Barbacoaby Beth Hensperger
James Beard Award-winner Beth Hensperger puts an authentic Mexican spin on classic BBQ.
Traditionally, barbacoa, or Mexican barbecued beef, is beef slow-cooked for many hours in a hole in the ground covered by agave leaves. Julie Farias of Brooklyn’s General Greene forgoes the dirt pit in favor of a smoker, but she doesn’t do away with tradition entirely: Farias makes her barbacoa with a 16-pound calf’s head cooked for 24 hours. Last time we checked, though, FreshDirect wasn’t offering calves’ heads, at 16 pounds or otherwise. And digging a hole in the backyard for cooking meat sounds just plain unsanitary. This recipe takes a quarter of the time and keeps your landscaping intact by using a crockpot. You might miss a little of the musty flavor from the calf’s head, but what you’ll lose in flavor you’ll make up for in not having to figure out how to dispose of the calf’s eyes.
Click here for the recipe.
The Great American Burgerby Steven Raichlen
You’ll have the competition beat with this burger recipe from an Iron Chef winner.
Frank Bruni in The New York Times called Minetta Tavern the “best steakhouse” in New York City and wrote that its $26 Black Label burger is a “riveting experience.” The burger, made from meat provided by Pat LaFrieda, New York’s pre-eminent meat supplier, is a combination of dry-aged rib-eye, short rib, brisket and skirt steak (LaFrieda had been told by chefs Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr and Minetta owner Keith McNally to spare no expense in creating the best burger New York had ever seen.) The burger is indeed fantastic, but if you can get your hands on a dry-aged rib-eye, save it for the grill and use this recipe from grillmaster Steven Raichlen instead. Sirloin is a perfectly acceptable top-shelf replacement.
Click here for the recipe.
Grilled or Broiled Eggplant Slicesby Mark Bittman
New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman keeps it simple yet delicious with this guide to grilling eggplant.
French Basque chef Iñaki Aizpitarte cooks at Le Chateaubriand in Paris, where his aim is to make haute cuisine not so haute by steering away from the traditional (read: inaccessible) and toward creativity and affordability. This concept has taken Paris by storm and started a new food movement known as bistronomy, a combination of the words bistro—a casual, affordable, neighborhood kind of eating—and gastronomy, or gourmet dining. It’s this highbrow-meets-everyday attitude that allows a chef of Aizpitarte’s stature and reputation to prepare something as simple as steak with charred aubergine at the Le Fooding event in New York. “I try to keep myself to a style of cuisine that’s got clarity and is simple,” he has said. “I challenge myself to simplify and simplify.” It doesn’t get much simpler than grilled eggplant.
Click here for the recipe.
Moroccan Spiced Lamb Stewby Nina Simonds
Perfect for fall, this hearty recipe is all you need on chilly night.
Depending on where you’re from, couscous with stewed chicken and lamb is either totally exotic or home-style comfort food. Chef Olivier Muller, of Daniel Boulud’s DB Bistro Moderne, treats this dish as both. Warm, tender braised lamb sits on a bed of fluffy minted couscous, and then the whole thing is topped with roasted chicken and spicy merguez sausage.
Click here for the recipe.
Roasted Beets with Walnutsby Art Smith
Oprah’s former personal chef shares a way to revamp the classic beet.
The restaurant Franny’s in Brooklyn has, over the last few years, become a destination with a cult-like following. And with Franny’s featured cured meats, salads, and small, thin-crust pizzas, and focus on seasonal, local, and fresh ingredients, the dedication of the restaurant’s customers comes as no surprise. “I believe that if a dish has three perfect ingredients, then it doesn’t need anything else,” says Franny’s co-owner Andrew Feinberg. And the marinated beet salad with hot peppers and walnuts served with yogurt that he’ll be preparing at Le Fooding d’Amour Paris-New York this weekend accurately reflects his philosophy. Beets are perfectly in season now—and are brightened up with the light crunch of walnuts.
Click here for the recipe.
Plus: Check out Hungry Beast for more news on the latest restaurants, hot chefs, and tasty recipes.
Cookstr.com presents the best recipes from the world's greatest chefs and cookbooks and brings them online for the first time ever. Our powerful search engine allows you to find the perfect recipe every time, with tons of options for searching. Each chef and cookbook author on the site has a robust profile page with information about them, their restaurants, and their cookbooks. Many more features are coming soon. For more about Cookstr, click here.
