Gluten Free

Parsnip, a vegetable usually roasted or pureed, is crunchy, sweet, and delicious raw. Who knew?

If I had to choose my all-time favourite family recipe, it would be this.

The inspiration for this was Sarah's grandmother ("nan") Dulcie in Tasmania, who always used to add some honey to the pan before roasting her carrots. I'm not sure what Dulcie would have thought about a tahini yogurt sauce served alongside, but the sweetness of the carrots certainly welcomes it. Make this extra vibrant by using different-colored carrots.

Light, pretty, festive, and special, this can pull off the trick of being either the Christmas Yule log (without the chocolate or the sponge) or the perfect pudding for a midsummer lunch.

These small turnips are perfect with duck or roast chicken.

Roasting white chocolate was a popular technique a few years back in a lot of pastry kitchens. I don't use white chocolate a lot because it is so sweet, but roasting it first caramelizes the sugar and toasts the milk solids to give it a nutty flavor, like brown butter, that balances its high sugar content.

One of my favorite post-shift hangouts was Painkiller NYC, where my buddy Richie Boccato made a mean Dark and Stormy at his tiki cocktail haven. Sadly, the bar is long gone; I raise my glass to Richie and the best Dark and Stormy anywhere. It is a favorite cocktail of mine, so I thought the combination of rum, lime, and lots of ginger would be really refreshing in a frozen dessert. This is a great summertime treat-light and airy but with a nice boozy kick. What really makes this is the fresh ginger juice. Grate peeled fresh ginger into a small fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl. Once you have a fair amount of pulp, squeeze the juice out of it. You'll need a fairly large piece of fresh ginger, about 12 ounces (335 grams) to get enough juice.

One day when I was working at River Café in Brooklyn, I smelled an unfamiliar odor coming from the pastry kitchen. I opened the oven and saw charred pieces of orange wedges. Thinking something was wrong, I took them out of the oven and chucked them into the garbage. I recut fresh oranges and put them in the oven, saving the day. I was wrong—I got yelled at for the one-hour setback to the pastry chef's special that night. By roasting oranges and their peel at intense heat, you toast the essential oils, changing their flavor. It brings out the appealing natural bitter elements in an otherwise sweet fruit. This ice cream is amazing with almond, chocolate, vanilla, and other neutral-flavored desserts that could use something to jazz them up.

As much as I like a pavlova, this dessert takes that classic combination and blows it out of the water. Piña Colada Pastry Cream lightened with softly whipped cream, layered with caramelized fresh pineapple, crunchy-chewy French meringue, and crisp strips of toasted coconut is textural nirvana. Searing fresh pineapple in a skillet adds caramel flavor to balance very sweet fruit. This is a showstopper.

Anyone who knows me knows I love a good cocktail. Growing up, our go-to vacation spot was the Caribbean, where Dad always ordered himself a piña colada and virgin versions for my brother and me. We used to try the old switcheroo at the table when he looked away. Sometimes we were successful, and his, of course, tasted even better. This pastry cream is great for cakes or meringues with coconut as a base flavor—no umbrella needed.

When you go to Europe, virtually every bakery has at least ten types of dried meringues. American bakeries don't have them, and I don't know why. Crispy, chewy, crunchy meringues are satisfying on their own and can also be used in countless ways: You can sandwich jams or icings between them, top them with whipped cream and fruit, or crumble them over finished desserts to add great texture. This is a simple French meringue with confectioners' sugar folded in to fortify it and make the cookies even lighter and crunchier. You can form these into any shape you want using a piping bag, spoon, or spatula.

The following is a slightly-NSFW recipe from the brilliant minds behind the popular cooking blog Thug Kitchen. To learn more about them, read our profile.—Epicurious Editors Grab beer and get to work. Just don't get sloppy 'til you're done cooking.

Pea pesto is a condiment, a sauce, a flavor enhancer. I spread it on grilled skirt steak marinated in horseradish and on lamb chops. I sauce spaghettini with pea pesto (just boil the pasta in chicken stock and toss in the pea pesto and garnish with toasted breadcrumbs) and I dress cold roast chicken with pea pesto and homemade yogurt. I broil or grill seafood skewers and serve them on a pillow of pea pesto; I sauté scallops or swordfish in the pan with pea pesto; and serve poached eggs on an English muffin spread with pea pesto. For extra zing, you can add a tablespoon of horseradish to every cup of peas.

A flavor bomb, this dish highlights the fragrant hot cherry pepper. I make it for company because the dish is unusual, very seasonal, and warms up well, so I can enjoy the cocktail hour, too. If you find seeded pickled cherry peppers in the deli section of your supermarket, you can skip the first step in the recipe.

I make a ricotta that is blissfully dry, which works well in my recipes for ravioli, lasagna, and as a garnish on salads and pasta dishes. If you want a creamy ricotta, to serve dressed with a fruit syrup or to spread on crostini or to make cannoli cream, then you need to add some cream to the recipe: Replace 1 cup of the whole milk with heavy cream. Goat milk makes a creamier ricotta as well.

There is no USDA data for water bath canning artichokes. I developed this recipe, which has a pH of 3.5, well within the safety limits for water bath canning. The processing time is based on the recommended time for marinated peppers, which contain similar quantities of olive oil—an important consideration when water bath processing foods. Rather than discard the outer leaves, boil them for about 10 minutes. Chill and serve with mayonnaise; or serve hot, with melted butter for dipping. The marinade left over after you've finished the jar of artichokes is delicious and can be used to flavor other dishes.