Michel Richard

Michel Richard · NYT Cooking

Melon with port is a traditional combination in France, the wine served in half a Cavaillon melon, but I always though it could be improved. The beautiful pastel shades of the melons are lost in the deep red-purple of the wine, and port overwhelms the taste of the fruit. In this recipe, the raspberry ice cubes add color and another flavor dimension to the soup, which is quite intense: they make it taste like a kir royale. I keep raspberry cubes in the freezer for more than just this soup. You can also drop them into a glass of Champagne or a martini.

Michel Richard · NYT Cooking

When I was a child in the Champagne region, my mother served us a dessert called gateau de semoule. It may sound exotic, but it's really just a cake made of semolina, the same as the American breakfast cereal Cream of Wheat. Its grainy, creamy texture was so soothing. Years later, I was working in Paris for Gaston Lenotre, the great pastry chef; he mixed semolina with olive oil and Parmesan to make gnocchi alla Romana. They were tender and light, and I much preferred them to regular gnocchi, which I find too gummy. I suppose those two memories are the reason I make my polenta with Cream of Wheat instead of cornmeal. I prefer the smoother texture of Cream of Wheat to the rougher texture of cornmeal, probably because it reminds me of my childhood, and Lenotre.

Michel Richard · NYT Cooking

In July and August I use a lot of fresh basil. I love to use it as a coating on a roasted loin of lamb. When the meat is sliced, there is the beautiful green of the crust and the gorgeous pink of rare lamb, the colors arranged on a pale creamy bed of quickly cooked fennel. There are three steps to cooking the loin, a cut you can get by asking your butcher to debone a rack of lamb. I sauté the meat to brown and caramelize the outside, then I roast it a bit, coat it with the basil crust and roast it again.

Michel Richard · NYT Cooking

Although we do not have sweet salads in France, when I came to the United States I fell in love with coleslaw. Unripe peaches are not dripping with juice, but they do have a little peachy flavor and good, firm texture. Cut into julienne strips, they are a perfect replacement for cabbage. The soft texture of the lobster and the crispness of the peaches make a very good balance in a very elegant dish. You could also use sautéed scallops because scallops, like lobster, are sweet and tender.

Michel Richard · NYT Cooking

This dish is more like a compote than a soup, but unlike most compotes, the fruit is cooked as little as possible so the flavors and textures remain distinct. The rhubarb must be cut very small to retain some of the crunch, but cook all the way through. Don't be tempted to cook the pineapple at all as the dessert would lose its fresh flavor if you did.

Michel Richard · NYT Cooking

I have thought a lot about fried chicken because Americans love it. The idea for a potato crust on it came to me from frozen Tater Tots. I loved their crunch and thought if I coated the chicken with potatoes instead of bread crumbs the crunch would be better. It's more work, but it's more than worth it. Wrapping the chicken in plastic film helps the coating adhere, but you need to put the wrapped pieces in the freezer for an hour to get the plastic off without removing the potato coating.

Michel Richard · NYT Cooking

Some people might call my tomato terrine a tomato pudding, but it is more a salad, with very thin layers of highly seasoned tomato slices and bread. It's the perfect first course in summer. For this salad, the tomatoes have to be skinned. You can do this with a blowtorch, charring the skin until it can be slipped off, as we sometimes do, or you can blanch them in boiling water until the skins loosen and will easily slide off. Just don't put in more than two at a time, or the tomatoes will remain in the water so long that they will cook and turn mushy.