Secrets of the Best Chefs

USE A fourteen-inch wok because of the surface area; use carbon steel because you can get it very hot before adding the fat. You ...

Beef with Tomato Stir-Fry ...

Serves 4 ...

It may take work for me to convince you that this dish is both easier and cheaper than picking up the phone and ordering Chinese ...

Begin by cutting the meat into three equal portions. Slice each portion against the grain* into 2-inch-long slices, ½ inch thick ...

oil, and add ½ cup of sliced unpeeled ginger and 1 bunch of scallions cut into 2-inch pieces. Reduce the heat to medium and stir ...

Fried Rice with Dried Scallops and Shiitake Mushrooms Serves 4 Forget everything you thought you knew about fried rice. This ver ...

½ cup dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked for 25 to 30 minutes, stemmed, and cut into slices 1 or 2 pieces of Chinese sausage (buy ...

Add the cooked rice and swiftly break it up with the metal spatula, incorporating all the elements into the rice. Attack the clu ...

Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Ginger Serves 4 Chefs and home cooks often make statements about cooking that sound good when you hear ...

12 ounces baby bok choy, cut into 2-inch pieces and patted very, very dry (any moisture will cause it to steam), stems and leave ...

Peter Dale Chef, The National Athens, Georgia A self-described “small-town chef,” Peter Dale—whose sophisticated interpretations ...

tip to the South, while serving it all on polenta, a hat-tip to Italy. The finished dish marries the food of his childhood with ...

retirement. “They don’t sell it,” he says. “They just give it away.” A very Southern touch in a very Spanish dish; that’s the wa ...

“In Spain, they keep the shell on the shrimp and suck the head. ...

We met with a little resistance to that here.” Dale’s Kitchen Know-How IN WINTER, when red tomatoes lack the vibrancy of the one ...

Shrimp and Polenta with Chorizo ...

Serves 2 Chorizo is a magical ingredient, the kind of thing that makes your ...

food taste way more accomplished without asking anything of you beyond just buying it. D’Artagnan sells a good-quality chorizo t ...

pinch of salt, and then turn off the heat. Sift the polenta into the hot liquid, whisking all the while (this prevents lumps). T ...