meat. Because there is lots of chopping involved with the filling, make it a couple days in advance to minimize last-minute pressures. I first enjoyed these nearly twenty years ago in Hong Kong and they instantaneously became one of my favorites. Good renditions were hard to find in the United States, so I began making them myself. Enjoy them alone or with soy sauce and an Asian chile garlic sauce of your choice. If jicama is not available, substitute canned water chestnuts.

Sitting in the sun, overlooking the beach, I could drink margaritas all day. Unfortunately, or maybe I should say, fortunately, I don’t live in a warm climate or anywhere near a beach. If I did, I’d never get anything done. Whenever I’m looking for a taste of the tropics at home in Paris, I’ll start squeezing limes in my kitchen and I’m immediately transported to paradise (albeit with bills piled up on the counter and the dishes in the sink). Practically obligatory to serve alongside margarita sorbet are salted peanut cookies. They were inspired by the disks of solid peanut paste sold in Mexican markets called mazapan or dulce de cacahuate, which I’ve been known to nibble on with a margarita, or two, south of the border. And above it, as well.

Some folks tell me they don’t like white chocolate. “It’s not chocolate!” they’ll say with a bit of smug certitude. True, but that’s like saying “I don’t like Champagne because it’s not white wine.” Both have merits and to say you don’t like one because it isn’t the other isn’t very logical. I fall into the camp of white chocolate lovers. To convince people of how good white chocolate can be, I often make ice cream with it and add fresh ginger for spicy contrast. And if that’s not enough, I stir in shiny, dark chocolate–covered roasted peanuts to give it nice crunch. If anyone still has any resistance to white chocolate, I call it their loss and am happy to eat the ice cream all by myself.

I don’t have an Austrian bone in my body, but there was just something about the beloved linzertorte, Austria’s cross between a tart and a cake, that seemed ripe for an all-American adaptation. Traditionally, the crust is made with almonds and the filling is raspberry jam. But mine is made with peanuts and is filled with peanuts’ natural partner: grape jelly. Delicious on its own, linzertorte needs no accompaniment.

This is one big, tall, scrumptious dessert: layers of moist banana cake topped with a mocha ganachelike frosting, and crowned with handfuls of salted candied peanuts. Speaking of tall and scrumptious, I made this cake for a friend who’s a showgirl at the Lido in Paris as a thank you for allowing me a behind-the-scenes visit. She shared it with her colleagues between high kicks on stage and she assured me that even though those women are leggy and lean, their cake-eating capacity knew no limits. The next morning, I read an email, sent at 3 A.M., undoubtedly just after the last curtain call, giving the cake quite a few thumbs up. Or, should I say, a few legs up?

Think of this no-cook soup as a Thai-flavored gazpacho. It’s best with really lush summer tomatoes. Serve with a cold noodle dish for a quick summer meal.

A one-dish meal, spiced with chili peppers and served over noodles.

Peanut butter gives this soup a rich flavor. In my home, this is a fall favorite!

Jamie is always in search of good Asian food, which is one of his favorites. We must have had this salad somewhere along the way, because it found its way into Jamie’s kitchen recently. With lime, soy sauce, cucumbers, peanuts, and rice noodles (which you can find in the Asian foods aisle of most supermarkets), it’s a whole new set of tastes that will no doubt appeal to anyone looking for something new to try. It’s also a perfect place to park your leftover steak.

Like reverse butterflies, when the showy yellow blooms of peanuts begin to fade, the peduncle bows to the ground and buries its head in the earth, forming the webbed cocoon-like shells this legume is known for. This slaw is a great one for picnics in the hot summer because it isn’t bound by mayonnaise. Chile, cilantro, and rice vinegar give it a fresh, spicy crunch that makes it the perfect peanutty partner for grilled chicken or pork.

Let me start off by saying that this not-to-be-missed dish . . . takes several hours to make. Even though the recipe involves a time commitment, someone who enjoys cooking will take pleasure in the process, and the end result is all the more satisfying. And I promise you, when you make this dish, it will blow everyone away! The succulent pieces of pork belly are melting on the inside and crispy on the outside. Spicy kimchi is the perfect counterpoint to the unctuous belly. Sweet, spicy, hot, cold, crispy, fatty, crunchy, and chewy—this dish has got it all.

In this recipe, fish sauce stands in for the salt to make a savory-sweet spicy salad or side dish. If possible, include two or more types of melon for variety. We get most of our melons from Whitted Bowers, a biodynamic orchard and farm just north in Cedar Grove that also offers a spin on U-pick berries: dig-your-own Carolina Ruby sweet potatoes. Cheri Whitted and Rob Bowers grow many melons; my favorites include the musky Emerald Gem (considered the finest melon in the world after it was developed in 1886), Pride of Wisconsin, and Sugar Baby, the icebox-size watermelon.