my version -- soba dressed with soy, mirin, ginger, scallion kimchi, and edamame; seared tuna served with mango, red onion relish; cucumber, radish salad seasoned with tōgarashi... "Mak-guksu or buckwheat noodles is a Korean buckwheat noodle dish served in a chilled broth and sometimes with sugar, mustard, sesame oil or vinegar. It is a local specialty of the Gangwon province of South Korea, and its capital city, Chuncheon. It is difficult to generalise regarding makguksu's accompanying ingredients. Ingredients are traditionally determined by individual preferences. In most cases, makguksu is very spicy, sometimes seasoned with gochujang (hot chile pepper paste). Various types of kimchi can be added as well: nabak kimchi, dongchimi or baechu kimchi." - Wikipedia

my version -- served with tomato, arugula, martzrola salad dressed with lemon rind, balsamico, capers, and parmesan fries... "Veal Milanese, or veal alla Milanese, is an Italian dish in Milanese Lombard cuisine, and a popular variety of cotoletta. It is traditionally prepared with a veal rib chop or sirloin bone-in and made into a breaded cutlet, fried in butter." -- Wikipedia "Veal Milanese (Cotoletta alla Milanese) is one of the most famous dishes of traditional Italian cuisine. It’s a tasty veal recipe born in Milan, in the northern region of Lombardy, home to other famous recipes such as saffron Milanese risotto, fried meatballs and Ossobuco Milanese recipe. Veal Milanese recipe has ancient origins: it appeared for the first time in Milan in September 1134, in a menu made for the monks of Sant’Ambrogio. His name was “lompolos cum panito”: loin with bread. Austrians claim the authorship of this dish, with their Wiener Schnitzel but Veal Milanese cutlet is obtained from the loin, and not from the thigh, like the one made in Austria." -- Recipes form Italy

my version -- poached in north African tomato sauce; cooked with harissa, cumin, paprika, coriander, fennel, fresh herbs, garlic, lime, etc.; finished home made tahini sauce. Served with warm couscous, spinach, chickpeas salad, dressed with mint, and lemon juice... Chraime is a traditional North African dish that’s also popular in Israel and other Middle Eastern countries. It’s essentially fish simmered in a thick tomato sauce. "The smells from the kitchens of his friends, however, were alluring. The foods were liberally spiced and as an adult Nir jokes, “now I can say sexy.” Meals with his friends in the apartment complex was his first introduction to chraime, fish cooked in a spiced sauce with peppers (though it varies some depending upon your family’s roots) that’s a staple shabbat appetizer in North African Jewish homes." -- Nir Feller "Tahini tastes like its source ingredient—sesame seeds. Tahini has a savory, bitter, and nutty flavor profile. It is high in fat content and has an oily consistency. Tahini is typically made from hulled white sesame seeds and is light in color. " Creamy, savory tahini sauce has just 3 ingredient -- sea salt, lemon juice, and garlic.

my version -- cooked with harissa, cumin, sumac, coriander, fresh herbs, garlic, ginger, lime, etc. and served with home made tahini sauce... "North Africa has a rich and diverse culinary tradition that deliciously blends European, Arabic and local influences. North African cuisine includes the unique flavors of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. While these countries each have their own culinary traditions, they also share many common ingredients. Here are some pantry basics you'll need to start cooking North African recipes -- harissa, chermoula, preserved lemons, etc." -- MasterClass "Tahini tastes like its source ingredient—sesame seeds. Tahini has a savory, bitter, and nutty flavor profile. It is high in fat content and has an oily consistency. Tahini is typically made from hulled white sesame seeds and is light in color. " Creamy, savory tahini sauce has just 3 ingredient -- sea salt, lemon juice, and garlic -- my sandwich is served with spinach, papaya, tomato, feta salad dressed with home made pomegranate vinaigrette...

my version -- cooked with shrimp paste, thai basil, coconut milk, green chili, galangal, cumin, coriander, lemon grass, kafir leaves, lime, garlic, etc.)... "Thai green curry is one of the best known dishes of Thai cuisine. If you love Thai food, I am sure you know Thai curries, named after the color of the curry, for examples: red curry and yellow curry. The green color in this curry comes from the main ingredient in the green curry paste, which is fresh green chilies, hence the name green curry." -- Hot Thai Kitchen "Thai curries are best served with rice because it has a fairly neutral flavour that allows you to fully appreciate the complex taste of the curries. The rice also works as the perfect sponge to soak up the Thai curry sauce, which is often a thinner consistency than other curries. Thai cuisine has a large number of influences from countries like China, India, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia and Burma. The result is a cuisine which boasts an enticing combination of flavours, aromas and textures. The cooking often uses lots of fresh herbs and spices which create healthy and delicious dishes." -- Rafi's Spice Box

my version -- Connecticut-style lobster rolls with butter, old bay seasoning, and chives... "Fill a large steamer or pot with about 2 inches of water. Add 1 tablespoon sea salt and bring to a boil over medium heat. Put 2 lobsters (about 1 1/2 pounds each) in the steamer basket or directly in the pot; cover and steam until the shells turn bright red, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the lobsters and rinse under cold water until slightly cool. Remove the meat from the shells and roughly chop. Melt 1 stick unsalted butter in a saucepan with the juice of 1 lemon and 1/3 teaspoon paprika. Remove from the heat; stir in the lobster meat and season with salt. Divide among 4 split-top hot dog buns. Serve warm." -- Food Network "The Maine lobster roll and the Connecticut lobster roll involve different temperatures and different condiments. The Maine lobster roll is served cold, with the lobster meat gently seasoned with salt and pepper and dressed in a light coating of mayonnaise, sometimes bolstered by the addition of finely chopped celery. The resulting lobster salad then gets packed into a grilled and buttered bun (preferably a top-sliced New England hotdog bun). The Connecticut lobster roll, on the other hand, includes hot lobster meat topped with warm butter." -- The Manual

my version -- infused with mint and lime juice, served with feta marinated with harissa oil, lemmom juice, taragon, rosemary, salt, chili flakes... "Feta is a Greek brined curd white cheese made from sheep's milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat's milk. It is a soft, brined white cheese with small or no holes, a compact touch, few cuts, and no skin. It is formed into large blocks, and aged in brine. Its flavor is tangy and salty, ranging from mild to sharp." -- Wikipedia accompanied with artichoke, spinach salad with baked talapia...

my version -- with avocado, crab meat, and hollandaise sauce; served with mango, papaya, cucumber, mint relish lightly tossed with salt, pepper, and orange juice... "Eggs Benedict is a common American breakfast or brunch dish, consisting of two halves of an English muffin, each topped with Canadian bacon, a poached egg, and hollandaise sauce. It was popularized in New York City." --- Wikipedia pair this with a lychee martini and you got a awesome brunch, lunch, dinner, or whatever.....

my version (inspired by Jacques Pépin's chicken galantine) -- completely deboned cornish game hen stuffed with cranberry walnut crouton, sage, cinnamon, apple, and fennel; served with agave infused berry gastrique; roasted potatoes; and asparagus, crab meat with hollandaise sauce... A ballottine is a completely deboned stuffed bird, roasted and served hot with a sauce. "Gastrique is caramelized sugar, deglazed with vinegar or other sour liquids, used as a sweet and sour flavoring for sauces. The gastrique is generally added to a fond, reduced stock or brown sauce. It is also used to flavor sauces such as tomato sauce, savory fruit sauces and others, such as the orange sauce for duck à l'orange. The term is often broadened to mean any sweet and sour sauce, e.g. citrus gastrique or mango gastrique." -- Wikipedia Apples, cranberries, fennel, and fresh sage add a unique twist to this variation on the classic stuffing. "A crouton is a piece of sautéed or rebaked bread, often cubed and seasoned. Croutons are used to add texture and flavor to salads—notably the Caesar salad—as an accompaniment to soups and stews, or eaten as a snack food." -- Wikipedia "A galantine is a boned bird, usually a duck or chicken, filled with a force-meat mixture and alternate layers of liver, truffles and the like. The meat is completely separated from the carcass and left in one piece. The boned, stuffed bird is poached in broth, cooled off and served with its own aspic. A ballottine is essentially the same except the stuffed bird is roasted instead of poached and served hot with a sauce. A simplified version, the poulet en saucisse, is not quite a galantine or a ballottine, but it partakes of both. The most tedious part of the preparation is boning (aka deboning) the chicken. " -- Travel Channel "Hollandaise sauce, formerly also called Dutch sauce, is an emulsion of egg yolk, melted butter, and lemon juice. It is usually seasoned with salt, and either white pepper or cayenne pepper." -- Wikipedia

my version -- with chestnuts, spinach, mushrooms, and kalamata olives -- served with demi-glace sauce; pearl onion and pickled beets; stuffed zucchini; glazed carrots; and arugula, radish salad... "Beef Wellington is an English dish made of fillet steak coated with pâté and duxelles, wrapped in puff pastry, then baked. Some recipes include wrapping the coated meat in a crêpe or parma ham to retain the moisture and prevent it from making the pastry soggy." -- Wikipedia Example of Duxelles: "Add mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and thyme to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add butter and olive oil to a large saute pan and set over medium heat. Add the shallot and mushroom mixture and saute for 8 to 10 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool." "The chateaubriand is cut from the tenderloin, which is part of the loin primal. This is the same sub-primal as the filet mignon, the origin of the most tender steak cut. ... The tenderloin can be sliced into filet mignon steaks or left whole and trimmed into a chateaubriand roast – a roast-size filet mignon." "Demi-glace is a rich brown sauce in French cuisine used by itself or as a base for other sauces. The term comes from the French word glace, which, when used in reference to a sauce, means "icing" or "glaze." It is traditionally made by combining one part Espagnole sauce and one part brown stock." -- Wikipedia

my version -- marinated in stone ground mustard, harissa, garlic, thyme, and extra virgin olive oil; served with fondunt sweet potatoes, cauliflower purée, and olive mint relish... Fondant Sweet Potatoes - crusty sweet potatoes roasted with butter and stock: "The texture this old-school method provides for russet potatoes is unlike anything you get by just roasting: so dense, moist, and rich. The way the crusty, crunchy edges outside contrast with the uniquely rich and creamy inside is truly a magical thing." -- Allrecipes Stone ground mustard: A condiment produced by grinding brown mustard seeds with a stone mill to provide a coarse textured food spread.

my version -- served with fresh cabbage (from neighbor's garden)/carrots sautéed with herb de Provence, moroccan couscous, finished with parsley/capers/citrus... Flounders are a group of flatfish species. They are demersal fish, found at the bottom of oceans around the world; some species will also enter estuaries. Flounder is a mild-tasting fish with a slightly sweet undertone. Its texture is delicate and fine with low levels of oiliness and moisture. Fishes with a similar flavor profile include halibut, tilapia, and branzino. Flounder is a versatile fish thanks to its mild flavor." -- cuisine vault