Labor Day

Inspired by Middle Eastern cooking.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

An old-school ice cream scoop turns out beautiful curls of melon; the pink peppercorn and bay–infused wine syrup keeps things interesting.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This New York-style cheesecake — with a hidden layer of sweet peach compote — is an ideal do-ahead dessert. It also travels well: Just glaze the cake in its pan and chill. When ready to serve, release the sides, then top the cake with fresh peach slices. Begin preparing this at least one day in advance.

This lovely side can be made a day ahead.

There's nothing like grilling some meat on the barbecue pit to make a weekend complete. Go ahead and serve this with potato salad. Oh, and remember, when slicing flank steak or London broil, you always want to cut across the grain. I made this for a kicked-up tailgating show on Emeril Live, and it definitely was one of the hits of the party out in the parking lot!

For this robust and easy entrée, chicken is baked with a barbecue-style glaze. Removing the skin cuts back on fat.

We discovered that store-bought mango sorbet and ice cream were so good we could do little to improve upon them. But most store-bought raspberry sorbet lacked the color, tang, and true berry flavor of homemade.

This cobbler is wonderful after the chipotle-honey glazed pork (frankly, it's wonderful after anything).

Orange juice adds zip to the dressing.

A quick almond crust gets filled with ice cream and topped with cardamom-scented whipped cream and berries.

The beergarita perfectly encapsulates laid-back summer sipping in a single pitcher, combining the familiarity of a margarita with the effervescence of beer.

The best fruit pie, complete with a brown sugar streusel topping.

With homemade quick pickles, this will be your new signature side dish.