Simple Cooking

You can serve this dish hot, cold, or at room temperature. Cook the fish in batches if your oven is small. Dried beans work best, but you can substitute 6 cups of drained, rinsed canned beans; begin with step 3.

This dish is also delicious with mussels. Decrease the amount of chiles if you like it less spicy.

This recipe, without the shrimp (and with vegetable stock), makes a nice vegetarian main dish; serve it with grated Parmesan cheese.

You can substitute 1 pound large shrimp with shells for the prawns.

Liana DiMeglio of Liana’s Trattoria in Fairfield, Connecticut, brought this recipe from Naples, Italy, years ago.

For more-generous portions, cook one hen per person. If you do, use two roasting pans, and double the other ingredients.

You can use any firm-fleshed fish for this recipe. Scattering salt in the skillet prevents the fish from sticking without adding fat, and also seasons it. This dish is delicious at any temperature.

To bake individual pies, use 6 10-ounce ramekins, and reduce cooking time to 20 to 30 minutes.

Garlic gives the dish a mellow flavor.

Moussaka may be assembled 1 day in advance and refrigerated; bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until the center is hot.

We serve this flavorful gravy over meatloaf and mashed potatoes, but it is equally good with other classic comfort foods, such as ham and biscuits.

If you can’t find precut chicken quarters, ask your butcher to quarter a 5-pound chicken and remove the backbone.

Add the giblets and neck to the pan with the turkey 1 1/2 hours after the oven temperature is reduced to 350°F in step 5 (recipe above).