Suzanne Goin

"I love a good frisée salad," says Suzanne Goin. "And of course I love toasted, buttery bread, with big slabs of melted cheese and prosciutto and an egg on top." Her sumptuous open-face sandwich, a staple at her A.O.C. wine bar since the place opened in Los Angeles in 2003, combines all her favorite things.

Suzanne Goin (an F&W Best New Chef 1999) is beloved in Los Angeles. She accents leg of lamb with a flavorful mustard crust.

When Suzanne Goin was a child, making stuffing for the holidays was one of her first forays into cooking. "My mom always used store-bought crumbs, and it became my job to doctor them up," says Goin. "I'd just raid the spice cabinet and the first batches were a little crazy. But I figured out what I liked best." This chestnut-laced stuffing with pancetta and fennel is adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques. The crispy olive oil-soaked bread cubes on top are especially delectable.

This rustic dessert is from the Lombardy region of Northern Italy, where it's called sbrisolona. It's crumbly, buttery and nutty; Suzanne Goin thinks of it as a cross between biscotti and shortbread. She recommends dipping chunks of it into the Champagne-spiked sabayon, an airy dessert sauce made with whipped egg yolks.

Suzanne Goin covers this veal roast with herbs and butter before cooking to get extra-rich pan juices. They are delicious spooned over the exceptionally tender meat and served with the sweet roasted garlic cloves.

This refreshing dessert is extraordinarily simple to make.

Also known as Italian couscous, fregola is made from semolina flour; grains of the medium variety are about the size of small capers. You can find it at specialty food shops and Italian markets.

Frozen lima beans can be used in place of fresh ones to make this excellent dip.

Suzanne Goin's tender steak needs to marinate overnight, so plan accordingly. You can cut the cherry tomatoes in half for extra juiciness.

Suzanne Goin typically makes this savory and sweet salad with whatever fruit looks best at the market. Ripe green or black figs are some of her favorites and a couple of crushed ones can be used as the base for the vinaigrette, in place of the nectarine.

This vibrant dish, layered with arugula, bright white slices of ricotta salata and strips of salty serrano ham, is the sort of composed salad that Suzanne Goin uses to showcase seasonal ingredients. Another of her favorite winter salads is made with blood oranges, dates and Parmesan cheese.

The sausages are wonderful with the intense dark-red condiment harissa as well as the charmoula that accompanies the halibut skewers. Almost any sausages can be used in this recipe; spicy lamb merguez are especially tasty.