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Quarter the orzo-crab mixture and mound in the center of 4 large shallow bowls. Place one or two small pieces of John Dory over the orzo-crab mixture and drizzle the warm butternut soup around the edges.

Make a little frisée salad as an extra garnish: Toss ¼ head of frisée and a pinch of long-cut chives with a few fried shallot rings (see Manti recipe, page 77). Toss with a drizzle each of lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil. Place just a pinch of this in between the pieces of sautéed John Dory and then balance a pinch on top, as a garnish. It will raise the dish to a new height.

HALIBUT, FENNEL, CLAMS & SAUSAGE WITH FENNEL BROTH

HIPPOGLOSSOS, MARATHO, STRIDIA KAI LOUKANIKO ME ZOMO MARATHOU

SERVES 4 AS A PLATED ENTRÉE OR FAMILY-STYLE

This is a rustic yet elegant dish that requires a bit of dexterity at the last minute. Having all of your ingredients lined up and ready to go is critical, because to finish this dish without burning anything, you have to work fast and furiously. I suggest you begin warming pan number two for the cockles and confit when you put the halibut into pan number one. Loukanika is a fresh, partially dried Greek pork sausage that often contains fennel and orange. It’s similar in consistency to fresh chorizo, but far milder. Chinese sausages are smaller, but closer in flavor profile than chorizo (which would alter the flavor profiles of this dish).

2 whole pieces Leek Confit (page 268), plus a little bit of the confit oil

1 cup drained Fennel Confit (page 266)

1½ to 1¾ pounds halibut or cod steaks

Kosher salt and cracked black pepper

2 tablespoons blended oil (90 percent canola, 10 percent extra-virgin olive)

4 to 5 ounces fresh loukanika, sliced ½ inch thick on a diagonal

16 live cockles

3 large shallots, finely chopped

¾ cup water

¼ cup Garlic Purée (page 264, optional) or cold, unsalted butter

1 tablespoon dill, chopped

Extra-virgin olive oil

Sea salt

Line up all your ingredients so you can work quickly while the halibut finishes cooking in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Season both sides of the halibut with kosher salt and pepper. In a large ovenproof skillet, warm the blended oil over medium heat. Add the fish and sear on one side for about 1½ minutes. Transfer the pan to the oven to finish cooking for 3 to 4 minutes, while you quickly make the garnish in the next step.

Warm another large skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle in a little of the oil from the Leek Confit. Add loukanika to cook for 2 minutes. Add the cockles, shallots, Fennel Confit, and Leek Confit, pulling the leek pieces apart. Sauté for a minute, deglaze the pan with the water, and reduce by half. Swirl in the Garlic Purée or mount with butter, and remove from the heat. Add dill and season with kosher salt and pepper. Divide the halibut among 4 dinner plates (or serve on a platter) and top with the cockle-vegetable mixture. Drizzle with the pan juices. Finish with extra-virgin olive oil and sea salt.

Add some diced Candied Orange Peel (page 279) to the final garnish, or make an avgolemono with the pan broth, to send the dish to new heights.

Left to right: Thanksgiving dinner, Long Island, 1993; George Kostaras and friends, Kalamata

dinner, family style

To say that food was sacred in our home when I was growing up would not be an exaggeration. The food—the dishes that my mother created—was not simply nourishment but also an expression of our culture, where my parents came from, and, most of all, love. Family dinners particularly were always a special time of day in my mother’s home.

My mother was a housewife. Her role in our household was to care for her family, like many other women of her generation. She cleaned, she cooked, she raised four successful children, and she cared for and loved her husband until the day he died. It all sounds pretty straightforward and in some sense it might have been. But it was the care and pride with which she