Slow to Fast Recipes

Total Time: 7 hours, plus 2 days soaking and resting

Although there are innumerable versions of cassoulet, most are based on a stew of white beans and various forms of pork. The dish gets its name from the pot it's traditionally baked in, the cassole, which is often shaped like a wide inverted cone to insure the greatest amount of luscious crust. This version includes duck confit and the French garlic sausages that are a specialty of Toulouse.

Total Time: 5 hours, plus overnight chilling

After visiting New York City’s top ramen spots (including Ippudo NY, Sapporo and Momofuku Noodle Bar), Grace Parisi created her dream ramen with a pork-and-chicken-based broth that gets extra depth of flavor from kombu (seaweed) and shoyu (Japanese soy sauce).

Total Time: 4 hours 30 minutes, plus overnight curing

Peter Hoffman created this dish especially for Food & Wine’s Glass House dinner. He wanted to cook a fabulous pork shoulder with an intense spice rub and serve it with an assortment of vegetables that mark the crossover moment between summer and autumn: romano beans, cranberry beans and oven-roasted tomatoes. A garnish of gremolata (chopped lemon zest, parsley and garlic) adds fresh flavor to the slow-cooked meat.

Total Time: 5 hours 45 minutes

This towering dessert is made up of layers of super-moist, almost puddinglike coconut cake spread with tangy passion fruit curd, then topped with whipped cream and crispy flakes of toasted coconut. The recipe is from Cynthia Wong, pastry chef at Cakes & Ale in Decatur, Georgia. The cake may look intimidating, but it’s easy to make: “Just pop the layers out of the baking pans and slap them together,” Wong says.

More Layer Cake Recipes

Total Time: 4 hours

This gumbo from chef-owner Donald Link of Herbsaint in New Orleans owes its flavor to the roux, a mix of flour and oil that's cooked until it's coffee-colored.

Plus: How to Make a Roux

Total Time: 2 hours

Shea Gallante brushes his meat loaf with a red wine glaze, which caramelizes as it bakes. The glaze also makes the meat loaf especially easy to pair with red wine.

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Beef stock and red wine make a luxurious sauce for this salmon recipe by Bernie Sun, corporate beverage director for Jean-Georges Vongerichten's restaurant group.

Salmon Recipes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Middle Eastern cooks often stew chicken slowly in clay pots. Grace Parisi's intensely flavorful recipe here borrows ingredients common in Tunisian tagines (cumin, cinnamon, lemon, garlic and olives) for a fast, fragrant sauté.

Total Time: 15 minutes

Mustard and white pepper amp up the heat in this homemade mayo for shrimp.

More Delicious Shrimp Dishes

Total Time: 10 minutes

A dusting of unsweetened cocoa adds an appealing bitterness to this simple one-bite dessert.