Roast

Making a whole fish is so cinchy that it’s almost not fair. It looks like you’ve put so much time and effort into it, and it’s so elegant and beautiful on a serving platter, but really, all you have to do is jam a fish full of herbs and lemon and toss it in the oven until its eyeball pops out! I think this is the coolest part—Mother Nature’s own pop-up timer—I bet that’s how they invented the pop-up turkey timer!

Even the simplest roasted chicken always seems like a special dinner to me. I’m not sure why; maybe it’s because making a whole bird is like having a mini-Thanksgiving. The irony, of course, is that Thanksgiving is a huge deal and a ton of work, while there are few dinners faster or easier than roast chicken. All you have to do is buy a nice bird, lube it up, shoot it in the oven, and voilà! You have a beautiful chicken dinner. Add some gravy to that and mmmmm . . . Just for the record, I’m not a gravy strainer, but if you are, knock yourself out!

Premium Number One Beauregards are a popular variety of sweet potato grown in Vardaman, Mississippi. There are ninety sweet-potato farms within forty miles of this town, which even boasts a Sweet Potato Street running right into Main Street. With twenty thousand acres under cultivation, sweet potatoes have to be the state’s largest vegetable crop. Here a tart-sweet treatment and a dusting of crystalline flakes of salt elevate the down-home goodness of my favorite Beauregards.

My family knows that roasting is my favorite way to prepare Brussels sprouts (it’s one of my Thanksgiving specialties), so when my sister Emily found a version with kimchi in a magazine, she sent it straight to me. Kimchi, a staple in the Korean diet, is a delicious, tangy, fermented cabbage. It can be found in well-stocked grocery stores and in Korean markets. The flavor of the finished dish really depends on the kimchi, so find one you like. If you don’t like a lot of spice, just roast the Brussels sprouts as directed here and leave out the kimchi. Roasted Brussels sprouts on their own are both sweet and savory.

With just a handful of ingredients, this fall favorite is super easy to make and at the same time really comforting. The mild sweetness of butternut squash mingling with the rich nuttiness of brown butter and the delicate, woodsy aroma of sage is downright delicious. Cutting up butternut squash is a notoriously difficult task because of its thickness and density. The most important thing to remember when cutting winter squash is to keep the piece you are working on as stable as possible.

Cauliflower can be a little bland on its own, but blasting the florets in a hot oven concentrates their natural sweetness and transforms the lily-white vegetable to a crisp caramel-brown. Tossing the roasted cauliflower with emerald green parsley sauce brightens the charred flavor. This is a universal side that goes with everything.

Sweet, succulent, and aromatic, this sophisticated yet homey family-style supper is definitely one to pull out when company is coming. Not only is pork shoulder super satisfying, but the cut is also an inexpensive way to feed a lot of people. Serve with herbaceous Parsley Sauce (page 239) and creamy Cheese Grits (page 189) for a lethal combination.

Beef short ribs are commonly braised for hours. What is slightly unusual and great about this recipe is that the short ribs are slow-roasted until tender and then grilled to impart a smoky char. It may seem like a difficult recipe, but I swear it’s not, and the delicious result is so worth the time. The ribs need a day to marinate, so plan accordingly. After tasting this dish, you’ll never braise a short rib again! Use any leftover meat to make Short Rib and Fontina Cheese Panini with Tomato-Onion Chutney (page 120) or Pappardelle with Beef Sugo and Ricotta (page 111). This is a really rich dish; all it needs to round it out is a simple green salad. To make the spiced short ribs really sing, I prepare a version of Spanish romesco sauce. Bold, tangy, and definitely habit-forming, romesco looks ordinary enough but in one bite transforms the dish. When making the sauce, it’s important to use a food processor and not a blender so it retains a chunky texture. This recipe will make more than you need for the short ribs and is a terrific go-to sauce to keep around. Try it with grilled vegetables and seafood (it’s particularly awesome with shrimp), tossed with pasta, or as a sandwich spread.

This Mediterranean-inspired dish not only is light and healthy, but also has depth of flavor with a contrast of textures and temperatures. Most home cooks tell me they’re intimidated by cooking fish with skin on; they find it tears or doesn’t crisp up as it should. There are two keys to success: one is patience and the other is a well-seasoned cast-iron pan, preferably one that has gone through generations of use. The second alternative is to cheat and use a nonstick frying pan.

Are two yolks better than one? You bet! I have a real fondness for double-yolk eggs. In fact, I think every egg should have two yolks—I’m not an egg-white-omelet kind of guy to be sure. Luckily, there’s a farmer in my area who farms nothing but fresh double-yolk eggs; it’s pretty cool. Now, assuming you might not be able to get these, for ease, I’ve simply added extra yolks to the recipe. Crack the eggs into a ramekin along with some tomato sauce and cheese, and bake until the egg whites begin to solidify while the cheese turns into a cap of melty goodness. This makes a great start to a hearty meal and can elevate an ordinary steak-and-eggs dish to a special brunch. Make it ahead and pop in the oven when almost ready to serve.

Cooking and cleaning pigs’ heads all day gave me a powerful hunger for chicken. This is an especially aromatic roasted chicken with an all-in-one sauce and side dish.

There are chestnut roasting devices—long-handled iron skillets or perforated baskets that allow the flames direct contact with the nuts—but they are not necessary; any way you can get the chestnuts in a hot fire and close to the flames works well. Chestnuts are high in moisture—more like a fruit than a nut—and fairly perishable. Look for nuts that are dark brown, shiny, and heavy and store them in the refrigerator.

Candy roaster pie has been an Appalachian Thanksgiving tradition for a hundred years. The term describes several varieties of large super-sweet winter squash. Many are so big—thirty pounds or more—that some farmers sell them at the market already cut into wedges. Any dense eating pumpkin or winter squash works well here.

Black drum is a terrific fish—meaty and satisfying but still delicate. It’s often compared to overfished grouper but is more flavorful and less tough, and its skin cooks up crisp and savory. If you can’t find drum, black cod (sablefish) from Alaska or wild striped bass is a good substitute.

Silvia and I have made this often over the years, the first time in my (illegal) home kitchen for an Easter catering gig when we made the entire meal twice, timing it so that the second roast was perfectly blistered and crispy when we arrived back home with a car full of dirty pots and pans to have dinner with our own families. It goes well with wilted spring scallions, roast potatoes (basted in the drippings), lightly dressed spicy arugula, and beans in all forms. One favorite bean dish for this ham is from Amanda Hesser’s The Cook and the Gardener: flavorful white beans simmered with hearty herbs and crème fraîche until slightly thickened.