Merrill Stubbs

Merrill Stubbs · NYT Cooking

Merrill Stubbs

Merrill Stubbs · NYT Cooking

Merrill Stubbs

Merrill Stubbs · NYT Cooking

“Groat” — not to be confused with “grit” — is an old Scottish term for a dehulled oat kernel. Like steel-cut oats, which are just pieces of groat that get broken during dehulling, groats have been prepared and eaten as hot cereal or gruel for centuries, sustaining generations of hard-working farmers and laborers. These days, it’s fortifying the food elite. Quinn and Karen Hatfield of Hatfield’s in Los Angeles use the hearty grain as inspiration for an elegant (some might even say delicate) vegetarian entrée of wild-mushroom “cannelloni.” To make the dish, creamy, hollandaise-enriched groats flecked with herbs and lemon zest are combined with mushrooms and then stuffed into oat crepes. Merrill Stubbs

Merrill Stubbs · NYT Cooking

Merrill Stubbs

Merrill Stubbs · NYT Cooking

Hibiscus started showing up in New York City cocktails around 2010, jazzing up drinks with its fuchsia hue and tropical perfume. This one, adapted from the bar at Hecho en Dumbo in the East Village, takes advantage of jarred hibiscus syrup and top-shelf silver tequila to create a kind of Jamaican-Mexican melange. The wild hibiscus blossom specified at the end of the recipe? Entirely optional! Merrill Stubbs

Merrill Stubbs · NYT Cooking

Merrill Stubbs

Merrill Stubbs · NYT Cooking

Merrill Stubbs

Merrill Stubbs · NYT Cooking

Resembling a mottled green zucchini with sparse, bristly hair, fuzzy melon is a type of gourd popular in Chinese cooking. Often stuffed with ground pork, it absorbs flavors easily and also shines in simpler recipes, like this one from Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery in Boston. Merrill Stubbs

Merrill Stubbs · NYT Cooking

Merrill Stubbs · NYT Cooking

Merrill Stubbs

Merrill Stubbs · NYT Cooking