Fruit

Monte Cristo sandwiches usually have a sweet element, like powdered sugar sifted over the top, or raspberry jam served on the side for dipping. In this version, you’ll cook green apple and canned green chiles down into a sweet and spicy compote to slather on your bread.

The collar is one of my favorite parts of the fish. Baste it with naturally sweet and salty flavor from briny kombu and dark sweet prunes. The briny and sweet sauce is easy to make ahead and store in the refrigerator. The collars of a large fish, such as cod, is the part between the head and the body; it has a (healthy omega-3) fatty richness that is ultra-satisfying. 

I love to cook with ingredients that might otherwise be discarded, like fish collars. If you’re tempted to treat them as scraps, please don’t throw them away or use them merely for a stock. They’re delicious as the main focus of a dish—think of them as the spareribs of the sea. Here, croaker collars are marinated in citrus, chipotle, ginger, and fish sauce, and served with a mango salad full of funk, spice, and crunch.

You can either freeze this, akin to a semifreddo, which is my preference, or simply chill it in the refrigerator, which will, of course, give it a softer finish.

Melty, cheesy, crunchy, spicy: These sandwiches, a street food favorite in India, check all the boxes.

Enough cannot be said of the Sri Lankan delicacy black pork curry. It is a delicious and truly flavorful dish—every family has their own generational recipe. 

These pillowy tray biscuits are perfumed with blueberry jam, citrus, and candied ginger, but you can use any combination of preserves, dried fruit, or nuts that you have on hand.

Dairy free, rustic and easy to make, this fruit-layered cake works equally well with stone fruit in summer or firm pears in winter.

Simmer duck legs in a chile-infused, maramalade-based braise until tender, then reduce the sauce to a sticky-rich lacquer to glaze over the crisp skin.

I created this sparkling cocktail for the menu at Keith McNally’s Morandi Italian restaurant.

No new drink of the twenty-first century has gone further in terms of fame than this complex, spicy, smoky turn on a Whiskey Sour.