Keto

This is the recipe of my friend Vikram Vij, whose Vancouver restaurant, Vij’s, is among the best Indian restaurants in North America. Other cuts of meat you can use here: Beef tenderloin (filet mignon), cut into medallions. Pilaf (page 513), Dal (page 433), and other standard Indian accompaniments would do nicely here.

In India, it should be noted, much “mutton” is actually goat, and—except in the most expensive restaurants or wealthiest homes—this spice mixture would be used on meat that would later be braised in a yogurt sauce, much like the one for the meatballs on page 424. But with our relatively young, tender lamb, you can just rub the meat with the spices and grill. (If you refrigerate for an hour or a day, the taste will be somewhat improved, but it’s not imperative.) I find this dish just as elegant as the French version, page 358, especially when it is on the spicy but mild side, with the chiles omitted. Serve with simple Pilaf (page 513) and, if you like, Curried Carrots (page 451). Other cuts of meat you can use here: beef steaks like skirt, sirloin (New York) strip, or ribeye are all good treated this way.

Meat to be grilled for shish kebab, usually lamb, is ideally marinated in a paste of yogurt, minced onion, and spices, even if it’s only for a few minutes. If you prefer to eliminate the yogurt, use a couple of tablespoons of olive oil instead. And if you have dried ground sumac—a sour spice found at all Middle Eastern stores—sprinkle a little of it on the meat just before serving (you won’t need the lemon). If you choose to grill other vegetables—tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, more onions, whatever— skewer them separately. Simply brush them with a little olive oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. These skewers, of course, are ideal with Pilaf (page 513). Other cuts of meat you can use here: beef tenderloin (filet mignon) or boneless chicken thighs (which will require a little longer cooking time).

This recipe doesn’t demand anything particularly exotic to produce an authentically Malaysian flavor. But instead of relying on canned curry paste as so many similar dishes do, this one offers a good deal more fragrance and sweetness by starting with fresh spices. If you’ve got access to a good market and would like to try a more unusual chicken curry from Southeast Asia, try the Red-Cooked Chicken (preceding recipe) or the Braised Duck or Chicken with Fresh Curry Paste on page 328, which incorporates Thai ingredients like dried shrimp or fish sauce. This curry is great with white rice but even better with the Malaysian coconut rice, Nasi Lemak, on page 515. You can make this curry a day in advance—keep it covered in the refrigerator overnight and warm it gently over low heat before serving.

Kofte are at home in a dozen or more countries, under a variety of names. The most basic combine ground lamb and onion in a fairly smooth paste—not chopped, like the best hamburgers are, but quite dense—and are grilled on skewers (you can, if you prefer, shape them into burgers or meatballs and grill that way). Beyond the basic, there are infinite varieties; I get into some of them, but this is a subject on which one could write a book . . . Serve, if you like, with Parsley-Onion Condiment (page 596).

This fragrant, sweet-smelling Malaysian version of braised chicken is complex and delicious. The vaguely red color (it’s actually brown) comes from the chiles and tamarind. But if you don’t have tamarind, or you want a truly red sauce, substitute tomato paste for the tamarind paste; it’s a nice change of pace and actually makes the dish more attractive. Serve this with Nasi Lemak (page 515) or another rice dish.

You might think of this as a kind of indoor shish kebab, one that contains its own built-in sauce, a combination of yogurt and the juices exuded by the lamb and roasted vegetables. Serve with rice or pita bread. Other cuts of meat you can use here: beef tenderloin (filet mignon) or boneless chicken thighs (which will require a little longer cooking time).

The simplest and easiest way to infuse the flavor of lemongrass into chicken. For the ultraswell version, see Lemongrass Chicken (page 287). Like that dish, this one is great with steamed Sticky Rice (page 508).

When I was served this dish, of alternating bay leaves and chunks of lamb, the bay leaves were fresh (I was told that the world’s best bay leaves are grown around Smyrna, in Turkey). I couldn’t imagine that dried bay leaves would be much less delicious, and indeed they’re not. Either a rice dish or ordinary crusty bread is fine here, along with a salad like Spicy Carrot Salad (page 191), any of the eggplant salads on pages 191–193, or simply some plain roasted peppers or grilled vegetables. Other cuts of meat you can use here: chunks of boneless pork shoulder (which will need somewhat longer cooking) or beef tenderloin (filet mignon).

How wonderful is the marriage between thyme and lamb? So wonderful that this dish conjures up visions of Greeks spit-roasting lamb or goat on rocky hills above the sea, basting it with branches of thyme dipped in olive oil. (Which is not a bad recipe itself, especially if you have the rocky hills and sea.) This lamb is lovely with a rice dish or simply with bread. Note, interestingly, that this recipe is virtually the same as the one that follows—except the flavors are distinctly different. Under many circumstances, I would have made one a variation of the other, but it would have seemed, in this case, to give one or the other short shrift. They’re both great. Other cuts of meat you can use here: thick cuts of “London broil” or flank steak.

Since it is made everywhere, it may be a stretch to call roast chicken “French”—but not to call it one of the simplest of the world’s great recipes. There are three keys to success: One, pay attention to the technique; it works. Two, start with a good chicken (find a free range or kosher chicken you like and stick with it); without it, the technique is wasted. And three, use butter if at all possible; the difference is profound. You can use this technique or any of the variations with baby chicken (poussin) or Cornish hens.

You will need two ovenproof skillets or a skillet and a couple of bricks or rocks to use this simple, wonderful method, which yields crisp, delicious skin and succulent meat. As a bonus, much of the chicken’s own moisture remains at the bottom of the pan and produces a perfect natural sauce. You can buy split chickens at most supermarkets, or any butcher will split it for you. You can also do it yourself: use a knife or poultry shears to cut out the backbone, then press down on the breast to flatten it.

You can use a whole leg for this or a butterflied boneless leg—usually, you can buy boneless leg of lamb in the supermarket. You can grill or broil it (or, for that matter, roast in a hot oven); there are differences in timing and in flavor, but all the results are excellent, and it’s a dish you can use at any time of year. You can also make it more simply: rub a leg of lamb with olive oil, salt, pepper, and fresh thyme or rosemary. But I like it best as it is done in Provence, with a variety of herbs, along with some garlic. If you’re cooking this inside, serve it with Potatoes with Bay Leaves (page 481) or another roasted potato dish and a simple steamed vegetable. Outside, I’d grill some vegetables and perhaps some Crostini (page 41). One more comment: this is also great with boneless lamb shoulder, but because that is higher in fat, you must grill over lower heat, and carefully, to prevent burning.

This remains a luxurious dish, though it is quite simple. Traditionally, so many cracked (not ground) black peppercorns are pressed into the meat that they form a crispy crust. For some this is overwhelming. But if you slice the steak before serving, the surface area per bite is not as great. Or you could, of course, use much less pepper.

A laughably simple weeknight dish that packs a lot of flavor. Try to buy shoulder (rib) end pork chops, which will dry out less in the pan than others. Serve with a salad and a cooked vegetable or starch, like any of the mashed potato dishes on page 480. Other cuts of meat you can use here: bone-in chicken thighs (which will require more cooking) or pork medallions cut from the tenderloin (which will cook more quickly).

A choucroute need not be meat, as is the more familiar one on page 404. Alsace, where the dish originated, has a long tradition of combining sauerkraut with fish. As is always the case, buy sauerkraut that is either sold in bulk or packed in plastic and contains no more than cabbage and salt. Serve with boiled potatoes.

This is a fast stew you can make with a variety of fish—a few scraps if that’s all you have—or with one or more types of prime fish. For example, it’s great with shellfish only: shrimp or a combination of shrimp, scallops, and a mollusk, like mussels (make sure they’re well washed). But you can make it with a single piece of sturdy fish, like monkfish or halibut. In any case, be sure to serve it with plenty of white rice, preferably basmati.

Try to use branches of fresh oregano, marjoram, or fennel here; they really make a tremendous difference. The first two are grown by many gardeners, and a good gardener can probably spare some. Bronze—herb—fennel grows wild all over southern California and is easy to find (it’s also grown by some gardeners). Occasionally you can find one of these in a big bunch at a market, too; you’ll need a big bunch to try the grilling option. In any case, choose a fish with a simple bone structure so it can be served and eaten easily. The best for this purpose are sea bass, red snapper, grouper, striped bass, and mackerel. One advantage in using the oven over the grill is that in roasting you can add some peeled, chunked potatoes to the bottom of the roasting pan as well; they’ll finish cooking along with the onions.

I once thought that poached skate with brown butter was the highest and best use of this relative of shark, but then I began to sauté the fish, which is even better. Which you prefer depends, to some extent, on your tolerance for butter. I offer the sautéed version first and the more classic poached fish as a variation. For either, it’s easiest if you buy skate that has been “filleted,” that is, removed from its central cartilage (if it isn’t, just cook it a little longer; it will practically come off the “bone” by itself). But never, ever buy skate that has not been skinned; you simply will not get it off unless you resort to a pair of pliers—and even then it won’t be easy. This is a rich dish; serve it with salad and a light vegetable, no more, and you’ll be satisfied.

I had a dish similar to this one in Provence at least twenty years ago and have never stopped making it. Few preparations do as much justice to dark-fleshed fish. Like many “grilled” dishes, this one is better made in the broiler, where you have far more control. A potato gratin, like the one on page 482, would be suitable here, as would Peasant-Style Potatoes (page 477). Of course, a simple vegetable dish or two would also be wonderful, as mackerel is pretty rich in its own right.