94 old bay recipes

French ratatouille of eggplant, zucchini, peppers, tomato, onion and garlic, stewed in olive oil with thyme and bay leaf. Each vegetable cooked separately first so nothing turns to mush. Serve hot or cold.

Pan-seared chicken breasts crusted with cracked peppercorns, thyme, and bay leaf, finished with a white wine pan sauce. Bold flavor from a simple herb-pepper blend.

Daube glace, a classic Cajun cold jellied beef and pork roast braised with bell peppers, lemon, thyme, and bay leaf. A two-day New Orleans holiday tradition.

Beer-boiled shrimp chilled in a seasoned broth with bay leaf, peppercorns, and garlic. Serve cold with bowls of beer for dunking on a hot summer day.

Herring in wine and sour cream marinated overnight with sliced onions, white vinegar, bay leaves, and peppercorns. A Northern European cold appetizer with tangy, sweet-briny pickled fish.

Seafood pasta salad with rotini, shrimp, bay scallops, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, and olives in an anchovy-Parmesan vinaigrette. Crowd-feeding cold salad for parties and picnics.

Italian baked eel (anguilla) marinated in olive oil and white wine vinegar, skewered with bay leaves, and roasted until golden. A traditional Mediterranean seafood dish with bold, simple flavors.

Slow-simmered venison tongue with bay leaves, cloves, and red pepper flakes. A nose-to-tail wild game classic served hot with wine sauce or cold and sliced thin.

Greek mushroom salad: button mushrooms simmered in olive oil, white wine, and lemon with bay, thyme, coriander, and fennel seed. A meze-style cold mushroom salad served the Mediterranean way.

Pickled fish poaches mild white fillets, then bathes them overnight in a citrus-bright marinade of vinegar, orange juice, green chiles, bay leaf, and garlic. A make-ahead Mexican escabeche-style dish served cold.

New England clam chowder built the old way: littleneck clams steamed in their own broth, salt pork rendered for fat and cracklings, with potatoes, onions and a finish of cream. Smoky, briny, deeply Yankee.

Zuppa di asparagi is a rustic Italian asparagus soup thickened the old way: beaten eggs and Parmigiano stirred into garlicky broth, then ladled over toasted Italian bread. Stracciatella technique meets spring vegetables.

Venison stew simmers browned venison with onion, bay, Worcestershire, and a hint of allspice until fork-tender, then adds carrots and potatoes. A hearty, warmly spiced stew that tames the gamey edge and warms a cold night.

Southern bean soup: pinto beans simmered low with bacon, cabbage, and onion until creamy and smoky. Down-home comfort in a bowl, served the old way with cornbread and sliced tomatoes.