Daniel Olivella’s Fideuà (Fideo Noodle Paella) is a Catalan seafood dish made with toasted short noodles, shrimp, squid, and fish simmered in rich broth. Oven-finished until crispy and served with garlicky aioli for a bold, coastal flavor.

The underlying flavor of this piri piri sauce comes from caramelized onions and red bell peppers. Bird’s eye chilis bring some heat to the sauce, and lemon juice and fresh oregano round everything out with a complex mix of acidity and herbal notes.

My family celebrates Christmas eve by sitting down to a big dinner. Back when my siblings and I were in our 20s, these meals were long, epic affairs that lasted until midnight and beyond. Now that we all have kids, they tend to be more punctuated but more lively with lots of adult and child banter (last year we had grilled oysters, roasted pork, and about 857 cookies). This bay scallop chowder, clipped from Food & Wine in 1998, makes its appearance at our holiday table every few years. It's a terrific starter course because most of it can be made ahead, and it feeds a crowd.

Pan-seared salmon seasoned with thyme, served over pasta tossed in a light sage-infused sauce. Earthy, aromatic, and perfectly balanced—an herb lover’s dream with both freshness and comfort.

The key to this dish is finding the highest quality scallops possible. Quick tangent: A buddy of mine used to work as a fishmonger at the farmer’s market in New York City, and he would eat raw scallops at the crack of dawn, insisting that their fresh sweetness would give him more energy than five cups of coffee. The moral of this story is that fresh scallops are delicious when eaten raw.

Plaa Phao Kleua (Grilled Salt-Crusted Fish) is a Thai street food favorite featuring whole fish stuffed with lemongrass and herbs, encased in a salt crust, grilled until smoky and tender, and served with a bold, spicy chile dipping sauce.

Pistachio and Pine Nut Crusted Halibut by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ramael Scully features tender halibut topped with a crunchy nut crust, served over a fresh herb vichyssoise. This dish blends textures and vibrant flavors for an elegant seafood experience.

Lapsang Souchong Cured King Salmon with Ginger Lime Cream Cheese combines smoky, tea-cured king salmon with a zesty, creamy ginger-lime cream cheese. The dish offers a harmonious balance of smoky, tangy, and fresh flavors—perfect for a sophisticated appetizer or brunch.

This flavorful salmon patty is a light alternative to a beef burger. The avocado aioli is based off of a recipe from Marcella Valladolid, and adds a bit of heat to the burger, along with extra richness. I prepare my salmon in a meat grinder on the coarse setting, so it has a texture similar to ground beef. If you don't have a meat grinder at home, you can finely chop the salmon by hand, or pulse it very lightly in a food processor. Make sure you don't grind it into a paste!

A delicious savory carp roe (a.k.a. fish egg) spread, perfect for sandwiches, wraps, or just enjoying on toast and crackers.

Barbecue-glazed salmon fillet served atop a fresh salad with greens, veggies, and vinaigrette. A healthy, protein-rich option with smoky-sweet flavor and satisfying crunch.

These crisp and flavorful pancakes are inspired by both pakoras (Indian fritters) and latkes. You can think of them as the love child of these two delectable creations. I wanted the crispness so I added in some cornmeal, and added in carrots, tomatoes and onions along with the zucchini. I use some of the liquid from the zucchini as moisture, which results in a flavorful and hearty pancake.

Whole soaked buckwheat is the secret to these fluffy pancakes! I find that the whole grains work better than buckwheat flour, and soaking them overnight makes them more digestible too! This the base pancake recipe is a take on Chris Kresser's, which can be found here:

My Grandmother's apple pancakes are so delicious that you just have to make a whole bunch to share them with your family and friends. Add a glass of sparkling wine and some colorful sides (such as blackberries and gin or brie, thyme and walnut-honey or ...) and you have created the perfect Fall Buffet.

I love me a hot scallion pancake! This version is a little softer than the classic Chinese version, and the sweet rice flour helps give the pancakes a little chewiness. Err on the side of overcooking them; undercooking them will result in gloppy unpleasantness. These would be great as an appetizer or hors d'oeuvre; just make them small, let them cool, then top with a bit of ahi poke (think: blinis with caviar). It's a party on a pancake!

I like to grill or roast whole porgy in the summer and serve them with this classic Lebanese sauce, a simple mixture of onions, walnuts, chopped cilantro, and a little chile. It’s the sort of dish that is equally tasty hot, fresh off the grill, as it is left to steep in the sauce for a few hours, then eaten at room temperature on a stifling summer night.

Over the years, my "TV dinners" have evolved and gained new meaning as I've grown more comfortable in the kitchen. Now they're simple, nutritious, premade dinners that are waiting for me in the freezer or fridge: say, a sheet-pan of spiced chicken thighs, a breaded and ready-to-fry cube steak, or a foil packet of sweet, plump scallops and rainbow chard. Premade means something different for everyone; for me, it means doing 90% of the work in advance, and leaving 10% (the cooking) to the very end. Not that the 90% here is very hard. You're just filling a large sheet of aluminum foil with a protein and a vegetable (in this case, the scallops and chard), sealing it, and saving it in the fridge to be baked off later in the week when you need a 15-minute meal in a flash.

This is a bistro dish if there ever was one. The fennel black peppercorn crust goes great with swordfish and carrots go great with fennel. It is a win, win in my mind. The thing I know about swordfish is the closer the steak is to the belly the more fat it will have, hence the better the flavor and less sinew. The other thing is it is a steak so you have to treat it like one, and I am not talking about temperature, but letting it rest so it relaxes and becomes tender. Then you reheat it and finish cooking it.

When foggy July days in San Francisco make me nostalgic for New England summers, this recipe does the trick. Best at the height of summer, when the cherry tomatoes are bursting with flavor. I first made this for a "grill mania" themed cooking club, so more steps than necessary are done on the grill. You could certainly prepare the whole thing with broiler and stovetop, or just do the last step on the stovetop, but if you want an excuse to spend more time outside, go for the grill!

I had never seen a version of this recipe until recently when I looked it up on line. I have made it a lot but all based on the memory of how Jacque Pepin made it on his show. So this recipe is based on his recipe.