Anchovy Oil
Three anchovy fillets melted into good olive oil and tossed through pasta with Parmigiano. A five minute primo built almost entirely from the pantry.
Pumpkin Pie
Roasted pie pumpkin or butternut pureed with condensed milk and warm spices, including a little black pepper for lift.
Apple Pie
Grandma Foster's apple pie: Honey Crisp and Granny Smith apples with brown sugar, cinnamon and butter under a proper crust.
Pecan Whiskey Pie
Brown butter, whiskey and three cups of pecans in a blind-baked shell. Richer and less cloying than the pecan pie you grew up with.
Tomato Jam
Six pounds of heirloom tomatoes cooked down with sugar, balsamic and lemon zest. Yields five jars and belongs on every cheeseboard.
Chicken Piccata
Chicken breasts pounded thin, seared, and finished in a lemon, caper and butter pan sauce over spaghetti.
Trapani Pesto
The Sicilian pesto: tomatoes, almonds, basil and garlic. Made for busiate, since both come from Trapani.
Port Sauce with Truffles
A bottle of red port reduced with shallots, mounted with butter and finished with carpaccio truffles. Made for steak or pork chops.
Pickled Shallots
Shallots sliced thin on a mandoline and quick-pickled in red wine vinegar with peppercorns. Five minutes for acidity you will use all week.
Candied Nuts
Nuts tumbled in melted sugar with cardamom, ginger and a pinch of chili. Sweet, savory, and dangerous to leave within reach.
Spiked White Balsamic and Honey Lemonade
Honey lemonade with vodka and white balsamic condiment, served over a large cube with a dehydrated lemon wheel.
20 Hour Braised Chuck Roast, Sauce and Pappardelle
Chuck roast braised for twenty hours until it falls apart, folded through tomato sauce and served over pappardelle. Long on time, short on effort.