Recipes

Asparagus are the crocuses of vegetables, the very first edible herald of spring. Of course, like most exotic luxuries, asparagus can be seen in fancy food shops as early as the January white sales.

Galettes are rustic French open-topped pastries, usually made with fruits. Inspired by some reading I was doing on the food of Southwest France, where most of France's pumpkins are grown, I decided to try putting the two ideas together for something new to do with pumpkin or its many cousins (Hubbards, butternut, acorn, Turk's turban, or sweet dumpling [Delicata] squashes).

Get your little pumpkins right away because they will all be spoiled if they freeze in the field and they keep wonderful at garage temperature. A gang of them arranged on a huge white platter with sprigs of kale for garnish are almost as spectacular as the bird.

While I like all poultry headed for the smoker, gas grill, or oven to be brined at least for a few hours, for a more emphatic flavoring, a brine cum marinade works wonderfully. It's also useful when you don't want to cook your bird for a couple of days. This turkey was left in its marinade in a large covered canner (on the floor of a near-freezing garage colder than my refrigerator) for three days. Carved in thin, small slices this 15-pounder goes a long, long way for a buffet or cocktail party fare.

Turkey on the grill is perhaps my favorite route to a juicy, brown bird - it's fast too. But the stuffing must be cooked separately via oven casserole, which I always do anyway, since even a stuffed bird never has enough stuffing to satisfy my family and friends.

War news, which increasingly comes in curt briefings from the Pentagon, rivets the country's attention and also serves to distract citizens from what is either a recession or a depression depending on whose ox is being gored. Sales of yellow ribbon may be up around here but nothing much else is. And February. Can't something be done about this wretched month — like shortening it to 10 days?

This combination of fresh haricot beans and dried garbanzos (chickpeas) is beautiful, nutritious, and delicious. Even the crankiest of eaters will find nothing to object to.

This amazingly tender and juicy pork roast is the result of cooking at high temperature a relatively short time in a covered Weber grill, and butterflied leg of lamb has been seen on fashionable grills for over 20 years but whole leg of lamb is far less commonplace.

Trout with bacon and vinegar sauce is a sophisticated dinner version of an old-time fisherman's breakfast, while flounder takes on an interesting flavor and appearance when stuffed with herbs.

“Man is an epicure just as he is an artist, a scholar, a poet. The palate . . . is as delicate and susceptible of training as the eye or ear, and equally deserving of respect.”  — Guy de Maupassant, Madame Husson’s Rose-king 

"Memory recalls dishes that have pleased the taste; imagination pretends to see them; there is something dreamlike about the whole process." — "On Appetite," Brillat-Savarin

Here we are — locked in the drears of January with nothing much active and pleasurable to do. Except cook! And think about food we shouldn't have and still stick to the traditional New Year's vow to lose 10 pounds.

This spicy blend of fish, shrimp, and okra isn’t at all difficult to make, but the timing of each ingredient added must be adhered to precisely, because cooking times are brief and overcooking ruins the dish.