Pan seared Hudson Valley Duck Farms duck breast with porcini mushroom and broccoli rabe risotto. The duck was seared then roasted with the “EMP spice blend” (Sichuan peppercorns, cumin, coriander, and lavender). For the risotto, I blanched the broccoli rabe in chicken stock while reconstituting the dried porcini, then added some of the porcini-reconstituting water to the stock and used it for the risotto. I finished the risotto by adding back in chopped porcini and broccoli rabe with a little parmesan.

Homemade cheesesteak. Leftover dry-aged ribeye sliced thin and browned along with caramelized onions and Gruyere.

Gorgeous dry aged porterhouse from Bryan Flannery, which is now branded as Flannery Beef. Not much else to say here—Beef from Bryan is always on the table around any holiday and it never disappoints.

Fig and prosciutto pizza fresh out of the oven. My inspiration for this came from a similar pizza from Rubirosa (my favorite pizza spot) and it was recently discussed over at Serious Eats. This is such a delicious pizza and it’s much easier to make at home than you might think. I used the cast iron skillet method—first put the dough onto a super hot cast iron skillet on the stove top, then add the ingredients, then finish under the broiler in a hot oven. The trick here is to add the prosciutto immediately after removing the skillet from the oven (as pictured here, the pie is still in the pan) so that it heats up but doesn’t really cook. Delicious!

Orecchiette with spicy turkey sausage and broccoli rabe. I know—turkey sausage? But the stuff from DiPaola has great flavor and doesn’t get quite as dried out as what you get from the store; it’s actually really good. Plus, it’s good for you or something. Regardless, sausage and broccoli rabe is a classic combination served in restaurants around the northeast. Starting with spicy sausage and adding a bit of red sauce makes it that much more satisfying in my book.

This is easy to make. Brown the sausage then add your red sauce. While that simmers, blanch the broccoli rabe, then drain and squeeze against the walls of the colander or paper towels. Add the cooked orecchiette and broccoli rabe to the sauce, stirring for one more minute. Serve with your preferred grated cheese.

A nice hefty 50/50 short rib/ brisket burger and a perfect batch of oven fries. I kept the burger relatively simple—10 ounces of fresh ground beef, local ketchup, a thick slice of aged cheddar, heirloom tomato, and baby lettuce.

This batch of oven fries following Cooks Illustrated’s recipe came out really well, although they don’t always. This recipe is highly dependent on the quality of the potato, your oven, and flipping and rotating the fries at very precise moments which seem to have little to do with the times listed in the recipe and everything to do with how quickly and (un)evenly the potatoes feel like browning. At their best, as shown here, these fries are deep golden brown, crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside, and not at all greasy.

I’ll also add a small note on the ketchup, First Field from New Jersey, which I discovered earlier in the day at New Amsterdam Market. This is delicious ketchup—a bit chunky and tasting of fresh harvested and roasted tomatoes. It’s on sale all summer and into early fall until supplies run out.

A perfect NY strip steak from Bryan Flannery. I love my local suppliers but Bryan’s beef is unparalleled. His cuts of California beef run a little smaller, so to compensate he’ll cut them nice and thick for you. This 24-ouncer was at least 4 inches thick, which is great, but does pose problems for cooking in a Manhattan apartment without scaring neighbors or alerting the fire department. So, I cooked this sous vide at 120 degrees for 1.5 hours then flash seared in a blazing hot cast iron skillet. This worked well—the steak was just above true rare, which normally would ruin my day, but in the case of sous vide I’ve found I actually like a few extra degrees.

In the background are truffled mashed potatoes and Sine Qua Non “Raven” Syrah from 2006. Of the recent SQN Syrahs, this one seems to be drinking best right now and was perfect with steak.

Butternut squash gratin. The best parts of a good gratin are the browned bits on the bottom of the pan and the crispy top. This dish is an attempt to maximize the amounts of both in every bite, while maintaining a soft and creamy middle layer. The recipe is a riff on the ubiquitous butternut squash with sage and onion gratin recipes you can find anywhere (this one is fine), so just pick one you like for ratios, seasoning, etc. The key to this version is making sure everything is arranged in a single layer and adding cream in two steps to ensure moistness. One medium squash fits perfectly in a 10-12 inch skillet and is a good amount for 2-3 portions.

Sage and onion are caramelized in a skillet while squash cut in little cubes steams. Remove skillet from heat and gently stir in squash and some chopped garlic, season, and arrange in more or less a single layer. Pour a little warmed heavy cream over everything, and top with bread crumbs soaked in melted butter.  Bake until almost finished (bubbling and browning on the top), pour a little more cream over the gratin and return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes until finished.

Maple chipotle duck breast and maple roasted acorn squash. Great fall ingredients simply prepared with plenty of BLiS bourbon barrel maple syrup make for an easy midweek meal.

Steak and potatoes for steakhouse Friday. Actually, this is a Washugyu flat iron steak from Japan Premium Beef and four different varieties of sweet potato. I’ve written about the flat iron from JPB in the past, and the more I eat it the more convinced I am that it’s one of the best pieces of beef you can buy in the city.