Italian American

The feast of the seven fishes is a traditional Italian-American meal that's enjoyed on Christmas Eve and features seven different fish courses. Since cooking seven fish dishes for one meal is a lot of work, I recommend making a dinner that's inspired by the custom, but with half the amount of fish. With its white fish, shrimp, and Dungeness crab, this oven-baked cioppino recipe is perfect.

Unlike most seafood stews, which are thrown together just before serving, this version requires the fish to sit in the sauce overnight. Because the raw shrimp and whitefish are bathed in the rich tomato sauce, the resulting dish is wildly flavorful and the seafood is succulent and plump. It's wonderful for holiday entertaining because the night of a dinner party, the only thing you have to do is toss it in the oven. Seriously, this cioppino is a must make, so learn the technique.

Like fresh fig grilled cheeses and slow-cooked chicken with Early Girl tomatoes, linguine with white clam sauce is a dish that connects the wide divide between the shore food of Summer and hearty, soothing dishes we want come Fall.

The following recipe recognizes that fresh bivalves are so stunning on their own that little's required to make them shine, other than aromatics, white wine, and dried red pepper for pep. Want the uncomplicated dish for dinner tonight? Then read on for the recipe.

Although scampi technically refers to a type of crayfish that's popular in the Adriatic, in the United States, the word has come to mean a garlicky, sautéed shrimp dish often served with pasta. Regardless of whether or not the term "shrimp scampi" is being used correctly, the Italian-American staple, with its pungent aroma, slippery pasta, and succulent, tail-on shrimp, is worth making.

For a main course that requires minimal effort, stick to tried-and-true Mediterranean flavors like garlic and rosemary. Alternatively, infuse a Southwestern sense of place by hand-roasting poblano chile peppers to toss in with bright lime zest and cilantro. Consider both when you read more

Although I hold appreciation for foie gras bon-bons and osetra caviar, haute cuisine isn't the only food I'll open my heart (and stomach) to: Since I've never been able to outgrow my love for Americana staples such as processed cheese and the McDonald's Egg McMuffin, I simply embrace them.

Another big-chain menu item I crave? The enormous bowl of garden salad that's a part of every visit to the Olive Garden. On the rare occasion that I find myself dining at the restaurant, there's something about the ultracrisp lettuce leaves, the mildly earthy black olives, and the pickled juice that squirts out of the pepperoncini that calls to my senses. So when I recently came across a test kitchen attempt to replicate the salad, I couldn't resist trying it at home. For a crunch-quenching side that's perfect for a 4th of July celebration, keep reading