28 masterchef recipes

Old-world apple strudel with dough stretched by hand until paper-thin, wrapped around cinnamon-spiced MacIntosh apples. The real from-scratch method, no phyllo, with bread crumbs to keep it crisp.

Master Chefs chocolate mousse made with Italian meringue, whipped cream, melted semi-sweet chocolate, cocoa, and espresso. Light, airy, and intensely chocolatey.

Master chef's chicken stock simmered slow with backs, necks, carcasses, and classic mirepoix for clean, golden, gelatin-rich broth. The pro-kitchen foundation that beats any boxed stock.

Veal stock roasts meaty veal bones with onions, carrots, leeks, and garlic until deeply browned, then simmers gently for 6 to 8 hours into a clear, rich foundation for sauces and soups.

Fresh cherries preserved in grappa with sugar, sun-steeped for a week then aged 3 months. A classic Italian after-dinner treat with boozy, fruit-soaked elegance. Only 3 ingredients.

Asparagus cornet with lemon dressing wraps puff pastry into golden cones, fills them with crisp-tender asparagus spears, and serves over a homemade lemon-mustard mayonnaise. Restaurant-grade plated appetizer for special occasions.

Buche de Marrons au Chocolat, a French chestnut and chocolate log (no-bake variation of buche de Noel) with Calvados, wrapped in whipped cream bark and garnished with candied violets. A show-stopping Christmas dessert.

A masterchef-level dessert: espresso chocolate mousse over creme anglaise, served in flowerpot dishes and topped with handmade chocolate flowers.

A nearly flourless Italian chocolate cake made with melted semi-sweet chocolate, ground amaretti cookies, rum, and nine whipped eggs. Three thin, crackle-topped layers that are rich, dense, and deeply chocolatey.

Fresh peach tart with a buttery cinnamon shortcrust and glossy apricot glaze. Hand-creamed dough baked blind, then filled with ripe peach slices for an elegant French-style dessert.

Braised cabbage with apple, onion, caraway, and champagne, finished with cream. A holiday-elegant side dish meant to accompany pheasant or other roast game birds.

Rich roasted lamb stock made from rack bones and trimmings with tomatoes, mirepoix, garlic, and thyme. A deep, savory base for soups, sauces, and braises.

Classic French Nantua sauce built from live crayfish, cognac, mirepoix, and cream. A double-reduced, deeply pink shellfish sauce for quenelles, fish, or seafood pasta.

Kobeba samakeyah are Lebanese fish-filled bulgur croquettes seasoned with cumin and cilantro, deep-fried golden, and served with homemade tahini sauce. A Middle Eastern classic.

Rabbit chasseur with a pound of mushrooms, tomatoes, and white wine braised in the oven, finished with a beurre manie-thickened hunter's sauce. Classic French technique.

The full showpiece version of Bruno's flourless Italian chocolate cake: three layers filled with rum-spiked chocolate whipped cream, wrapped in alternating dark and white chocolate strips, and garnished with chocolate leaves.