Food

Recipes

Bacon Wraps

Bacon wraps are the go-to tailgating recipe for my family and friends. They aren’t pretty, classy or healthy, but they are incredibly delicious. Spaghetti serves as an edible alternative to toothpicks, holding the wraps together. These must be baked from frozen, so perfect to assemble in advance.

Recipes

Winter Green Salad With Shaved Roots

To get the garlic as fine as possible, grate it on a microplane zester (a.k.a. rasp), then mince with a chef’s knife.

Recipes

Autumn Slaw with Dijon Dressing

A mandoline will make quick work of the vegetables in this salad. Juniper berries can be purchased at most bulk stores and better food shops.

Recipes

Potato & Artichoke Salad

The potatoes, artichokes and pesto can all be prepared a day in advance and chilled. Dress the salad up to two hours before brunch and serve at room temperature.

Recipes

Green Bean Salad

This salad is best served at room temperature, but it should be made at least 1 hour ahead. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before serving. (Keep refrigerated if preparing more than 2 hours ahead.)…

Recipes

Vermicelli Salad With Shiitakes And Baby Spinach

This dish is a spin on japchae, a popular appetizer traditionally served warm. Made with sweet potato starch, Korean vermicelli have a glassy appearance and chewy texture.

Recipes

Tea-Brined Chicken Breasts On Asparagus Salad

Lightly pounding the chicken breast turns it into a chicken steak of sorts that will cook more quickly and evenly. Since breast meat is so lean, brining helps keep it juicy.

Recipes

Heirloom Tomato & Blue Cheese Salad

If you can get your hands on it, use the piquant Dragon’s Breath blue cheese from That Dutchman’s Farm in Nova Scotia.

Recipes

Beet Salad With Sunflower Seed Picada

In Spain, a picada is a combination of chopped garlic, bread and nuts, and usually used to thicken and flavor a sauce. Here, it adds a crispy, nutty element to the salad.

Recipes

Citrus Fizz Mocktail

Recipes

Cauliflower With Truffle Oil

For a less-heavy version of this soup, hold the butter or oil and simmer all the vegetables together in the stock. Skip the cream at the end, and serve the truffle oil on the side so diners can drizzle it themselves.

Recipes

MA-PO Tofu

A fiery stew of silken tofu, ground pork and heaps of green onion, ma-po tofu is one of the most popular dishes in the Sichuan canon. The secret ingredient is chili bean sauce, a spicy, umami-rich condiment available at Chinese supermarkets.

Recipes

Harira (Moroccan Lamb And Lentil Soup)

Some supermarkets sell frozen lamb stewing meat from New Zealand that’s tailor-made for this recipe. Don’t add salt until the very end, as lentils take much longer to cook in the presence of sodium.

Recipes

Chicken Matzo Ball Soup

While you can make perfectly delicious matzo balls with vegetable oil, duck fat will yield the most sublime results. Jewish cooks traditionally save the fat skimmed from making chicken stock — called schmaltz — for these dumplings.

Recipes

Winter Soupe Au Pistou

Feel free to play around with the vegetable medley in this Provençal soup, using whatever is in season or kicking around your kitchen. If you need to save time, use store-bought basil or kale pesto instead of the parsley pistou.