Pizza: And Other Savory Pies | Touchstone, 2008 | Makes one 12-inch pizza; serves 2 to 4

Pizza is Italian in origin, but this humble flatbread has captured the attention of the entire planet, and in every country where it’s eaten it’s tailored to the cultural palate. Take, for example, Mexico’s ranchera pizza with beans and chorizo and India’s seek kebab pizza with spiced ground meat. Beneath the pepperoni, cheese, and tomato sauce that we have come to know and love in this country is a blank canvas–or dough–that’s primed for all sorts of culinary renditions. In contrast to the Italian approach, in the United States, just as in other parts of the world, many liberties have been taken with the creation of pizza.–Brigit Binns

LC No Pizza Stone? No Problem. Note: No pizza stone? No problem. When baking the meatballs, omit it. When baking your pizza, flip your largest cast-iron skillet upside down or, worst-case scenario, use a baking sheet. (Although surely you have some cast iron in your kitchen, yes? Have we taught you nothing?)

Special Equipment: Pizza stone (or large cast-iron skillet turned upside down)

Active time: 40 minutes | Total time: 3 hours, 30 minutes

Meatball Pizza Recipe

Directions

Want it? Click it.

The SFA Community Cookbook | University of Georgia Press, 2010 | Serves 8 to 12

This is one of those recipes that really sort of defines the cliche “more than the sum of it’s parts.” Tasting is understanding.–Sara Roahen and John T. Edge

LC Way More Than the Sum of Its Parts Note: We have to agree with the authors of this book–this brisket is way more than the sum of its parts. And although we appreciate there being only four parts to this recipe, we’ve witnessed about as many different ways to tweak it as there are cooks who’ve made it. Some spice the beef with a dry rub. Or swap ketchup for chili sauce. Toss a heap of sliced onions to the pan. Strew chopped carrots, potatoes, or sweet potatoes around the brisket. Marinate the brisket in a couple cans of Coke overnight before draining and proceeding with a new can of Coke. Slather the final roast with barbecue sauce and return it to the oven, uncovered, for a few minutes. Or, well, we could go on, but you get the idea. Go ahead and make it your own.

One last, but very important, thing. If you’re being observant for Passover, you’ll want to be mindful of seeking out kosher-for-Passover Coca-Cola. But we bet you already knew that.

Special Equipment: Faith

Active time: 15 minutes | Total time: 3 hours, 25 minutes

Coca Cola Brisket Recipe

Directions

Want it? Click it.

The Homesick Texan Cookbook | Hyperion, 2011 | Serves 4

All Texans have their favorite chicken-fried steak, and I’m no exception: mine is my dad’s. His version was my introduction to the dish, and I was fortunate as a child to be able to eat it at least once a week. I knew dinner was going to be divine if I came home to the smells and sounds of chicken-fried steak frying in the pan. And while I’ve had hundreds of different chicken-fried steaks since, his is still superior to all others. He is renowned for his recipe and method—a craft he learned from his mother, who learned it from her mother. So not only is his the best, but it’s also part of my culinary legacy—a fine inheritance, if I don’t say so myself.

Now, before I outline how to make it, a few words of caution. The preparation of chicken-fried steak is a violent, messy, and dangerous affair. Do not be afraid of small chunks of meat flying from your tenderizer and adhering to your walls. Do not be afraid of being covered head to toe in a paste-like mixture of flour, batter, and grease. And do not be afraid of hot oil splattering and some screechy sizzling as you flip the steaks in the skillet. Be patient: in the midst of this bloody battle, this culinary chaos, you will ultimately find both the beauty and order that is a plate of chicken-fried steak served with cream gravy.

To craft cream gravy is a cinch. This thick, peppery, creamy sauce is poured over everything in Texas. It’s a simple concoction, made from pan drippings, flour, milk, and cracked black pepper. But while it may appear plain, it’s infinitely delicious. Sometimes it goes by the name country gravy or white gravy, but in Texas we call it cream gravy. It’s best cooked with pan drippings, but you can also do it from scratch with either vegetable oil or bacon grease. The history of cream gravy goes back hundreds of years. People of limited means didn’t have the ingredients to make complex meat-stock gravies, but there was always flour, milk, and pepper on hand to add to the pan drippings. My grandma tells me that during the Great Depression, they ate it all the time, pouring it over everything, as it was a great way to stretch a meal. And while cracked black pepper is the traditional seasoning, you can tart it up with chipotles, jalapeños, cayenne, or chile powder.–Lisa Fain

LC We (Heart) You Note: A few more words of caution. For the uninitiated, as Lisa Fani explains, this gravy is poured over everything. Biscuits. Bacon. Babies. (Kidding. Sort of.) But perhaps its most inspired application? Smothering chicken-fried steak. And second, those of you who have an existing heart condition, we trust that you’ll take your meds and practice moderation when it comes to indulging in this recipe. (Kidding. Sort of.)

Active time: 40 minutes | Total time: 40 minutes

Chicken-Fried Steak with Cream Gravy Recipe

Directions

Want it? Click it.

The Food of Morocco | Ecco, 2011 | Serves 4 or 5

Kefta is the savory spiced ground meat of Morocco, served in meatball form or used as stuffing. Serve the kefta directly from the tagine or pot, with warm slices of toasted bread for mopping up the sauce. In some Moroccan homes where fiery dishes are appreciated, a whole dried red pepper is added to the sauce.–Paula Wolfert

LC Savvy Saffron Water Note: Cookbook author and Mediterranean cooking monarch Paula Wolfert does something in this recipe that comes as something of a surprise to us. She soaks saffron threads in hot water. The elixir, which Wolfert dubs “saffron water,” summons more of the spice’s aroma and flavor than simply crumbling a few dry strands into a dish, she explains. Given its seeming superpowers, saffron water isn’t just a clever cooking technique, it’s a savvy spendthrift tactic when you consider the justifiably steep price of a stash of saffron. “In fact,” she continues, “I’ve discovered that if I soak all the ground spices called for in a recipe in a little saffron water before adding them to the dish, their combined flavors are intensified and better distributed.” We don’t know about you, but we intend to do as Wolfert says.

Active time: 25 minutes | Total time: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Moroccan Meatballs Recipe

Directions

Want it? Click it.

Modern Hospitality | Rodale Books, 2011 |

Who doesn’t love a homemade bowl of warming, stick-to-your ribs chili? I like to make this recipe on a Saturday or Sunday during football season when the air turns crisp. A big pot of chili makes for a great tailgating menu item. When serving it at home, I like to set out little bowls of toppings so my guests can make their own creations.–Whitney Miller

LC Girling It Up With Game Day Chili Note: No one needs to tell you that chili is hardly just guy food. But it can seem even girlier, er, more ladylike than you’d ever imagined when you serve in diminutive, floral tea cups, just as in the photo above. We like to do this when serving it to guys, just to see if they’ll raise their pinkies as they tuck into it. Hee hee hee.

Active time: 35 minutes | Total time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Game Day Chili Recipe

Directions

Want it? Click it.

Brigit Binns | The Cook and the Butcher | Weldon Owen, 2011 | Serves 6 to 8

This standing rib roast is one of the most luxurious pieces of meat, often reserved for holiday dinners and other special occasions. Leftovers, in the unlikely case there are any, can be turned into exceptional sandwiches. Be sure to bring the meat to room temperature first.–Brigit Binns

LC A Rare Technique Note: It’s not uncommon to spend darn near half a paycheck on a standing rib roast–a worthy investment if ever there was one. But you don’t want to goof around with iffy cooking techniques with that much money at play. This recipe calls for a rather ingenious–and darn near goofproof–approach, certain to yield exactly your idea of perfection, whether rare, rare, rare or something just a wee less bloody.

Active time: 15 minutes | Total time: At least 6 hours.

Standing Rib Roast with Jus Recipe

Directions

Want it? Click it.

Stephanie Pierson | The Brisket Book | Andrews McMeel, 2011 | Serves 10 to 12

Culinary expert and food historian Nach Waxman, who seems to have the world’s most Googled best brisket recipe, grew up in a tradition of brisket on New York’s Lower East Side. When his mother made brisket, he was an ardent observer. “That’s how I learned about cooking. From watching,” says Waxman, who is also the founder of Manhattan’s Kitchen Arts & Letters. From his father’s side, descendants of Romania, he learned to prefer a savory brisket to a sweet one.

Nach’s brisket recipe is an amalgam of his mother’s and his mother-in-law’s, and a tribute to both of them. “The key element from my mother-in-law was interim slicing. She had this brilliant notion of what would be good—by cutting the meat and putting it back in the pot, you’ve created more surface area for browning. Interim slicing let’s every piece be exposed to heat and juices and allows the flavor to penetrate the entire brisket. I find that the typical brisket has a beautiful exterior—but inside the meat is gray. By slicing the brisket halfway through the cooking time [Editor's Note: As pictured above, hence the medium rare look!] and reassembling, every piece essentially gets to be an outside piece. The slices are beautiful, the meat is much firmer and less likely to ether fall apart or shred.”

The other distinctive feature of Nach’s brisket recipe, and this comes from his mother, is that no water is added. All the liquid comes from the meat and the onions.

This is a man who knows his brisket. The robustly browned slices look like a chorus line of lovely Rockettes, one leaning into the other in perfectly gorgeous symmetry.–Stephanie Pierson

LC Boozing it Up With Brisket Note: Author Stephanie Pierson asked Scott Pactor, owner of Manhattan’s Applelation Wine & Spirits,  what he’d choose to complement Waxman’s unforgettable brisket. He suggested something with black pepper and red fruit. He specifically mentioned an Austrian wine, the ’08 Schreiner Blaufrankisch Burgenland. No objections here.

Active time: 40 minutes | Total time: 4 hours, 10 minutes.

Nach Waxman’s Best Brisket Recipe

Directions

Want it? Click it.

Matt Armendariz | On a Stick! | Quirk, 2011 | Serves 4

I’ve always preferred making beef teriyaki at home. I’m able to use the best meat, control the spiciness and sweetness, and, in this case, serve it on a stick. This is summer party food at its best–Matt Armendariz

LC Oh Boy, Does Size Matter (But You Already Knew That) Note: What’s essential to the success of these sticky little skewers isn’t just the quality of the teriyaki sauce—although clearly this one is terrific—but the thickness of the slices of steak. Too thick and the steak will char before being cooked through. Too thin and it’ll end up like rawhide. Think somewhere around 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, erring on the skinny side. Toss the steak in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes first and it’ll slice like butter.

Special Equipment: 12 wood or metal skewers, soaked in water if using wood

Active time: 35 minutes | Total time: 35 minutes.

Beef Teriyaki Recipe

Directions

Want it? Click it.

Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Grilling | Oxmoor House, 2003 | Serves 4

Chimichurri, a deceptively simple mixture of parsley, garlic, oil, and vinegar, is the melodic name of a classic marinade-sauce of Argentina, a country famous for its beef.

You can improvise a starter from this steak chimichurri recipe. Just cut the steak into cubes, skewer it onto toothpicks, and serve with extra chimichurri on the side as a dipping sauce.–Denis Kelly

LC Who Has Time to Marinate? Note: A show of hands, please, as to who has time to marinate a cut of beef during the week. That’s what we thought. Not to worry. Chimichurri is assertive though not aggressive, so it packs a wallop of flavor even when simply drizzled over steak, chicken, fish, or vegetal object just after grilling and not harnessed as a marinade prior to cooking. You’re welcome.

Active time: 20 minutes | Total time: 2 hours, 50 minutes

Steak Chimichurri Recipe

Directions

Want it? Click it.

South Beach Wine & Food Festival Cookbook | Clarkson Potter, 2010 | Serves 2

I chose to make this onion-topped, horseradish-slathered “fat boy” Schlow Burger, created by Boston chef Michael Schlow, because it’s the best burger I know how to make. It’s also fairly simple to do at home. I guess the crowd loved it because I won the People’s Choice Award, the top honor of the evening. Grab a cold beer or iced tea with this one and get ready to make a mess—this is not a dainty meal!–Lee Brian Schrager

LC Talking with Your Mouth Full Note: Um, we’d say something, but our mouths are too full.

Active time: 20 minutes | Total time: 35 minutes

Michael Schlow Burger Recipe

Directions

Want it? Click it.