Kidney Bean

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from The Dooky Chase Cookbook by Leah Chase and are part of our story on Mardi Gras. Chase also shared some helpful tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. In Madisonville, where I grew up, we would use smoked ham to add flavor to our red beans. In New Orleans, they would use pickled meat. Pickling of pork was done in the Creole community. Pickled ribs with potato salad were popular. The meat was pickled in a brine, more or less, along with seasonings. There is a market in New Orleans that still makes pickled meat, in just this way. They might also use some kind of vinegar. In this red beans recipe, I stick with the smoked meats, just like in the country.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Joan Nathan's book The Foods of Israel Today. Nathan also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. To read more about Nathan and Israeli cuisine, click here. According to the Ten Commandments, "On the seventh day thou shalt rest," which means that no cooking can be done on the Sabbath. This tradition is the reason Israel is truly the center of the world for cholent, an overnight stew. Almost all Jewish families have brought their own unique versions — with Hungarian smoked goose breast, Brazilian black beans, Moroccan rice, Bukharan turkey giblets and raisin-stuffed cucumbers, or Polish barley and meat. A dish that has experienced a rebirth even among secular Israelis in the last few years, cholent is often served as a centerpiece main course for parties, usually blending several traditions in one exciting creation. Eons ago, needing a dish that could be kept warm for the Sabbath, Jewish cooks came up with an overnight stew, the ingredients for which varied depending on where they lived. The stew was tightly sealed, often with a paste-like dough, and cooked before the Sabbath began, then left overnight in the embers to warm until the next day. During World War II, before Israelis had proper ovens, the cholent often was simmered over the small flame of a kerosene stove, the lid covered with two heavy bricks. The word cholent comes from the French chaud, meaning "warm," and lent, meaning "slow." In Israel, it is also called hamim, Hebrew for "warm." Like outdoor grilling, preparing cholent seems to have become the Israeli man's domain. It is served on every Israeli army base on Saturday, even in small military units on their own at lookout posts throughout the country, since the army, which officially observes the dietary laws, must serve a traditional Sabbath meal. This Hebronite hamim recipe was given to me by Amnon Lipkin Shachak, a former Israeli army chief of staff. He combines the Ashkenazic basic beans and barley with Sephardic sausages and the long-cooking eggs in their shells called huevos haminadav to make an innovative Sabbath dish from Hebron, the city from which part of his family hails. According to him, the recipe changes each time he makes it, depending on what he can find in the cupboard. This version requires kishke (a traditional delicacy made of flour and fat stuffed into sausage casing, today obtainable from Jewish specialty stores) and the robust and highly aromatic eastern Mediterranean spice combination of baharat (see Tips, below).

When you crave something hot and filling, a bowl of this chili will do the trick.

his delicious vegetarian soup is a take on the Persian dish ash-e reshteh.

Veggie crumbles, a savory blend of vegetable and grain proteins, lend this chili a hearty, ground beef flavor. Look for it in the frozen foods section of the supermarket. To go with the chili, warm some of the new flavored tortillas, and add a composed salad of jicama and red onion with poppy seed ranch dressing. Then splurge with banana splits.

Puréed ancho chilies lend a rich, sweet, and only mildly hot flavor to this chili. To make a hotter dish, do not remove the veins or seeds from the chilies. If anchos or similar dried chilies are not readily available, substitute one roasted and peeled red bell pepper and 1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes when puréeing.

Add the green beans to the salad just before serving so they do not discolor.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Corn tortillas and bottled salsa are great with the salad. For dessert, top purchased vanilla pudding with fresh blueberries and a touch of cinnamon.

Note that the heat level of Cajun seasoning blends can vary widely. Serve with: Baby spinach salad, corn bread, and pickled okra.

In Cuba, this versatile side dish is known as congrí. Louisiana has its own version of red beans and rice, of course, but in that one you won't find the oregano, cumin or cilantro.

Tuna is delicious when it is cooked like steak with a reduced wine gravy made in the pan. Add any fresh herbs you have on hand — chives, tarragon, basil, parsley, oregano. Here the steaks are accompanied by fragrant thyme-scented white beans. Wine for Cooking and to Drink This is a household dish, or more precisely a wine merchant's dish, hence the title. An obvious choice would be a California merlot, but if you are feeling more experimental, a red wine from a less familiar source like Connecticut, North Carolina, or Texas could also work well. Two such wines made from French-American hybrid grapes that would suit this dish and are worth a try are Chambourcin and Maréchal Foch.

Using packaged chili seasoning--the kind with separate pouches for the seasoning and the hot pepper--allows adjustment of the "heat" in this southwestern-style dish.

Garlic bread is perfect on the side. You can find Creole or Cajun seasoning in the spice section of most supermarkets.

Turn your leftover turkey into a warming, crowd-pleasing chili for dinner tonight.

A colorful dish that has great texture and deep, rich flavors.

"This is a recipe I created on a snowy night when my family needed a little warming up," writes Rebecca Averill of Beverly, Massachusetts. "I combined the spices of India with the flavors of the Southwest, and added bulgur to give the chili a meaty texture. "

This variation on the southern staple can be prepared easily with ingredients one usually has on hand. It's hearty, flavorful, and foolproof — a good choice when you come home from work and need supper in a hurry.

Try this with ciabatta or whole wheat bread.