Mouthing Off

Photo © Stephanie Meyer.

This dish is in my head more often than not. That’s saying something. It’s one of our monthly meals at the Zimmern house, and its yet another brilliant way to do chicken for a crowd that includes kids. Paired with a bright citrus punch and salty capers, this chicken entrée makes everyone happy. My son starts screaming “butter chicken” and runs up and down the hallways when he comes home from school and learns what’s for dinner. I first ate this dish 30 years ago, served for a family meal one night at a restaurant in Florence where I was a stagiaire. I hadn’t seen butter during my first few weeks in Italy and almost fainted when I tasted this. You will too—please put pillows on the floor the first time you make it. SEE RECIPE »

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Photo © Stephanie Meyer.

My childhood summers were spent on the South Fork of Long Island, New York, where we clammed in the bay, crabbed in the salt ponds with heads of snapper, blues and porgies, and foraged for ropes of mussels. My dad would hold on to my ankles and lower me between the rocks of the jetties on Georgica and Main beaches in East Hampton, and I would pull dozens of pounds from those rocks for our bonfire cookouts. We’d use small mussels for chowder or soup, and the larger ones for this dish the next night at home. This is a dish I have eaten all over coastal Chile and in Galicia in Spain—it’s simple but inspired and it will impress your guests. It seems like a fancy hors d’oeuvres but I use it as a cold seafood course at dinners, an easy do-ahead dinner or potluck contribution when I am sick of everyone’s lemon bars! SEE RECIPE »

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Photo © Stephanie Meyer.

Ring in the Year of the Snake with these superb dumplings. The recipe is much easier than you’d think and they can be made in advance, frozen on baking sheets and then bagged. Frozen dumplings take a little longer to boil but the quality is still strong. I have to say, there is something magical about the addition of the minced boiled cabbage—it’s what makes these dumplings light and highly addictive. And you will use this dumpling sauce for the rest of your life, I promise. SEE RECIPE »

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Photo © Stephanie Meyer.

Crème brûlée is a walking cliché, and like offering a Caesar salad recipe, it’s almost embarrassing to show you this one. But this creamy, rich dessert is the perfect love letter. And you should know how to make a great custard (plus, it’s always fun to use a blowtorch in the kitchen). I made crème brûlée for dessert the first time I cooked for my wife when we had just started dating, and it worked out perfectly in every way. SEE RECIPE »

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Photo © Stephanie Meyer.

Whether you’re at the game or at home on the couch, this one-pot meal is fantastic football food. I bring this to almost every tailgate I attend. My grandma started making a version of this almost 50 years ago, using kosher hot dogs and her mom’s pea soup recipe. Suffice it to say, it’s changed. Make this soup with your favorite Eastern European sausage (kielbasa, Krakowska or Ukrainian)—they all rock in this soup. Use a mix if you are so inclined. I get my sausage from Kramarczuk’s in Minneapolis, and it’s worth mail ordering some links if you don’t have a good local sausage shop. I will admit that grocery store kielbasa works just fine, but depending on the brand, it can be really fatty and will leave the soup tasting greasy. SEE RECIPE »

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Photo © Stephanie Meyer.

This is a Zimmern family favorite, a great recipe for a midweek dinner. The amped-up tomato sauce gets a kick from the vodka and a rich, smoky flavor from the bacon. The kids will love it, and yes, the alcohol boils off. We sometimes take this a step further and put out a grater and three or four hard cheeses for folks to choose either a pecorino, an aged goat Gouda, a Parm or other salty, aged piece of magic for their pasta. SEE RECIPE »

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Carrots and curry were born for each other and Michael Voltaggio’s cold carrot salad with Thai flavors at ink., in Los Angeles, is so superbly crafted that I thought about it for days after trying it. At home I don’t do anything with liquid nitrogen or as many bells and whistles as Michael does in his restaurant, nor should you. That’s the joy of dining out, to see what great chefs can do. On the home front, I love taking that inspiration and creating dishes like this one. SEE RECIPE »

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Photo © Stephanie Meyer.

January in Minnesota. End of story. We know a thing or two about cold-weather comfort food, especially a one-pot rock star beef stew that will warm you from the inside out. This is “food with a hug” at its best. On the technical side, it’s simple. Resist the temptation to fussy it up until you’ve made it a few times, then you can do what you want with it. SEE RECIPE »

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Photo © Stephanie Meyer.

This salad might not be the healthiest way to start off a New Year’s weight-loss resolution, but it’s a step in the right direction. I created this bacon-and-egg dish when I was a chef at a French bistro in Minneapolis in the early ’90s. Within a week or two it was a massively popular lunch special and our best seller at brunch. It’s hard to beat the contrasting combination of salty and sweet, hot and cold, soft and crunchy. SEE RECIPE »

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In his new book, Andrew Zimmern's Field Guide to Exceptionally Weird, Wild, and Wonderful Foods, out on October 30, the Bizarre Foods host and F&W contributing editor shares interesting facts and kid-friendly anecdotes on edibles that range from bats and wildebeests to familiar foods like foie gras and hot dogs. This exclusive excerpt, for example, explains why most of us have eaten buttholes. Read more >