Fry

We love the way this recipe revamps a standard BLT.

"Battering and frying green beans makes them addictive, obviously!" —Sue Li, recipe developer

The secret to this dish is the crunchy and creamy deep-fried avocado.

Top these Tex-Mex–inspired burgers with some melted Monterey Jack and a spoonful of fresh salsa.

Grunts are a fish you'll probably never see on a menu and will most definitely never see at a fish market, especially on the West Coast. But as Charlie knows, they inhabit every dock, marina, pier, reef, and any other underwater structure in southern Florida. Because they are considered vastly inferior in taste to their snapper relatives, they're targeted for quick and easy meals by the fishermen in the Florida keys, where this breakfast dish originates. Considering grunt is largely unavailable (and truthfully, Charlie says, isn't very good), here we substitute small fillets of snapper or rockfish. This is an incredible dish—full or rich and spicy flavors, with a wild array of textures, from the pillow of creamy grits to searing fish to the crisp bacon. The classic accompaniment to grits and grunts is cheap beer, but coffee works, too.

Here's a recipe that justifies the existence of that food processor grating disk (you didn't throw it out, we hope). If you don't have one, a box grater will do.

Rice sticks are a magic trick in a bag: Crumble them into hot oil and they poof instantly into crispy, twisty little morsels of browned, puffed rice—ready in seconds to serve as a crunchy topping for bite-sized pieces of quick-cooked chicken, broccoli, and almonds.

Using chicken thighs instead of breasts ensures juicy cutlets.

Topped with smoked salmon or served simply on their own, these pea-studded pancakes are the ultimate springtime version of a classic blini appetizer.

When working with big flavors, you don't need big quantities. "There's something to be said for restraint," says chef Chris Kuziemko of Chicago's Publican Quality Meats, a butcher shop that uses house-cured meat to make incredible sandwiches. Take his lead and swap the grocery store cold cuts for a special cured meat like soppressata or prosciutto, and indulge in a quality cheese. You'll build something beautiful without having to supersize. Just be sure to balance all the bold notes: In this pulled-back panino, Kuziemko uses a sharp provolone to cut the fat and the slightly sweet flavor of the coppa, and honey to temper the spicy-bitter broccoli rabe pesto. Because when no single ingredient dominates, each one can shine.

If you've ever woken up with a hangover, you know why egg sandwiches have earned their spot in the comfort-food canon. But the day-after staple can cure your dinnertime blues, too. The necessities: a runny yolk; soft, griddled bread; and something fresh to keep the fat attack in check. Once you've nailed these basics, it's about adding a few more elements for flair. This version, from Austin's Noble Sandwich Co., uses quick-pickled onions (proof that pickles make everything taste better), Sriracha mayonnaise to bring the heat (a dash of hot sauce would also do the trick), and arugula for brightness and bite. Throw some avocado on there, or sliced ripe tomato, if you're in the mood. The point is, think savory, think seasonal, and wake up to a new reality.

Fleishig Our Friday night chopped liver was not just the start of another memorable meal but was also part of the Sabbath celebration. My late mother gave the preparation as much importance or respect as the main course. She used a few saved and koshered chicken livers, carefully extended with a mound of sweet fried onions, cooked gently with a little schmaltz and a handful of homemade gribenes, and hard-boiled eggs. She'd grind it all together in an old-fashioned grinder, clamped to the Formica tabletop, apart from one egg that was left to be grated carefully over the served mounds of liver—yolk and white separate. Finally the mixture was combined and, on extra-special occasions, moistened with a little Kiddush wine already sitting next to the polished candles. The chopped liver was then served in generous mounds on small glass plates from Woolworths and decorated with the egg and circles of pickled cucumber.

This is an old favorite and was, apart form pancakes, the only way my children would eat eggs. They called them 'poofle' eggs, although I can't remember why. They are known by many other names, some more logical than others, including knothole eggs, bird’s nest, Hollywood eggs, and one-eyed Jack.

Lo mein is a noodle dish that often is confused with chow mein, and many Chinese restaurants further the confusion by using the two names interchangeably. The dishes are similar, both featuring noodles mixed with stir-fried meat and vegetables and a savory sauce. But whereas chow mein refers to parboiled and stir-fried noodles, lo mein refers to noodles that are fully cooked separately and quickly tossed with sauce in the wok. The roast pork in this recipe is char siu, the same gorgeous reddish-brown pork often displayed and sold in Chinatown shop windows. Instead of buying the pork ready-made, you can also roast your own at home. For the egg noodles, you can use any that are thin and round; spaghetti will also work.

Eating Padrón or shishito peppers is a bit like playing Russian roulette. Most are mild, but every now and then you'll bite into a wickedly hot one.

Tossing grated Parm into panko is the secret to crisper, better-tasting chicken cutlets.

The first Chinese recipe I ever cooked was a version of this dish from Yan-Kit So's Classic Chinese Cookbook. Years later—and having eaten it countless times in the Sichuanese capital Chengdu—it remains one of my favorite fish dishes, and everyone else seems to love it too. The fish lies in a spectacular sauce, a deep rusty red in color, sumptuously spicy and aromatic with ginger and garlic. In Sichuan, they tend to make it with carp. Back home in London, I've made it with sea bass, whole trout and fillets and, more recently, with organic mirror carp. They all taste delicious. (As with many Sichuanese dishes, the soul of the recipe lies in the combination of flavors and you can be flexible about the main ingredient, which is one reason why Sichuanese cuisine travels so well.) I'm particularly happy that the recipe works so well with mirror carp, one of the most sustainable fish and ripe for revival in places such as Britain, where it has long fallen out of favor. You will probably find that the fish disintegrates slightly during cooking. Don't worry: you can arrange it neatly on the serving plate and pour the sauce over it. And when your guests taste it, if my experiences are anything to go by, they'll be so overcome with rapture that they won't care what it looks like.

November weeknights are for simple pan-seared pork chops and roasted squash.

Smoked and fresh fish join forces in this much-appreciated update to the often-maligned gefilte fish. To get the job done faster, use two skillets.

If you forget to thaw the shrimp in the morning, set the bag in a large bowl filled with cold water. It will defrost in minutes. One cup of dry rice will yield 3 cups cooked; leftover rice, which is slightly dried out, makes the best stir-fries.