Celery

This sandwich was inspired by a salad of avocado and celery that Sisha grew up eating in his native Chile. Popular in Chile, where avocados are plentiful (they’re sold by the bagful at stoplights for a song), the salad is dressed with lemon juice and olive oil; folks often add walnuts as well. And so we’ve adapted these elements to a sandwich that balances the creaminess of the avocado with the crunch of the celery, the “high notes” of the lemon with the “bass note” of a walnut pesto. We tossed in some watercress as well, to add some pepperiness. A great summertime sandwich, it’s easy to eat, both in the sense that it’s not at all messy and in the sense that while substantial, the sandwich is also light.

You may want to prepare this meal quite often—not just for the holidays—when you see how easy it is.

Rich-tasting, thick, and so flavorful—no one will miss the meat in this stew.

This mildly seasoned fish with its medley of Creole veggies is wonderful over steamed brown rice.

Pat: In Memphis, barbecued meats are ordered either “dry” or “wet. “Dry” meats are coated with a dry spice rub before they’re cooked, and often sprinkled with those seasonings when they come off the grill. “Wet” meats are slathered with barbecue sauce. Folks who crave a double dose of flavor, like me, order foods “wet and dry,” meaning that the meat is sprinkled with dry rub before being cooked, then slathered with sauce afterward. This Memphis pit tradition has found its way into the repertoire of home cooks as well. The application of a dry rub works for meats cooked on the grill or, as our mothers are fond of doing, in the oven. In this recipe, we douse our chicken with a dry rub and then bake it in barbecue sauce. The result is moist, flavorful, falling-off-the-bone tender chicken. We serve this saucy chicken with steamed rice or hot buttered rolls to soak up all the tomatoey goodness, and the accompanying vegetables on the side. It’s no wonder the Neely boys became so good with the grill when Momma was feeding us dishes like this from her kitchen oven.

Gina: Red grapes, chunks of provolone cheese, and crunchy almonds give this smoked turkey salad more personality than the old school mayo based options. For added color and crunch, toss the salad with a few handfuls of field greens, so they get coated in the creamy dressing. Serve this salad on soft whole grain sandwich bread or ciabatta rolls.

Gina: Like many of our favorite recipes, this one comes with a story, and, girl, I’m not about to let you down, because this is a tale of seduction. This is one of the recipes I made for Pat when I was courting him (and, most important, his stomach). The key to this dish is the scent it gives off while simmering on the stovetop. The minute your man walks in the house and gets a whiff, well, it’s game over (you may not even make it to the dinner table, hon!). It’s not a typical Southern dish—the chicken is essentially poached in tomato sauce and fresh herbs—but the end result is chicken that’s as tender as any rib that has been smoked for hours over a hickory pit. I use chicken thighs, because the dark meat is flavorful and moist, but you can also use chicken breasts if you are cooking for a breast man (who said that?!?). The result—well, we’re still married, aren’t we? We’re not courting anymore, but I still turn to this recipe when I need to get Pat around to my way of thinking—like when he discovers that Gucci bag I’ve splurged on! Ladies, handle your business and rule the house. Your man will never look at you the same.

Gina: Ladies! The things we go through to please our men! You should be fully aware that Aunt Faye is Pat’s favorite aunt, so you know I had to get this recipe down right. Pat: My dear and favorite aunt, Faye, is my late father’s oldest sister. She lives in Chicago, and for a while, when we were children, we lived there, too. During those years, Aunt Faye would cook us chicken and dumplings. Needless to say, it became one of my favorite dishes (and the fact that my favorite aunt was preparing it made it all the better!).

Gina: Wow, life sure has a way of kicking you in the stomach when you least expect it. Ladies, I am sure you will understand what I’m talking about. You know that person who’s been in your life all along and you’ve never really seen him? That’s how it was with Pat and me. His mom and my mom went to school together, his brothers and my sisters were classmates, and, yes, you guessed it, we went to the same high school. . . . Sometimes the best things in life are right in front of you (if you keep your eyes open). That’s how I feel about my mom’s potato salad. She always made it for us when we were kids, but I didn’t truly appreciate it until I moved away. What is it they say about absence and the heart? That’s when I knew I had to master this recipe on my own. The first time I prepared it for Pat, he recognized that this was one apple that hadn’t fallen far from the tree. This potato salad remains a standout at all of our big family gatherings. Even if Mom can’t make it to an event, her potato salad will always be there! I think the creamy red potatoes, sweet-pickle relish, and sharp yellow mustard give this salad a distinct flavor and an appetizing color. Pat loves the richness that the big chunks of hard-boiled egg provide (and the way a little sugar brings out the flavors of the other ingredients).

Pat: Creamy, smoky white beans, simmered with some kind of pork fat, are a Southern staple, especially when served with a wedge of warm cornbread. This white-bean soup is finished with kale, a nourishing green that’s packed with vitamins A and C (the leaves are so pretty that Gina uses the green and purple varieties to decorate her party trays). Smoked sausage makes a great addition to this soup, and what we do then is leave out the bacon and add 1/2 pound of sliced smoked sausage instead. (You’ve heard the expression “an eye for an eye” in Memphis we say “a pig for a pig.”)

Pat: This is our kind of tomato soup—it has plenty of attitude! A double dose of heat (crushed red-pepper flakes and chipotle-pepper purée) gives it a smoky undertone; a garnish of avocado relish balances the flavors and provides an appealing texture. This soup is delicious with hot cornbread or grilled ham-and-cheese sandwiches.

If you’re starting with a whole head of celery, choose the right-size stalks for this dish: Use the larger, outer stalks and leaves for stock or soup, and the celery hearts as a snack or as part of an antipasto spread. Those medium-size stalks in between are ideal for baking. What you’re doing here is making a small amount of marinara sauce to bake the celery in. If you have on hand a little leftover marinara, you can certainly use it instead.

Texture is a very important part of the gustatory pleasures of tripe. Tripe should be soft and yet resilient; you do not want it mushy. In this recipe, as I do when making many long-simmered sauces, I keep a pot of hot water near the tripe as it simmers. From time to time, I check the tripe, ladling in water if the sauce has cooked down and some of the tripe isn’t covered. At the end of cooking, there should be enough sauce so the tripe is nice and juicy but not watery.