Recipes

Alison Roman · Dining In

When people ask me what my favorite thing to cook is, often I’ll give them the most boring but honest answer possible: roasted chicken. In a personal quest for “the one,” I’ve tried a bird every way possible—simple salt-and-pepper birds, spatchcocked and slow roasted, brined, and trussed—but I always come back to this version: smeared inside and out with a salty, garlicky anchovy butter; roasted at a high temperature for brown skin, then low for juicy breasts; stuffed only with more garlic and maybe some herbs; legs akimbo (I have a strict “no truss, no fuss” policy). I’m going to be honest with you: this recipe is almost too much. The sticky juices from the roasted chicken, the caramelized bits from anchovy butter, and the croutons that cook in the skillet and crisp in the fat, well… I mean, it’s really all just too much. Almost. For what other dish would you be tempted to lick a hot skillet?

Zoe Adjonyoh · Zoe's Ghana Kitchen

In the Caribbean they have rice and beans, while in Ghana we have waakye (pronounced ‘waa-che’) rice — an incredibly popular breakfast and brunch. You can see people hurrying to work in the bustle of a steamy Accra morning firmly gripping a polythene bag of waakye. My Uncle Ernest dashes across the road every morning to get his before his household is even awake. While waakye rice is simple enough to prepare, the dish is layered with a variety of sometimes complicated accompaniments, including the infamous Waakye Stew; Simple Fried Plantain; Shito (Hot Pepper Sauce); spaghetti (or ‘ta-lia’, as it’s commonly called roadside); small chop (salad); gari (fermented, dried and ground cassava); and an assortment of meat or fish. The dried millet or sorghum leaves used to give waakye its characteristic reddish colour are reputed to offer considerable nutritional benefits and are gluten-free.

Pary Baban · Nandên

Newroz is the Kurdish New Year, celebrating the start of spring. Like Christmas Eve, we have Newroz Eve on 20th March when the sun goes down until the early hours of the morning. In the weeks and days before the celebration, wood will be collected ready for the Newroz fires. Every single home goes to the roof of the house (terrace) or the front of the house and lights a fire when the sun sets and the night begins. The fire has multiple meanings, but it represents the sign of victory and the resilience of the Kurdish people. All around the town/village every house will have a fire and it will look like fairy lights from a distance. The fire is a sign of light in the darkness; it is to celebrate victory for freedom. During the picnic for Newroz, we put our food on the same xwan (table) and eat together. If there are any issues you have with anyone, friends or family, it is encouraged to make peace during this time. Kuzala salad is a good representation of Newroz as kuzala (watercress),

Hisham Assaad · Taboon

These fried dough rings are a speciality that Palestinians prepare on the night of Epiphany (5 January), the night where we commemorate the baptism of Christ in the River Jordan. They are lightly seasoned with anise, mahlab, and sesame and nigella seeds. We make the dough and let it rise, but before starting to fry the dough, we wrap small portions of it and place them outside on a tree that’s not a fig or mulberry. The dough portions will sit there throughout the night with a candle or a light on it in the belief that Christ passes around midnight, with trees bowing to Him, to bless the dough that people will use for the coming year. To me that sounds like a basic sourdough starter – a blessed one though. Many traditions and blessings are linked to the feast of Epiphany at the beginning of the year. My mom makes zalabye every year and we all gather to share the blessing of the holiday. The streets fill with the aromas everywhere you go and we’ve been gathering an audience every year

Yotam Ottolenghi · Simple

This is a wonderful meal on an autumn day, served with a crisp green salad. The slow-cooked chicken is packed full of flavour and the crust - gluten-free, rich and corny - makes for a welcome (and lighter) change to a heavier mash. You can make the chicken well in advance if you want to get ahead: it keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days or can be frozen for 1 month. You want it to go into the oven defrosted, though, so it will need thawing out of the freezer. The batter needs to be made fresh and spooned on top of the chicken just before the dish gets baked, but it then can just go back in the oven. It can also be baked a few hours in advance - just warm through for 10 minutes, covered in foil, before serving. I love the combination of the chicken and the corn, but the chicken also works well as it is, served on top of rice, in a wrap or with a buttery jacket potato.

Yotam Ottolenghi · Plenty More

For someone who didn't grow up with rhubarb, this vegetable (or stalk?) is a bit of an oddity. I guess the same could be said of artichoke, a thistle, but for me, eating a thick, greenish, reddish branch will always seem much weirder than scoffing a thorny flower. Each to their own, I say. One of my sweetest rhubarb memories dates from the early years of Ottolenghi, when one of our sales assistants, the lovely Alexandra from Mexico, used to come down to the kitchen on her breaks with a cappuccino cup full of caster sugar and a raw rhubarb stalk to dip in the sugar as dessert. Slightly unusual but, as I said, each to their own. During the beet season the different varieties around offer a great opportunity to play with colours and subtlety of flavour. If you can get some golden, red, white and some candy beets, you can mix them up; otherwise, one variety is absolutely fine.

Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage · Ottolenghi FLAVOUR

Curing yolks in soy, as we do here, adds creaminess, complexity and a hit of umami to this polenta. It's a nifty technique to add to your repertoire and the process couldn't be simpler. You can use these to top any grain-based dishes, such as pasta or rice, or to top thick soups. Good-quality eggs, preferably organic with rich yolks, are best here, as they will be eaten raw. Roast and marinate the peppers up to 3 days before, if you like. The polenta will set quite quickly, so it is best made just before serving.

Yasmin Khan · Zaitoun: Recipes and Stories from the Palestinian Kitchen

Wild capers grow throughout the Palestinian territories and in recent years there has been a resurgence, driven by Palestinian chefs, to encourage the use of them. I've taken their lead with this dish, which is inspired by my travels around the north of the West Bank, where I found local food co-operatives selling locally grown sun-dried tomatoes, olives and capers. These elements come together in a quick and flavoursome stuffing for roast red peppers.

Yasmin Khan · The Saffron Tales

This enchanting cake reminds me of a Persian garden in the late spring, adorned with the floral scent of rose water and citrus, and decorated with bright green pistachios. If it is not devoured in one sitting, the oil in the ground almond base ensures a moist, densely textured cake that will keep well for a couple of days, covered in foil. A sprinkling of dried rose petals looks ever so pretty for special occasions, but don’t worry if you can’t get hold of any. It’s still a cake to win hearts.

Yasmin Khan · Ripe Figs

This rich and creamy soup is inspired by the high mountain meadows in Northern Turkey where the country’s best dairy produce comes from. It’s incredibly simple, quick and comforting and, as such, is on steady rotation at my house. To make sure the yogurt doesn’t split while you are cooking it, add it in stages and warm it up gently. And, as always, make sure you cook this with the best-quality full-fat natural yogurt, as low-fat varieties simply won’t cut it, especially not in a soup like this where the yogurt is the star.

Yasemen Kaner-White · Lemon Compendium

Not only rich with its cuisine, Latvia hosts many fascinating pagan traditions, particularly around Christmas. Such as a yuletide log being lumbered through Old Riga, followed by dancing and burning it on a huge bonfire, signifying ridding of negatives. In the houses children adorned by animal masks, prance around, again to ward off evil. I call this celebration cake, as it derived from sampling both traditional Latvian Christmas yellow bread and Birthday cake (Kringel). Due to ginger cookies being a big Xmas hit, I had to add a touch...

Yang Liu · Vegan Chinese Food

These wave-shaped potato strips are a very popular street food in Yunnan and Sichuan. They have a very unique name — Lang Ya (狼牙), which means ‘wolf teeth’ in Chinese. The potato is first cut into thick slices, then cut with a wave-shaped knife to obtain the shape. You can also just use crinkle-cut fries as a shortcut.

Joshua McFadden · Six Seasons of Pasta

As with so many classic dishes, ragu alla Bolognese (the parent to this ragu) comes with variants, misconceptions, and many strong opinions. The primary debate is whether Bolognese sauce is a tomato sauce or not. From what I know, “not” is the most accurate answer, though outside of Italy, ragu alla Bolognese has somehow morphed into what might be called “spaghetti sauce,” a very tomatoey sauce with ground meat. Most traditional Italian versions of ragu alla Bolognese focus on the meats, which can include a range—beef, pork, veal, prosciutto. The sauce generally includes finely ground meats and finely chopped soffritto, and the flavor is intense and luxurious. In recipes that include tomato—whether as paste, canned, or both—it is not the principal ingredient. The no-tomato version is often called white or bianco. While I’m all for tradition, I also like to push the edges a bit, which is why this version of white Bolognese, inspired by one made by Australian food writer Odette William

Justin Tsang · Long Day? Cook This

It’s in the name – this dish is not for the faint hearted! Chilli, chicken, sweetcorn are combined with melted mozzarella for the most insane cheese pulls. It’s a deadly but heavenly combo, and definitely one for a night of beer! Serve this sharing dish with bowls of steaming rice – you’ll need it as a fire blanket for your mouth!

Sam Dixon · German Baking

If you have leftover mincemeat or just a jar hanging around, this is a nice way to jazz up pancakes — a perfect Christmas Day breakfast treat. They can be served with maple syrup or a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of sugar, or try them with vegan soured cream. A Very Vegan Christmas by Sam Dixon is published by Hamlyn, £16.99, www.octopusbooks.co.uk.

Sam Dixon · German Baking

A classic made vegan, you can bake the cake up to 2 weeks in advance and store undecorated and well wrapped in an airtight container for up to 1 week, during which time you can feed it with extra rum or brandy every now and then, depending on how boozy you want it, up until at least a couple of days before icing so that the surface is dry. It's best to decorate it the day before serving so that the icing is thoroughly set. A Very Vegan Christmas by Sam Dixon is published by Hamlyn, £16.99, www.octopusbooks.co.uk.

Jürgen Krauss · Winter in the Highlands

Thanks to its nut content, the dough for these vanilla crescents is quite forgiving, by which I mean it remains pliable to shape without cracking. These biscuits are a favourite of my brother, and quite easy and quick to make. It wouldn’t be Christmas without them.

Valerie Aikman-Smith · Cooking in Cast Iron

Uyen Luu · Vietnamese: Simple Vietnamese Food To Cook At Home

This is a simple and quick technique to make soup; it is easy to adapt with many seasonal ingredients. Watercress instils the broth with the most refreshing, peppery flavours, balancing well with the zing of ginger. Fried shallots and garlic add a sweet complexity to the broth, while the samphire adds a crunch as well as its salty seaside flavours. This is a fish cake recipe and a fish cake broth recipe. Here, I've made extra fish cakes for another meal, perfect in bánh mì (another recipe in the book) or with steamed rice, a lovely nước mắm and plenty of vegetable sides and pickles. When making the nước mắm, remember to trust your taste buds entirely and try to get the right balance at all times.

Tamar Adler · The Everlasting Meal Cookbook

A note from Nigella This lovely recipe appears in Tamar Adler’s book rather in the form of a suggestion, which is to say without specific amounts to allow, wisely, for maximum flexibility. I have no desire to subvert that but, with the generous permission of the author, I've rejigged it a little just so that it can be incorporated into the nigella.com recipe format, and I have also supplied a photograph I took of the dish as I made it. I didn’t include the olives or parsley that were among the optional ingredients, and added some thinly sliced radishes and a scattering of pomegranate seeds, just because I had both in the fridge, and thought they’d go perfectly — and they did. The recipe as written could be made for any amount, but having made this using one unripe nectarine masquerading as a billiard ball and half a fennel bulb (everything else went in without regard to measurements) I’d say that it would serve 3-4 as a side salad, but I have pressing plans to make it without the sha

Sabrina Ghayour · Persiana Easy

The correct name for this type of bread is ramazan pidesi – breads that are traditionally made and served during Ramadan – but for ease, I call them pide at home. It really is very easy to make and is a stunning accompaniment to soups and stews, but if like me the Westerner in you prevails, pide also makes a magnificent sandwich (I like mortadella, pickled cucumbers, tomatoes and mayonnaise). Alternatively, serve whole at the table and slice or pull apart.

Rick Stein · Winter in the Highlands

The Monte Cristo sandwich came to America from Paris in the 1920s, but since then it’s picked up what I would call gorgeous American excess – that is, think of something incredibly rich and luscious, then add something more. In this case, we have a French croque monsieur containing not only cheese and ham but also turkey and kimchi, then dipped in beaten egg and fried. As American chef and author David Rosengarten would say, ‘Don’t knock it, it’s brilliant’. I find the kimchi a fabulous addition but if you don’t like it, add more mustard or chutney; if you want something sweet, add some cranberry sauce.

Simon Bajada · Malta

This dip is one of those recipes that gets tweaked and leveraged in many ways. Arjoli is a melting pot of classic Maltese flavours, but you can use what’s on hand in the fridge or pantry, omitting and adding to it ingredients such as capers, preserved artichokes, mint, beans, sun-dried tomatoes and spring onion (scallion). The dip is perfect spread over crusty ħobż or with galletti. You can even keep it cold and pack it for the beach.

Freya Cox · Simply Vegan Baking

These have to be the most versatile cookies you could make — pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds and serve with a scoop of ice cream for the perfect dessert, or fill with a swirl of buttercream for a cookie sandwich. Replace the cocoa powder with more self-raising flour for a simple chocolate chip cookie.