On a recent episode of the Food Network's Throwdown With Bobby Flay, Granville Moore's chef Teddy Folkman stole the show with his moules fromage bleu (check out our interview with Folkman here). The bowl of smoky, salty mussels is so good that even Iron Chef Flay couldn't top it. Want to try to make them at home? Check out Folkman's recipe and step-by-step video lesson. 

Inspired by his Peruvian mother and Cuban father, BLT Steak executive chef Victor Albisu barbecues simply marinated hanger steaks and adds a touch of pimenton, or Spanish paprika. This July 4, he’ll be at home in Vienna, firing up the grill for his wife, Suzanne, and two-year old son, Julian. If you can’t find the flavorful hanger cut, Albisu recommends substituting skirt or flank steaks.

A couple of summers ago, Hank's Oyster Bar chef Jamie Leeds and her son Hayden helped fisherman reel in bluefish in East Hampton, New York. Inspired by the light flavors of the summer catch, Leeds created this easy dish and spruced it up with the zing of radishes, the crunch of carrots and celery, and the sweetness of juicy tomatoes. It's become a favorite of her backyard barbecue guests.

WestEnd Bistro bartender Jeremy Onesko mixes this fizzy drink at all his family cookouts. With a base of rye whiskey, it couldn’t be a better pairing for the fireworks on Independence Day: The spirit was the sip of choice for our founding fathers after they chased away the redcoats.

With Passover upon us, we thought the fear of dense matzo balls might be getting you all verklempt, so we asked three local Jewish chefs how to make a soup just like Bubbe. Here, they divulge their treasured family recipes.

Equinox pastry chef Melanie Parker changes her the flavors of her milkshakes--this version is blueberry--with the seasons. Photograph courtesy of Equinox.

Todd Gray’s Equinox (818 Connecticut Ave., NW; 202-331-8118) is just a block from the White House, so naturally the restaurant gets its share of VIPs. Diners may spy power tables receiving an off-the-menu gift from pastry chef Melanie Parker: a mini-“milkshake”—a flavored crème anglaise rather than the traditional liquefied ice cream—served in a shooter glass, complete with a tiny straw for sipping. In this upscale dining room, her take on this childhood classic is as fun as it is delicious.

Parker, a 2008 Rammy Award nominee for Pastry Chef of the Year, changes the drinks’ flavors with the seasons. Sometimes she incorporates the sippers into her on-the-menu desserts: A recent “chocolate threesome” featured a wonderfully rich chocolate-coffee-caramel version served alongside a chocolate ganache cake and coffee sorbet with cocoa nibs.

Parker shared her recipe for an upcoming strawberry-basil shake that you can whip up at home. It’s a great spring treat even if it’s a little more complicated to make than throwing some ice cream in a blender.

Photograph by Jennifer Smoose.

Thirty-minute meals and semihomemade suppers have taken over the Food Network and are big in the cookbook section at bookstores. But do you really want to smother a swordfish steak in frozen lemonade à la Sandra Lee? And how often does that half-hour recipe stretch to an hour or more once you factor in shopping, chopping, and cleanup?

In the hope of finding some really good quick and delicious recipes, we’ve created a new feature, the Ten-Minute Gourmet.

For the first installment, we turned to Inn at Little Washington chef Patrick O’Connell, who provided us with his back-pocket recipe—the one he pulls out at the end of a long day in the kitchen. Because his go-to dish is a mix of parsley, Parmesan, pine nuts, pepper, and pasta, he calls it Five-P Pasta. But his cooks have come to crave it so much that they’ve given it a new name: Spaghetti Lovin’. Whatever you call it, it’s simple, satisfying, and (really) superfast.