Recipes Blog

Recipe for Charred Fennel with Orange and Honey from Via Carota by Jody Williams and Rita Sodi

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This lovely book will inspire you to go into the kitchen and cook. Break out your grill pan and try this amazing fennel dish first for a new classic addition to your repertoire. Next on my list: Insalata di Arance, salad with oranges, red onions, and olives, and dressed with a sherry vinegar; a salted branzino; and grappa-scented chocolate truffles.

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From Via Carota: A Celebration of Seasonal Cooking from the Beloved Greenwich Village Restaurant by Jody Williams and Rita Sodi, with Anna Kovel. Copyright ©2022 by Jody Williams and Rita Sodi. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Recipe for Sweet Dairy Noodle Kugel from Modern Jewish Comfort Food by Shannon Sarna

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This recipe is for a dish I rarely make, because my kids like food to be either sweet or savory, not both. This version is especially dear to my heart, as it is very similar to one that my old friend, Robin, loved as a child. Her family recipe was lost for years until a cousin made it and shared her copy, hand written on an index card by Robin’s mother herself. Now you can make it for your family to start a sweet new year. Next on my list: Stuffed cabbage from Eastern Europe, or maybe stuffed onions from Syria. Then, coconut-crusted schnitzel fingers and an adorable confetti mandel bread for Brody, the littlest Zabar.

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Recipe excerpted with permission from Modern Jewish Comfort Food by Shannon Sarna (The Countryman Press)

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Recipe for Orange Salad with Dates, Chillies and Preserved Lemon from The Levantine Table by Ghillie Basan

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This book is filled with recipes for Middle Eastern food, perfect for summer meals. The salad is a refreshing start to dinner—I served the chillies on the side. Next on my list: a carrot and caraway purée with yoghurt; a pide bread, sprinkled with nigella seeds; a lovely poached fish with saffron rice and caviar; and for dessert, an interesting rice pudding.

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Recipe excerpted with permission from The Levantine Table: Vibrant and Delicious Recipes from the Eastern Mediterranean and Beyond by Ghillie Basan, Photography by Steve Painter © Ryland Peters & Small

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Recipe for Garlic and Herb Cream Cheese Spread from Boards by America’s Test Kitchen

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This book is filled with ideas for platters of food you can set out for your next brunch, drinks party, or cookie swap. Try one of these cream cheese spreads with your nova and bagel sandwich. Next on my list: a cheese board and grilled vegetable platter. And some pretty cute cookies for dessert.

Recipe excerpted with permission from Boards by America’s Test Kitchen

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Recipe for Pat's Pancakes from Always Home by Fanny Singer

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This memoir is sweet. I loved Fanny Singer’s stories of her childhood. Imagine Alice Waters packing your lunchbox. The memories are lovely, and the recipes tempting. Next on my list: a fruit galette, and the charmingly named egg fried in a spoon in the fireplace. Have fun making these pancakes.

Recipe excerpted with permission from Always Home by Fanny Singer (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group)

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Recipe for Cheese Blintzes with Blueberry Sauce from Zabar’s: A Family Story, with Recipes by Lori Zabar

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

Grandma Lilly Zabar left me an enormous pile of dessert dishes and ice cream bowls. Every Sunday, my large and still growing family gathers around the table for lunch, and we fill those dishes with dessert, often birthday cake, Lilly’s blintzes, or my cookies. Whenever Lori Zabar shared a meal with us, she would reminisce about her summer birthdays, celebrated with cake in those very dishes. 

We lost our dear Lori a few months ago, but she left us with countless memories of her smile and her laughter, and this book, her memoir of the Zabar family and the store. We will miss her forever.

Portrait of Louis & Lillian Zabar

From Zabar’s: A Family Story, with Recipes by Lori Zabar. Copyright © 2022 by Lori Zabar. Excerpted by permission of Schocken, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Recipe for Kir Royale from The Cocktail Deck of Cards by Elouise Anders

Illustrations by Sarah Hankinson
Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This box of recipe cards has cocktails galore to toast the new year. Each one is illustrated with a lovely watercolor. Try this champagne/berry mixture. Happy 2022!

Recipe excerpted with permission from The Cocktail Deck of Cards by Elouise Anders, illustrations by Sarah Hankinson (Smith Street Books)

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Recipe for Semolina gnocchi in broth from Istria by Paola Bacchia

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

What to cook this weekend? Gnocchi. These little dumplings will warm your heart and tummy. Next on my list: hand-rolled macaroni with asparagus, walnuts & mint; goulash; and apricot strudel.

Recipe excerpted with permission from Istria by Paola Bacchia

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Recipe for Scorched ricotta with herbs & honey from Sharing Food with Friends by Kathy Kordalis

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

Celebrate a sweet new year with this herby cheese dish, drizzled with honey. There is even a recipe in this cookbook to make pizza topped with this ricotta! Next on my list: a no-pastry chicken pie, with thyme-sprigged potatoes; primavera risotto; and the cutest individual apple tarts.

Recipe excerpted with permission from: Sharing Food with Friends Casual Dining and Inspiring Recipes for Platters, Boards and Small Bites by Kathy Kordalis, photography by Mowie Kay (Ryland Peters & Small)

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Recipe for Smoked Salmon Niçoise Salad from The Complete Salad Book by America’s Test Kitchen

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

It’s so nice to have a big salad, with dressing on the side, in the fridge. Add some seared tuna, grilled chicken, or tofu, and you have a late summer evening’s meal. Next on my list: peach caprese; beet salad with spicy yogurt and watercress; farro with spring vegetables; and a steak salad with pear and pickled fennel. Then, on to the dressings—poppy seed and then creamy roasted garlic. First, try this salad, using smoked salmon instead of tuna.

Recipe excerpted with permission from The Complete Salad Book by America’s Test Kitchen

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