Sauce Piquant

Here’s a quick dipping sauce you can serve with anything from Crab Cakes and boiled shrimp to fried catfish and hamburgers. It’s also great with French fries and hash browns. If you like things hot, add a few drops of hot pepper sauce. Make some now, and you’ll have extra for the Fourth. SAM

PS If you use capers packed in salt, which are fabulous, rinse them thoroughly and soak them in three or four changes of water. Of course, if you love salt, rinse less and keep them salty.

1 cup tomato ketchup
Juice of 1 lemon (3 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
2 teaspoons capers

Combine the ketchup, lemon juice, oil, horseradish, sugar, and capers, mixing thoroughly.
Makes 1 1/2 cups.

Crab Cakes

Drive non-stop through the night to the coast, and if you’re lucky you’ll end up with crab cakes carillonning the dawn. I can’t vouch for this—never having been one to wake from a deep sleep and go out and bag breakfast—but Harry says if you wave a chicken neck on the beach, crabs run right up and grab it. ‘Sounds totally weird to me, but if that’s what you have to do to get Crab Cakes, DO IT! SAM

1 tablespoon plus 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped (1/4 cup)
1 medium center rib celery with leaves, finely chopped (1/4 cup)
2 (7-ounce) cans crabmeat, drained or 1 pound fresh crabmeat (3 cups)
1/2 cup plus 1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs, divided
3 tablespoons half-and-half
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon dry sherry
2 tablespoons fresh minced parsley
2 teaspoons fresh dill weed
1 teaspoon dill seed, crushed in a mortar and pestle
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 dashes of hot-pepper sauce
Sauce Piquant

In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the oil and sauté the onion, covered, until tender. Add the celery and cook until soft. Combine the crabmeat, bread crumbs, half-and-half, egg, sherry, parsley, dill weed, dill seed, mustard, salt, pepper, and hot-pepper sauce. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours. Shape the crab mixture into 3-inch cakes and dust the sides with the remaining 1/4 cup bread crumbs. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil until hazy. Brown the cakes on both sides, about 2 minutes each. Reduce the heat to low and cook 5 minutes more. Drain on paper towels. Serve with Sauce Piquant.
Makes 10 cakes.

Curried Baked Spinach

This baked spinach is so easy, a child could do it. You’ll need lots of curry and fresh parsley and your own bread crumbs. I’m not saying you can’t make a great baked spinach with store-bought crumbs. But … find a baker who makes really good Italian or French bread, buy extra, run it through your food processor, and you’ll be half-way to paradise. A jar of your own bread crumbs in the fridge marks you as a serious cook. And you never know who might be looking. SAM

PS You can make this with olive oil instead of butter. In fact, it’s great with olive oil.

1 (10-ounce) package frozen leaf spinach, thawed and wrung dry by hand
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons melted butter, divided (1/2 stick)
1/2 cup plus 1/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs, divided
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Chop the spinach roughly. Add the cream cheese, 2 tablespoons butter, 1/2 cup bread crumbs, curry powder, parsley, salt, and pepper. Place in a lightly greased 1-quart casserole, top with the remaining 1/4 cup bread crumbs, and drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Makes 2 servings.

Roasted New Potatoes and Asparagus

I’ve never been a fan of raw vegetables. I know there are people whose lives revolve around juicers and crudités, but—don’t scream at me—to my way of thinking, vegetables aren’t worth eating till you cook the moisture out of them and intensify the sugars. That’s where roasting comes in. With a 450-degree oven and fifteen or twenty minutes, you can perform miracles. SAM

1 pound new potatoes, quartered
1 pound fresh asparagus, cut on the diagonal into 2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 teaspoons snipped fresh rosemary leaves
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon grated Romano cheese

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Arrange the potatoes and asparagus in a lightly greased 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish. Combine the olive oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper and pour over the vegetable mixture, tossing to coat. Roast, uncovered, on the upper shelf of the oven, for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender and browned. Sprinkle with parsley and Romano cheese.
Makes 6 servings.

Baby Artichokes with Curried Mayonnaise

Baby artichokes are a labor of love, and the one you serve them to will love you for it. Speed is the key. Air turns cut artichokes brown within seconds, so you must rub all surfaces constantly with a cut lemon and drop them as quickly as possible into lemon water. Sautéed to a tender brown, though, baby artichokes are a delight any way you eat them. You can put them in salads or mix them with pasta. Spread on flatbread with sweated onions and roasted red peppers, they make an unforgettable pissaladière. Or, do what I’m doing tonight for Harry: Pile them sweetly around a bowl of Curried Mayonnaise. SAM

2 lemons, one juiced, one halved
3 cups cold water
8 whole baby artichokes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon marsala wine
Curried Mayonnaise (recipe follows)

Trim away any woody parts of the artichoke stems. Pull off and discard the heavy, outer leaves until a cone of yellow remains. Cut off the green tips. Immediately rub all surfaces with the cut lemon. Halve or quarter the artichokes, again rubbing cut surfaces with lemon. If the choke is prickly, cut it out. As quickly as possible, drop the cut pieces into the bowl of lemon water. In a chef’s pan over medium-high, heat the oil to nearly smoking. Sauté the artichokes lifting constantly with tongs, until browned, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the marsala and stir vigorously to release the browned fond on the bottom of the pan. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low, and let the artichokes steam for 3 to 4 minutes. Serve with Curried Mayonnaise.
Makes 2 servings.

Curried Mayonnaise

1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 to 2 teaspoons sweet curry powder
1 teaspoon small capers

Combine the mayonnaise, mustard, olive oil, lemon juice, curry powder, and capers.
Makes 1 1/4 cups.

Shrimp Butter

A fine way to set the tone for romance … The original recipe calls for dill weed, but I’ve gotten very attached to red fennel. The flavor is deeper and more dramatic than dill. ‘Reminds me of those big, sour kosher dills we used to get in individual packets—I loved those pickles! If you’re lucky enough to have a small garden, fennel pretty much grows wild. The fronds are also great snipped into summer salads. I’ll work up some recipes. SAM

1/2 pound small shrimp, cooked, shelled, and minced
4 tablespoons butter
1 small clove garlic, pressed
1/2 teaspoon finely snipped dill weed or fennel fronds
English water crackers

With an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and add the garlic and dill or fennel, blending well. Beat in the shrimp gradually, until well blended. Cover and chill. Serve on water crackers.
Makes 1 1/3 cups.

Ham-and-Cheese Strata

Ham-and-Swiss sandwiches for breakfast? You bet! Especially when you bake them like this! You can put together the sandwich part the night before, seal it with plastic wrap, and set it in the fridge. When morning comes, all you have to do is pour on the eggs and cream and pop it in the oven. Not exactly like having someone else do breakfast for you—but it’s close. You know, I’ve been thinking … my next boyfriend had better be a cook! SAM

14 (1/2-inch) slices Italian bread
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 pound honey-baked ham, roughly chopped
1 medium tomato, peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced
2 ounces Swiss cheese, shredded (1/2 cup)
2 green onions with tops, thinly sliced (1/2 cup)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
Freshly ground white pepper to taste

Spread one side of the bread with mustard. Arrange half the slices, overlapping, mustard side up, in the bottom of a lightly greased 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Top with ham, tomato, cheese, and onions. Place the remaining bread slices on top, mustard side down. Combine the eggs, half-and-half, paprika, and pepper and pour evenly over the bread. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 to 50 minutes, until golden brown and puffy. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before serving.
Makes 4 servings.

Breakfast Scones

Please don’t pass this along to Healthier-Than-Thou Tim, but I love whole wheat scones! There’s butter, naturally, in these, and also yogurt, which makes them nicely moist. How healthy is that! If you like your scones sweeter, use sweetened, chopped dates. If you love chocolate, trade out half the nuts for chocolate chips. Roll the dough if you want traditional-looking scones, but here’s a quick tip: use two spoons to drop the dough onto the baking sheet . So much easier! And the scones will have a crisper, more interesting texture. SAM

1 cup pitted, chopped dates
2 tablespoons cognac or water
1 cup unbleached soft wheat flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons wheat germ
1 tablespoon corn meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons sweet butter, thinly sliced
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup chopped black walnuts
1 1/3 cups plain yogurt

Preheat the oven to 425° F. Combine the dates and cognac in a small bowl, cover, and microwave on high for 1 minute to plump.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, wheat germ, corn meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles very coarse corn meal. Add the oats, dates, and walnuts and blend well. Add the yogurt and stir until just blended. The dough will be very sticky. Turn out onto a floured pastry board and roll to 3/4-inch thickness. Cut out the scones with a sharp-sided 2-inch cutter and place close together on an ungreased baking sheet. Or, with two metal serving spoons, drop the dough onto the baking sheet in 1 1/2-inch dollops. Bake for 25 minutes, turning the baking sheet once. Cool on a wire rack.
Makes about 14 2-inch or 20 dropped scones.

Salmon Pâté

I suppose there are people who would call this a glorified tuna fish salad, and that would be fine with me. Salmon pâté has so many things going for it. You can stir it together in no time at all. It does double-duty as an appetizer and an entrée. It’s chock full of omega-3 oils, which means it’s practically your duty to eat it. Who could ask for anything more? SAM

1 (15 1/2-ounce) can Alaska salmon, drained
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1/2 medium sweet onion, finely chopped (1/4 cup)
1 medium center rib celery with leaves, finely chopped (1/4 cup)
2 teaspoons capers, drained
2 teaspoons dried or 1 tablespoon fresh dill weed
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon (3 tablespoons)
Freshly ground white pepper to taste
Lettuce, avocado, and/or tomato for serving

In a medium bowl, flake the salmon with a fork and stir in the mayonnaise, mustard, onion, celery, capers, dill, parsley, lemon juice, and pepper. Serve on lettuce with avocado and/or tomato slices, or in sandwiches.
Makes 4 servings.

Mushroom Tourte

A tourte is a French pie made of vegetables and/or meat or seafood. There are households in Paris where a good mushroom tourte is the test of a good cook—and it is. The savory crust is from a month ago. As with all mushrooms, you must evaporate the natural liquid, which is quite tasteless. Then you add tasty things like sherry or lemon juice or cream for the mushrooms to soak up. Not only is this a hit the first time you serve it. It makes fabulous leftovers. SAM.

2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced (2 cups)
3 cloves garlic, pressed
3 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces button mushrooms, brushed, trimmed, and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons dry sherry
Juice of 1/2 lemon (1 1/2 tablespoons)
6 sprigs fresh thyme, stripped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 ounces soft chèvre
4 tablespoons crème fraîche, plus additional for topping
Sea salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
1 (9-inch) blind-baked savory pastry shell

Sweat the onions in 1 tablespoon oil, covered, over low heat until translucent, about 30 minutes. Add the garlic. In another pan over medium-high heat, sauté the mushrooms in 1 tablespoon oil uncovered until they give up their liquid. Add the sherry and lemon juice and continue cooking until reduced. In a mixing bowl, combine the onion-garlic mixture, mushrooms, thyme, parsley, eggs, chèvre, crème fraîche, salt, and pepper. Pour into the pastry shell. Sprinkle with parmesan and drizzle on top the remaining tablespoon of oil. Bake at 400 degrees F for 45 minutes or until the center springs back when lightly touched. Cool on a wire rack 10 minutes before serving. Top with additional crème fraîche.
Makes 6 servings.