Recipes from Issue #166

Writer Isabel Gillies tosses together this summery dish with cod fresh from the Maine shoreline and seasonal garden greens. Rainbow chard, bibb lettuce, spring peas, and fresh herbs contrast with the richness of butter-basted pan-seared cod. Get the recipe for Pan-Seared Cod with Spring Vegetables »

In this simple noodle dish, crisp wasabi stalks add texture, while the tender, chewy leaves are a complex substitute for bitter greens.

After discovering that fresh whole wasabi plants were available in the United States, Adrian J.S. Hale found all kinds of innovative uses for them, such as this butter-rich sauce in which the pungent heat of the wasabi root, or rhizome, is balanced by the delicate earthiness of the leaves for a mild heat and slight bitterness that accentuate the sweet flavor of plump pan-seared scallops. Get the recipe for Seared Scallops with Wasabi-Ginger Butter »

Puy Lentil Salad (Sallad på Puylinser)

Grilled Vegetable Salad

A chunky cashew pesto made with sharp, pungent Västerbotten cheese is tossed with chopped arugula to yield an unctuous salad with a robust umami flavor. Swedish home cook Asa Johanson prepared this nut-enriched side dish for her Midsummer celebration in Vickleby, Sweden. See the recipe for Ruccolapesto med Cashewnötter (Arugula and Cashew Pesto Salad) »

Poulet Grillé au Gingembre

The secret to Nashville’s famous hot chicken is in the layering: The bird is marinated in a spicy buttermilk brine, then dredged with more flour and spice, double-fried, and finally slathered with a fiery butter paste to create a crunchy, peppery coating. One bite into its burnished orange crust reveals first a tangy crunch, and then a deeper, complex spice that leaves a lingering fire behind. Adjust the heat by adding as much—or as little—cayenne as you like. Get the recipe for Nashville Hot Chicken »

This thick, spicy horseradish sauce enhances all kinds of smoked and cured fish. In Sweden it’s traditionally dolloped over pickled herring, where the creaminess of the sauce offsets the vinegary fish. The combination of sweet-tart fish and assertive sauce is a mainstay of the country’s Midsummer celebrations.

A bright, piquant mustard emulsion is one of several bold sauces that traditionally accompany pickled herring in Sweden. The sweet-tart fish is bathed in the piquant dressing, then heaped atop crunchy crispbread and devoured—ideally between shots of aquavit, especially at Swedish Midsummer celebrations.

This rustic whole wheat brown bread is sweetened with molasses and loaded with almonds and diverse seeds. Dense and nutty, it’s delicious smeared with sweet butter or as the basis for an open-face sandwich topped with sharp cheese, cucumber, and a juicy slice of tomato.

A salt and sugar cure flavored with fresh dill transforms salmon into gravadlax, silky ribbons of fish ready to be piled atop slices of rustic brown bread or crunchy rye crispbread for a Swedish Midsummer feast.

Sweet-sour pickled herring, soaked in vinegar spiked with sugar, spices, and aromatics, is one of the crowning glories of the table at Midsummer celebrations in Sweden. Piled atop crispbread and garnished with minced red onion and chives, it’s the ideal foil for shots of aquavit. See the recipe for Inlagd Sill (Pickled Herring) »

With a drink as clear and straightforward as a traditional gin and tonic, the addition of bitters can transform the appearance, flavor, and aroma in delightful ways. Here, 10 dashes of Angostura bitters add bright spice to a version from Wingtip in San Francisco.

Succulent lamb entrecôte, a well-marbled boneless cut from the sirloin, is blanketed in a marinade of garlic, fresh marjoram, thyme, rosemary, and sage, which caramelize to form a flavorful crust as the lamb grills.

This Swedish snack of warm toasted cashews, almonds, and pumpkin and sunflower seeds tossed in a chile-spiked balsamic emulsion is addictive and easy to make. Great eaten out of hand or served on a cheese board alongside sharp Swedish Västerbotten cheese as part of a Midsummer feast. Get the recipe for Balsamic-Spiced Nuts and Seeds (Heta Nötter) »

This crackerlike Swedish bread made with sesame and sunflower seeds is a crunchy platform for gravadlax or pickled herring.

Kroppkakor, hearty mashed potato dumplings stuffed with an allspice-laden filling of bacon and onion, are a specialty of Oland, an island off the southern coast of Sweden. Get the recipe for Swedish Potato Dumplings »

Ground almonds add body and flavor to this creamy Swedish cheesecake. For the Midsummer holiday in late June, Asa Johanson, a gardener and chef on the island of Oland off of Sweden’s southeast coast, serves the cake with clouds of whipped cream and ripe strawberries macerated with fresh mint.

Dill-and-new-potato salad is an iconic summer food in Sweden. In this version, sautéed kohlrabi, fresh dill, and boiled potatoes are warmed in melted butter to make a simple side dish that’s perfect for picnics and backyard barbecues.

Milder than their cousin the onion, shallots are ideal for grilling. For a midsummer cookout in Sweden, home cook Asa Johanson tosses shallots in butter and olive oil, wraps them in foil with dill, and cooks the package slowly on the grill until the shallots soften and caramelize, taking on a deep, sweet flavor.

Fragrant leaves of pandan, a perennial grass with an intoxicating vanilla-like aroma, bring a floral dimension to this Malay dish of chicken simmered in a thick chile-spiked tomato gravy. Ayam Masak Merah (Malay-Style Red-Cooked Chicken with Pandan) »

Pandan, the aromatic leaves of a perennial grass, are wrapped around chunks of coconut-milk-marinated chicken, steamed, and finally deep-fried in this sweet-savory Thai recipe. Steaming the chicken in pandan leaves imparts a floral fragrance, while deep-frying caramelizes the sugary marinade and browns the leaves, imbuing the meat with a nutty flavor. See the recipe for Gai Hor Bai Toey (Thai Pandan-Wrapped Chicken) »

These Malay poached rice flour dumplings, coated with shredded coconut, are plump with a filling of melted palm sugar that floods the mouth when bitten into. Pandan, the aromatic leaves of a perennial grass, gives them a green color and a vanilla-like scent. Get the recipe for Onde-Onde (Pandan, Palm Sugar, and Coconut Dumplings) »

Emerald green, fluffy pandan chiffon cake, beloved from Indonesia to Singapore, is a curious manifestation of America’s culinary influence on Southeast Asia. In 1948 Better Homes and Gardens published a General Mills recipe for chiffon cake. Years later the recipe made its way to Southeast Asia—most likely on boxes of imported cake flour—where home cooks made a version flavored with the juice from pandan, an aromatic grass with a floral, vanilla-like flavor. By the 1970s, viridian chiffon cake was all the rage, and it’s just as popular today as it was 30 years ago. See the recipe for Pandan Chiffon Cake »

Honey adds a contrasting sweetness to this savory grilled steak suffused with ginger, lime, and garlic.

These easy pancakes are made from a mash of roasted sweet potatoes. They get a fiery kick from Thai chiles and a crispy crust from a coating of panko.

Tonic water derives its bitterness from quinine, a purified substance derived from the bark of the cinchona tree. Paired with gin, tonic water makes for one of summer’s most refreshing cocktails. At Bar Code in Bellevue, Washington, the gin and tonic is made in a unique manner: The gin itself is infused with cinchona bark, citrus, and other aromatics. Then, rather than tonic, soda water is added to make the drink.

This passion-fruit-drizzled cake gets its tangy moist crumb from yogurt. Get the recipe for Yogurt Bundt Cake with Passion Fruit Sauce »

Conquistador Gin and Tonic

Brisk and aromatic, celery flavors this savory gin and tonic variation in three ways: in a salt rim, in the bitters, and in the garnish. A fennel frond adds an extra layer of perfume to the drink. Get the recipe for Mother-of-Pearl »

Orange bitters balance out the sweet sherry, which, in turn, complements the nuttiness of the walnut-based nocino in this souped-up variation on a Manhattan from Lincoln Restaurant in Portland, Oregon. See the recipe for the Riccioni Cocktail »

Strawberries lend a jammy sweetness to this indulgent cream-topped elixir adapted from a recipe by James Meehan, owner of the Manhattan speakeasy PDT. See the recipe for the Tricolore Cocktail »

Veal stock adds savory flavor to coin-shaped pasta in a rich mushroom sauce.

Amaretti Peach Tart (Crostata di Pesche Cotte e Amaretti)

For this simple hors d’oeuvre, delicate zucchini flowers are filled with salty fish and batter-fried.

This refreshing gelée gets its light, fruity flavor from ripe peaches and semisweet fizzy moscato wine.

Crushed amaretti cookies lend nutty depth to sweet mashed peaches in this simple dessert. Get the recipe for Baked Peaches with Crushed Amaretti Cookies (Pesche Ripiene al Forno) »

Squash, peppers, or eggplant can be substituted for the zucchini in this simple, savory summer pie. Get the recipe for Zucchini, Onion and Ricotta Pie (Torta Salata di Zucchine e Cipolle) »

In this classic dish, cold sliced veal is served under a blanket of creamy tuna mayonnaise.

Fragrant rosemary and lemon are added to this risotto after it is cooked. See the recipe for Lemon-Rosemary Risotto »

This simple recipe for boiled handpicked crab, from writer Isabel Gillies’ mother, welcomes visitors on their first night at the family’s Maine summer house. Warmed in thick cream and served over rice with peas on the side—no salt needed, just a grind of black pepper—it lets the fresh flavor of summer crab really shine. Get the recipe for First Night Crab »

This popular Indonesian salad lends itself to creativity; nearly any combination of raw and cooked vegetables, along with rice or thin noodles, can be used. An addictive, aromatic peanut sauce ties it all together.

This highball uses a homemade tonic infused with raspberry-flavored orris root and peppery, flowery grains of paradise to complement the specific flavor profile of Bombay Sapphire gin.

Navy strength gin adds explosion potency to drinks like this riff on the gin and tonic, which is spiked with dill pickle juice and garnished with citrusy verbena leaves.

At Spanish-born chef José Andrés’ U.S. restaurants, including the Washington, D.C.– and Las Vegas–based tapas bars called Jaleo, at least ten different variations on the gin and tonic are served. One of our favorites is this pretty version that’s dressed with whole pink peppercorns, citrus, and rosemary. A dry gin lets the aromatic garnishes shine. Get the recipe for Hierba Gin and Tonic »

Vermouth adds character to this Stateside riff on the elaborate Spanish-style gin tonic, while a tonic water flavored with bitter lemon balances the aromatized wine’s sweetness. Navy-strength gin stands up to them both. Get the recipe for Los Gintonic »

Sweet-tart strawberries and spicy peppercorns make for a fruity twist on the classic gin and tonic. Get the recipe for Plymouth Gin Tonic »

Aquavit infused with peaches and anise pairs wonderfully with peach purée for a Swedish twist on a bellini from Manhattan’s Restaurant Aquavit. Get the recipe Scandinavian Bellini »

In this Moscow Mule variation, vodka is infused with lemongrass and grapefruit to make aquavit. Get the recipe for Swedish Mule »

In addition to using caraway and dill—the most traditional flavors for aquavit—in Sweden, home cooks make the spirit with an infinite variety of spices, herbs, and other flavorful botanicals. Get the recipe for Swedish Mint Julep

Yuzu, a citrus fruit that hails from Japan, adds a tart, almost floral flavor when used as a flavoring agent; Restaurant Aquavit in Manhattan pairs it with tonic water for a simple, fragrant cocktail.

Restaurant Aquavit in New York City makes their signature aquavit with white cranberry and caraway. Its fruity, faintly herbal flavor makes a wonderful accent to sweet cocktails like this refreshing take on a Cosmopolitan.

Aquavit steeped with dried figs and toasted cardamom adds sweetness and warm spicy notes to this twist on a Manhattan.