Fruit

I found this recipe in one of my aunt’s cookbooks that is old enough to have seemed old when my aunt herself was a child. It’s a great way to celebrate any event in autumn—or to celebrate autumn itself! Layers of spice-infused, walnut-studded apple cake hide an orange-flavored cream cheese filling and are covered with silky orange buttercream.

Buttery, not overly sweet, yellow cake is topped with rich, caramelized pineapple in this classic treat that never lets me down. All of the ingredients, including the pineapple, are staples in my pantry, so I can make it any time I want a cheerful and delicious dessert without having to shop especially for it. Using cake flour results in a more tender cake that is best eaten the day it is made. All-purpose flour gives a sturdier cake, almost like a coffee cake.

Until I left Texas, I had never even heard of rhubarb, which grows in more temperate parts of the country. The first time I saw someone mix strawberries with rhubarb was when Cindy Crawford shared her recipe on The Oprah Winfrey Show. This odd-looking, sour-tasting fruit did not seem to me a good candidate for a pie so good that one would go on national television to sing its praises. But I decided I had to try it myself. I discovered a fruit filling with a beautiful shade of pink (lighter or darker, depending on the color of your rhubarb) and an invigorating tart-sweet flavor. At last I understand what all the fuss is about! Now as soon as rhubarb appears in markets, I begin to look for in-season strawberries so I can make this pie.

When I tell my guests that this is dessert, I often have to convince them that it really is acceptable to put vinegar on fresh berries. More than acceptable, actually, it is exquisite. Sweet-tart balsamic vinegar flavored with fruit is a perfect counterpoint to luscious, sweet strawberries. This is especially beautiful with large strawberries or with a combination of strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries.

As they simmer, the pears send enticing wafts of fruit and vanilla through the air, a fitting invitation to a supremely elegant dessert. I’ve also served these at Thanksgiving with the main course in place of traditional cranberry sauce. The tea bag adds undertones that complement or highlight the fruit in the simmering liquid—fruity or floral, depending on what you use. Choose a fruit tea that you like—I use tropical green tea or passion fruit.

Nothing ever went to waste in my house. If bananas got too brown, we knew banana bread was on its way. In fact, I couldn’t wait for the bananas to go brown! I happily made my family’s recipe for years, until the day I tasted my friend Teri Hatcher’s banana bread on the set of Desperate Housewives. She’s our unofficial on-set baker, and her philosophy on banana bread is “the more booze, the better the bread.” This version is like using bananas Foster to make banana bread. The flavor is fantastic and it’s the moistest I’ve ever made or tasted.

This fabulous citrus sauce comes together in minutes. It is an elegant addition that brightens any fish dish, or try it on chicken cutlets.

I tasted this sauce for the first time in Normandy, France. It was served over Dover sole (page 70) and after I’d eaten it I made my way directly to the tiny kitchen. There the chef rattled off the recipe in rapid French while I frantically scribbled whatever I could understand and asked him questions in my pigeon French. I did, at least, grasp that success depends on using very cold Normandy or European butter (page 25)—believe me, I’ve tried it with ordinary supermarket butter and it’s not at all the same. This is as good over delicate flat fish as it is over richer salmon.

Few ingredients awaken the taste buds the way fresh lemon does. This dressing has a clean, pure flavor perfectly suited to a light salad of tossed greens. It may also have some magical qualities—it’s the one dressing that gets my nieces to eat salad! It can also be used as a marinade for grilled chicken, shrimp, or pork.

As its name suggests, flank steak comes from the flank of the beef, between the ribs and the hips. I’ve been eating and loving flank and skirt steak, which comes from the same area, my whole life, since they are used abundantly in Latin cooking. For some reason, these cuts have yet to reach a wider audience. This is curious to me, for what flank steak lacks in tenderness it more than makes up in fabulous beefy flavor. Cut it across, not with, the grain so it’s less chewy. This tangy marinade is great for any cut of beef. As with any marinade, the longer you can let the steak sit in it, the better it’ll be.

I don’t understand why tilapia is not more popular. It has a flaky texture and good and delicate flavor and can be cooked just about any way you’d prepare any other fish. Plus, it’s safely and sustainably fished, widely available, and affordable. I buy and cook quite a bit of it, sometimes because I seek it out specifically, as when I make this recipe. Other times I get it because I request a specific fish and am told that it’s frozen in the back of the store. In these cases, I choose tilapia instead and am never disappointed.

Usually when I make a salad, I start with a base of greens—most often tender butterhead lettuce, my favorite—dress it with a flavorful vinaigrette, and then top it with whatever I have on hand. The combination in this recipe was one I tried once and loved so much that it’s become a staple at my house.

This soup can be pulled together in minutes, and it’s one of the most soul-satisfying things I make. It should be very brothy so the orzo just floats in the rich, lemony broth. The pasta will absorb the broth as it sits, so serve as soon as it’s ready.

When I was a kid we grew all our own vegetables, especially calabasa, or squash. LOTS of squash. To be honest, I got a little sick of it (don’t worry—my mom already knows). Then I grew up and figured out a few surefire ways to show off the delicious earthiness and sweetness of summer squash. This soup is one of them; the lemon gives it great tang and the soup is unexpectedly creamy, even though there’s not a bit of cream or milk in it. Be sure to puree this soup in batches—don’t pour the soup over the level of the top of the food processor blade. This soup is brothy before it’s pureed, and it’ll seep out of the work bowl and all over the counter if you’re not careful.

I think Worcestershire has incredible potential. The regular store-bought sauce has great flavor but is too thin and a little light on the palate. So what I’ve done is fortify the bottled stuff with more of the ingredients typically found in Worcestershire sauce to create a thicker, richer version.

Pickled vegetables are great to have in the fridge as a go-with-everything condiment; try them on sandwiches or burgers, in place of olives at a cocktail party, or alongside Falafel with Tahini Sauce (page 29). A quick brine made of rice vinegar, sugar, and water gives your favorite crisp vegetables a sweet-and-sour flavor. They’ll keep for up to three months in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and the recipe can easily be doubled if you want to prepare a bigger batch. The vegetables in the recipe below are my favorites, but feel free to mix it up by adding others such as raw baby corn, zucchini, or beets. One batch of brine will be enough for any one of the suggested vegetables, below.

This drink transforms a standard Champagne cocktail into something a bit more zesty and floral. Bright orange in color, Aperol is a light aperitif with a unique bittersweet taste that blends beautifully with fruit and bubbly. Making watermelon juice is a snap; simply pop a wedge of seedless watermelon (without rind) into a blender, turn it on for two seconds, turn it off, and you’re done.

It’s the drink that propelled Obama to the White House! Well not exactly, but this cocktail will gather all parties together harmoniously around the table, just like its ingredients in the glass. Canton (a liqueur made from Chinese baby ginger) is a less abrasive alternative to fresh ginger, which can sometimes overwhelm a drink if not used properly.