Starter

My initial exposure to French cuisine was during my first trip to Europe. It was long before I would eat in any three-star restaurants, and that exposure—the best I could have asked for—came from sitting in cafés. I was a wide-eyed twenty-three-year-old (and I was told by a waiter not to practice my high school French on him). I remember beautiful, colorful plates of vegetables going past me. I soon learned it was the classic French presentation of crudités, an assortment of three or four salads served together. It was fresh, affordable, and very appetizing, and it was served all over the city. Once in a while I’ll run this as a special in my restaurant; then I’ll forget about it until I crave it again. Any one of these salads can stand on its own, but if you put them all together they make for an extraordinary meal. Marinated Lentil Salad with Creamy Goat Cheese and Ripe Tomatoes (p. 113) would be a welcome addition to the mix.

My strongest memories of Thanksgiving are the mingling smells of chopped parsley, melted butter, and chicken broth going into the stuffing, and the sounds of cheering and yelling as we all watched the Army-Navy football game. At Bayona we always serve two different stuffings with our roast turkey. One is my mom’s simple bread stuffing, and the other is loaded with local flavors like shrimp (or crayfish) and andouille. I still like my mom’s the best. I call for both stuffings to be baked in casseroles, but you can also follow your favorite method for baking them inside a bird.

As almost any southerner will confirm, you can’t underestimate the allure of a warm, moist spoon bread. Sometimes the desire for it is downright urgent. Take my first recollection of the dish: when I was five years old, I invited one of my girlfriends to spend the night, and she woke up in the middle of the night wailing for spoon bread. My parents ended up having to take her home, as she would not be consoled. I can relate to the craving. When Hurricane Katrina forced us to evacuate to Jackson, I had the good sense to throw a pork roast in a cooler. Our first night in exile, we had dinner with our in-laws, and my mom made her spoon bread—served with the pork roast, it was a nice taste of home. My mom’s recipe, the one I grew up on (but never demanded at the home of my friends), is simple and delicious. At Bayona we couldn’t resist jazzing up her version to go alongside our grilled double-cut pork chops—a match made in heaven!

I created this soufflé for a magazine article about Thanksgiving in New Orleans. I wanted a side dish that was seasonal and distinctly southern—and this filled the bill. Imagine how nice it would look on your table in your prettiest casserole or soufflé dish. This soufflé dresses up a simple roast chicken or pork loin. But I’d encourage you to try it with Roasted Duckling with Orange-Cane Syrup Sauce (p. 262).

This is my twist on classic Greek spanakopita, a spinach and phyllo pie. I add fennel and artichoke hearts. I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t go mad for these crisp and savory little pastries.

This is one of my favorite dishes for entertaining. The tender roasted eggplant sheets are used like cannelloni pasta and rolled around the savory cheese filling. The sweet roasted tomatoes add just enough acidity. If you are short on time, fresh tomatoes marinated in oil and vinegar are a great alternative. If you want to get fancy, secure each bundle with a blanched chive for a beautiful presentation.

Preparing fresh artichokes takes some effort, but it’s worth it because they are so delicious. In The French Laundry Cookbook Thomas Keller says that cleaning artichokes is one of his favorite things to do. I’m just the opposite. When I started out at Louis XVI, I had to clean two cases a day. My fingers were perpetually dried out and stained a nasty tobacco brown, and they didn’t want to come clean, no matter how much lemon I rubbed on them. I still clean the occasional case myself, and cuss under my breath the whole time. So, if you’re not put off by this introduction, read on to learn how to clean, cook, and stuff your way to happiness.

This is a tasty little combination that can be used on top of or alongside any Asian-inspired meat or fish entrée or mixed with shrimp or crabmeat to make a light and tangy starter. I love it with tuna, brushed with a little hoisin sauce, or with medallions of pork tenderloin.

Years ago I drove through France with English friends on our way down to Provence. We were trying to decide where to stop for the night and couldn’t agree, so we kept passing by pretty country inns until finally it was dark, options were limited, and we were all tired and cranky. We agreed to stay at the very next place we came to that offered rooms, which turned out to be a rather dismal box of a building with very little charm. Just our luck! We went in and asked the woman who greeted us if we could possibly have a meal as well as a room. She told us to take a fifteen-minute walk, and then she would be ready. We stumbled around in the dark, hungry, weary, and not expecting much. When we returned to the house, we were greeted by a lovely platter of crudités, a country terrine with mustard and cornichons, sautéed river trout with lemon, and cauliflower that had been browned in butter. Needless to say, we were lucky after all! I’m sure there was dessert too, but the thing I dreamed about long after was the cauliflower. This preparation is still one of my favorite things to eat.

This recipe will not be for everyone—gland lovers only! Chef Daniel taught me how to prepare sweetbreads many years ago (his technique follows), and I have been serving them ever since. Of all the offals, it is the most appealing to me, because of its mild flavor and creamy texture. This particular preparation is my mom’s favorite dish, so it will never go off the menu. One of the most challenging parts of preparing sweetbreads is finding a place to buy them. You will probably have to special order them from your market’s meat department, but once you have them, then the real fun begins! For those intrepid cooks who dare to tackle this rather involved recipe at home, read on….

This is what I call a “close your eyes and sigh” dish—one of those fragrant and comforting meals that remind us what makes eating such a soul-satisfying experience. It can be served as a vegetarian entrée or as a side dish with chicken, veal, or lamb. Polenta provides the creamy base that melds alternating layers of cheese and vegetables. During baking, the flavors intermingle, and the fontina and roasted garlic provide a pleasing gooey texture. A simple tomato basil sauce brightens up the mellow flavor of the polenta. The result: a perfect confluence of luscious Italian flavors. If you have never had real Val d’Aosta fontina cheese, this is an excellent time to try it. The difference is noticeable: Val d’Aosta is firm and has a savory, slightly grassy flavor. If you are short on time, forgo the sauce; this polenta is delicious without it.

Shrimp and okra go together like oysters and artichokes (which is to say, they’re made for each other). And to my mind it’s no coincidence that corn and tomatoes are at their peak around the same time as the okra. In this recipe, they all find themselves swimming happily in a broth scented with allspice and thyme, and zippy with fresh jalapeños. If you are leery of that much spice in the broth, leave out the jalapeños and just serve some chopped up alongside, for the daring ones among you.

I’m not sure what the connection is between this old New Orleans favorite and the French politician—perhaps it was created when he visited the city—but whatever the reason, it is an enduring part of the Creole repertoire. The potatoes are most often deep-fried to a light golden brown (a preparation known as “brabant potatoes”) before joining the other ingredients in the pan, but it works just as well to blanch them in water, then crisp them. This makes a tasty complete meal when paired with a ripe tomato salad or a platter of crudités.

This is a dish I make often, especially for informal parties. It is delicious, easy, and pretty, and makes a great buffet item, especially when paired with all those other Mediterranean dishes I love to cook and eat, such as Eggplant Caviar and Black Olive Tapenade (p. 191), Artichoke Dolmades with Lemon Sauce (p. 20), and Simple Orzo Salad with Black Olives and Feta (p. 115). The tomato sauce is also a good base for moussaka or baked stuffed eggplant, or just tossed with noodles and some sharp Greek cheese, such as kasseri. The dish can be completed up to the final baking point and kept refrigerated for several hours or even overnight. Bring it to room temperature before baking, or it will overcook.

It’s not hard to imagine eating this dish at a table on the coast in Portofino, Italy. Warm spices, garlic, fresh thyme, and sunny citrus flavors create an irresistible marinade for sweet shrimp. I prefer to pour the marinated crustaceans right onto a baking sheet and roast them (a great no-fuss technique for dinner parties) until they’re just cooked. However, you could certainly sear the shrimp in a hot skillet as well. Crispy Risotto Cakes are the perfect starch to serve alongside the shrimp. Drag a forkful of the flavorful rice through the marinade and you’ll understand why this dish has been one of my entertaining staples for years. For an extra swath of color (and flavor), serve this dish with Butternut Squash Puree (p. 189).

When I first opened Bayona I never had time to eat, so I survived that first year on these two delicious dips. I’d duck into the pantry and dip crispy croutons into the smoky eggplant puree or the pungent olive spread (or both), and the flavors sustained me through my shift. I still crave them. Eggplant caviar comes from many parts of the Mediterranean, including France, Italy, Turkey, and the Middle East. It’s flavored simply, with fresh tomato, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. The secret to developing a deep, smoky flavor is to char the skin until it’s black and rather scary looking. The tapenade, or olive puree, is a pretty classic combination from the south of France. I give the black olives, capers, and anchovies a quick rinse to lessen the impact of their saltiness. Both dips provide a great base from which to build a plate. You can add hummus, feta cheese, various crunchy vegetables, and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil to create a fantastic antipasto platter.

This is a good way to make the most of a small amount of peas (or favas). Serve alongside some wild mushrooms sautéed with a little dice of bacon for an easy springtime starter. By the way, if, in a following life, I could come back as any vegetable, I think I would be a fava bean, so I could slumber inside that velvety soft pod. Just a thought.

In this hummus recipe, I use white Italian beans instead of chickpeas for a Mediterranean twist on the Middle Eastern classic. Luscious Garlic Confit (p. 193) infuses the dip with a sweet, rich flavor. This creamy, healthful puree is delicious with crudités, Seasoned Pita Crisps (p. 89), blue corn tortilla chips, or on a sandwich with grilled vegetables and (of course) hot sauce. White Bean Hummus can also partner with a few other items to create a beautiful antipasto platter. Just add, for example, roasted red pepper strips, marinated olives, and a few tablespoons of roasted garlic cloves. Don’t be surprised if this becomes one of your new (snacking and entertaining) staples.