Most often cooked with
Butter
Sugar
Egg
Garlic
Onion
Flour
Parsley
DillRecipes with lemon
Apple and Almond Tart
A shortcrust case blind baked, filled with almond frangipane and fanned apple, so the base stays crisp under a wet filling.
Apple and Blackberry Crumble
Tart Bramley apples and blackberries under a rubbed-in oat crumble, mixed by hand in one bowl with no mixer needed.
Aviation
Gin, maraschino, lemon and a measure of violet liqueur that turns it the pale grey-blue the drink is named for.
Bahama Mama
Two rums with coconut, pineapple and grenadine, shaken and poured tall over ice so the red sinks through it.
Baked Rice Pudding
Pudding rice baked in whole milk for two hours without stirring, until the grains collapse to cream under a browned nutmeg skin.
Baked Vanilla Cheesecake
A dense baked cheesecake on a biscuit base, cooled slowly in the switched-off oven and chilled overnight so the top does not crack.
Beef Stroganoff
Strips of beef seared fast and finished in a soured-cream and mustard sauce that is warmed through rather than boiled.
Blue Hawaii
Rum, vodka, pineapple and blue curaçao — a drink invented to match a colour, and none the worse for admitting it.
Braised White Beans with Sage
Dried beans soaked in salted water and held at a bare simmer, so the skins stay whole and the liquor turns silky.
Caesar Salad
Whole romaine leaves coated in an emulsion of coddled egg, anchovy, garlic and parmesan, tossed at the table and eaten with the fingers.
Chicken and Prawn Paella
Bomba rice cooked flat and never stirred in a wide pan, which keeps the grains separate and toasts a crust onto the base.
Chicken Kiev
Crumbed chicken breast sealed around garlic-and-herb butter, chilled hard so the filling stays in until cutting.
Chicken Noodle Soup
Poached chicken and vegetables in a clear stock, with the noodles cooked apart so the broth stays clean rather than thick and starchy.
Chicken Thigh and Potato Traybake
Bone-in thighs roasted on top of potatoes and lemon in one tin, so the skin crisps above the juices rather than poaching in them.
Chicken Tikka Masala
Yogurt-marinated chicken charred hard under a grill, then finished in a spiced tomato and cream sauce that only works if the char goes in with it.
Creamed Spinach
Wilted spinach squeezed bone dry before it meets the cream, which is the whole difference between this and a puddle.
Crisp-Skinned Salmon
Salmon fillets cooked almost entirely on the skin side in one pan, which crisps the skin and leaves the flesh barely set.
Double-Crust Apple Pie
Two kinds of apple under a vented pastry lid, thickened with cornflour so the filling holds together when the pie is cut.
Dry Martini
Gin and dry vermouth stirred down cold and served straight up, with a lemon twist or an olive and nothing else in the way.
Forshmak
Salt herring chopped fine with apple, hard-boiled egg and onion into a spread for dark rye bread.
French 75
Gin, lemon and sugar lengthened with champagne — a sour that arrives in a flute and drinks far more easily than it should.
Garlicky Greens
Greens wilted in garlic oil in a single wide pan, on the table in under ten minutes and the default side for almost anything.
Green Beans with Brown Butter and Almonds
Beans blanched hard in salted water and chilled in ice, then reheated in butter browned with flaked almonds.
Herbed Farro Salad
Farro boiled loose in salted water like pasta, dressed while it is still hot, then packed with three soft herbs.
Hurricane
Dark and light rum with passion fruit and citrus, sweet and red and considerably stronger than it looks.
Kissel
Fruit cooked with sugar and thickened with potato starch, served thin enough to drink or thick enough to eat with a spoon.
Kulebyaka
An enriched pastry loaf layered with salmon, rice, egg and dill, baked until the crust sounds hollow.
Kulich
Tall enriched Easter bread coloured with saffron and studded with raisins, finished with a white glaze that runs down the sides.
Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cake
A creamed-method lemon loaf finished with a granular sugar and juice drizzle poured on hot, which sets into a crunchy crust.
Lemon Tart
A sharp lemon cream baked low and slow in a blind-baked sweet pastry case, so it sets to a smooth cut rather than curdling.
Lemony Chickpea and Herb Salad
Chickpeas dressed while they are still warm so they drink the lemon and oil, then turned through parsley, mint and dill by the handful.
Mayonnaise
Egg yolk, oil and acid whisked by hand into a thick emulsion, with the drop-by-drop start that decides whether it holds or splits.
Mushroom Julienne
Mushrooms baked in a bechamel-style sauce under grated cheese, in individual dishes, browned under the grill.
Mushrooms on Toast
Mushrooms seared hard in a wide pan until they brown, then finished with garlic butter and piled onto thick toast.
Oysters Rockefeller
Oysters on the half shell under a green butter of herbs and greens, baked on rock salt until the topping blisters.
Pryaniki
Spiced honey biscuits with a soft crumb and a thin white sugar glaze that dries to a matt shell as they cool.
Ptichye Moloko
An agar-set soufflé of whipped egg white, sugar syrup and butter on thin sponge, sealed under dark chocolate.
Raspberry Sorbet
Sieved raspberry puree frozen with a measured sugar syrup and beaten every forty-five minutes, which is what keeps it scoopable.
Roast Chicken with Lemon and Thyme
A whole chicken salted and left uncovered in the fridge before roasting hot then moderate, so the skin crisps and the breast stays juicy.
Roast Squash with Sage and Chilli
Squash roasted in thick crescents with the skin left on, finished with sage crisped in oil and sliced red chilli.
Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini
Cauliflower roasted hot in wedges so the cut faces brown, served under a tahini sauce loosened to a pouring cream with water.
Saag Paneer
Spinach cooked down to a dark, silky base with ginger and green chilli, with cubes of fried paneer folded through at the end.
Salat Mimosa
Tinned fish, egg, cheese and onion layered with mayonnaise and topped with sieved yolk that looks like mimosa blossom.
Sharlotka
Apple sponge with far more fruit than batter, the eggs whisked to a foam that just holds the apples in place as it bakes.
Shashlik
Cubed lamb marinated in grated onion and vinegar, then grilled on flat skewers over embers until charred at the edges.
Shrimp Cocktail
Cold poached prawns hung over the rim of a chilled coupe with a horseradish-sharp tomato sauce, and nothing else on the plate.
Sidecar
Cognac, orange liqueur and lemon shaken cold and served up, sharp and clean, in a glass with a sugared rim if you want one.
Smoked Haddock Chowder
Undyed smoked haddock poached in milk, with that milk becoming the soup and floury potato doing the thickening in place of flour.
Smoked Haddock Kedgeree
Smoked haddock poached in milk, the rice then cooked in that same liquid, folded together with boiled eggs and curry spices.
Solyanka
A thick sour-salty soup of mixed cured meats, brined cucumbers, olives and lemon, built on their brine as much as stock.
Tarta de Santiago
A flourless almond cake with nothing in it but almonds, sugar, eggs and lemon, stencilled with the cross of Saint James.
Ukha
Clear freshwater fish broth, never thickened and barely seasoned, so what you taste is the fish and the water it cooked in.
Vatrushka
Yeasted buns pressed into a ring around a well of sweetened curd cheese, baked until the filling sets to a soft custard.
Waldorf Salad
Apple, celery and walnuts in a lemon-slackened mayonnaise, kept crisp and served cold on a leaf of lettuce.
Warm Farro and Roast Squash Bowl
Farro boiled like pasta and dressed while it is still hot, under roast squash, crisped kale and feta, so it eats as a meal.
Weeknight Red Lentil Dal
Red lentils simmered down to a loose puree with turmeric, then finished with cumin, mustard seed and garlic bloomed in hot ghee.
Wet Brine for Chicken and Pork
A five per cent salt brine for lean chicken and pork, chilled hard before the meat goes in, with the timings that stop it going spongy.
Whisky Sour
Whiskey, lemon and sugar shaken with egg white until it wears a thick pale collar, with bitters dotted across the foam.
Zapekanka
Curd cheese baked with semolina, egg and raisins into a light set pudding, eaten warm with soured cream.