Sauces, Dips & Spreads

Crispy sweet potato fries can actually be made at home, which I tried more than a dozen times recently. Cutting the potatoes into strips and roasting in a light film of oil is a healthy approach for the holiday table and helps unleash the potatoes' flavor. The best and least oily were coated with canola oil and spices and roasted in a hot oven, which yields great fries if you exercise some patience and diligence in the last 10 minutes.

This rustic cake gets a zing from a tangy lemon glaze. The sauce dresses up the cake for dessert (or brunch). 

Anthony de Palma of Dolce de Palma recommends finding fresh yeast at a specialty grocery or your local baker. It adds complexity to the flavor of the flatbread, he says. You can freeze the dough, in pieces, for up to 3 weeks; thaw in the refrigerator overnight or on the counter for 2 hours.

IT was a long time ago, but I remember well the first time I was treated to xec, the Maya salsa made almost entirely out of citrus. I had been served similar but fancier concoctions in restaurants, but in Mérida, Mexico, xec (pronounced “shek”) was presented with a total lack of pretense. Both its simplicity and its taste amazed me. In the Yucatán, one can get some pretty good citrus, including the sour orange we almost never see up north. But as I later discovered, almost any citrus combination works.

Do not remove the skin before poaching or the fish may fall apart during cooking. The vegetables in the pot can be served alongside the fish or discarded. Serve with rice pilaf.

"Bacon" variety avocados are in season in the winter; lighter in flavor than the more popular Haas variety, these large, thin-skinned avocados are exceptionally creamy and are perfect for using in sauces. While remoulade is typically made with mayonnaise, in this case we've substituted the mayo with avocado and seasoned it with lime juice.