Chef Kevin Hickey may spend his days in the Gold Coast, cooking elegant comfort food at his brand new restaurant, Allium, but after service is over, he returns to Bridgeport, the same neighborhood he grew up in. As you can imagine, this makes him one of the best guides possible to the South Side neighborhood, because not only has opinions on where to eat, but he also knows the families behind the establishments. More

For The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook authors Judy Gelman and Peter Zheutlin have included a Lutèce classic, Gambas au Beurre d'Escargot, jumbo prawns gratinéed with a green garlicky butter spiked with licoricey Pernod. One might think that there are snails trying to sneak into this recipe, but it's just big sweet prawns cooked in the same butter that escargot are traditionally sizzled in. More

With about three pounds of chorizo on hand, these stuffed poblanos took deliciously took care of a third of that. I'm taking suggestions on how you'd like to see the remaining sausage used. More

Sour, citrusy, and totally at home with both meats and vegetables, sumac is one of those spices that we just can't get enough of. This Sumac-Roasted Chicken du Monde from Bi-Rite Market's Eat Good Food showcases how easily it can be incorporated into all sorts of dishes. More

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Cornwall's contribution to the world of meat pastries is a simple hand pie filled with meat and root vegetables. Although the Cornish Pasty Association has strict rules regarding what exactly can go in an official Cornish pasty (beef, turnip, potato and onion), on this side of the pond it's safe to add a few extra ingredients other than the essentials. Traditionally, this pie is meant to eat standing on a lunch break, but add a pot of tea or some strong ale and light green salad and these humble pasties can be the cornerstone of an excellent brunch. More

[Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt] About the author: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is the Managing Editor of Serious Eats where he likes to explore the science of home cooking in his weekly column The Food Lab. You can follow him at @thefoodlab... More

This recipe for Pork Medallions with Port Wine-Dried Cherry Pan Sauce is a warm, rich wintry dish that treats pork tenderloin the way it wants to be treated; cut into rounds and seared to retain plenty of juiciness and porky flavor. It comes together in a half hour. More

For this variation add spices like cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves as well as orange juice and zest, then finish it off with a bit of spiced rum. The end result is incredible: a cranberry sauce that has a multidimensional array of seasonal flavors that fits seamlessly into any Thanksgiving meal. More

[Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt] Note: You can finish this dish 100% on the stovetop by lowering the heat to the lowest possible setting in step 3, covering the pot, and cooking until tender (about 45 minutes). Stew will improve the... More

If the flavors of this soup remind you slightly of hummus, know that you're not far off. Joyce Goldstein explains in Cooking with Les Dames D'Escoffier that this recipe was inspired by a spread she encountered in Greece. Realizing that customers at her restaurant would more likely order soup than a spread, she thinned it out, managing to still keep the flavors much the same. Though there are only a few ingredients, this soup has a surprising amount of depth and character. More

Though the recipe deviates from the authentic recipe from Tijuana (using Spain's ubiquitous sherry vinegar instead of lemon or lime juice), it's a delicious variation, and otherwise a pretty basic recipe centered around garlic and anchovies, like a proper Caesar dressing should be. More

cauliflower is all potential: what is the whitest, blandest option on the crudite platter becomes deep and nutty when it's cooked with plenty of heat. In the best cauliflower pasta recipes, anchovies make an appearance, usually early on so they melt and disappear into the sauce, leaving only a nutty essence behind. This recipe from Lidia's Italy also brings in the classic Italian combination of pine nuts and raisins, along with the mellow, unmistakable flavor of saffron. More

Basic Indian fried fish is very simple to make and totally delicious. There are variations from region to region, but one I personally enjoy is this simple Bangda (mackerel) Fry. It employs just five ingredients and gives great results each time. Even if you don't have to haggle with the fishmonger. More

Ferran Adrià's roasted chicken is a take on Catalan dish, pollo a l'ast, an herb and lemon rubbed bird, traditionally spit roasted. In this recipe he's made a poultry seasoning blend of dried thyme, rosemary, bay leaves and peppercorns, all ground together and rubbed into a chicken that's also seasoned with salt, lemon zest, and olive oil. This recipe uses a high heat method of cooking, flipping the chicken midway through. More

Tomatillo salsa is also an excellent base for starting a dish with those smokey, spicy flavors, like this one from Rick Bayless's Salsas that Cook. If you have the salsa made already, it's almost no work: stir together with cream, pour it over chicken, and bake until the chicken is just cooked through. Making the salsa takes all of ten minutes, though—so either way, it's quick, simple, and satisfying cooking. More

I have a huge soft spot for egg drop soup, specifically the Chinese-American version I first tasted as a kid. You know, the kind that's golden yellow with shards of cooked egg? I assume this fond memory is actually based on a bowl of gloopy, bland, and inauthentic egg drop soup, but that's okay. Luckily, this recipe from Andrea Nguyen's Into the Vietnamese Kitchen is the opposite. It is bright, fresh, and dynamic. More

Sweet little green peas are gussied up with shallots, diced ham, and a splash of cream. These are how peas were meant to taste. More

Growing up, I was never a fan of deviled eggs (or anything mayonnaise related, for that matter), but then again, deviled eggs back then consisted mainly of overcooked, slightly sulfurous hard boiled eggs mashed up with Hellman's mayo and a bit of yellow mustard, served too cold. They were the default "serve them anyway, someone will eat them after the guacamole's gone" option at the potluck. I thought I'd swear them off forever. Well, times have changed. More

Though easy to prepare, this dish from Lidia Bastianich is anything but basic. The breadcrumbs are heavily seasoned with lemon zest, oregano, parsley, and red pepper flakes. This gives each bite a great citrus note, along with a little spicy kick. If that weren't enough, a dressing of sorts is added to the baking dish so the fillets are also perfumed by white wine and lemon juice. More

This recipe from Patricia Wells' recent book Salad as a Meal is a true gem. Wells uses the oil from the tuna (making it essential to buy good-quality stuff packed in olive oil) mixed with spicy whole-grain mustard. It's the best three-ingredient dish I've eaten in a long time, though I did cheat and add a little chopped parsley. If only for the picture. More

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At a price of $2,000 to $10,000 a pound, saffron is far and away the most expensive food on earth, way more than truffles, caviar, and real balsamic vinegar. Its longstanding coveted status has borne a tradition of adulteration, embargo, and conspicuous consumption that can only be characterized as grotesque. So what's the deal with this stuff? Is it worth all the fuss? And what, at the end of the day, can you really do with it? More

You can be as fancy as you like in the kitchen, but if you don't know the basics, you'll never get anywhere. And one basic I have been working on for a long time is the perfect basic vinaigrette. I've written a million and one times about the restaurant Le Relais de l'Entrecôte in Paris, which now has an outpost (as yet untested by me!) in New York. It's a steak frites place, but they bring you this amazing green salad with mustard dressing and walnuts to start, and it was that dressing I was dying to emulate. More

The Applestones always have plenty of marrow bones lying around their shop and, knowing the beefy, buttery goodness that rendered marrow bones produce, they decided to incorporate them into a roasting bed. The marrow bones are set on the bottom of a roasting pan along with onions and garlic that have been caramelized. The seared beef is placed on top and stock and butter are added before this meaty dish is roasted in the oven to a rosy medium-rare. More