Susan Puckett

“Whenever we get [carrots],” says Watershed on Peachtree executive chef Zeb Stevenson, “we milk them for everything they’re worth.”

Although prized most for their crunchy texture and peppery bite when raw, radishes become earthy and mellow—more like their cousin, the turnip—when cooked. Eat Me Speak Me chef Jarrett Stieber shares his techniques for both.

There’s nothing like a just-picked tomato in the middle of summer—except when you’re making marinara.

“I always thought I liked my guacamole super limey because that’s how I ate it in Texas,” says Kevin Maxey, chef at Superica. “But since then I have found that it’s just as delicious even when it’s just avocado and salt. It’s all about texture.”

This time of year, shortbread cookies at Star Provisions come dressed for the season—as snowflakes, Christmas trees, and whatever else pastry chef Zibaa Sammander might dream up for this versatile, durable dough.

The rustic texture and toasty corn flavor of stone-ground grits bear little resemblance to the bland porridge of Jason Starnes’s youth. At South City Kitchen, he uses a 50/50 blend of earthy, yellow grits from Mills Farm in Athens and sweeter-tasting white grits from Riverview Farms in Ranger.

No one wants to mess up a pricey cut of meat, but duck breast can be tricky: dry when overcooked and gummy when undercooked. But when done just right—medium with perfectly rendered fat and crispy skin—it’s beautiful.

It wasn’t until Kevin Clark opened Home Grown GA that he came to like this Southern classic, which can easily turn thin and soggy. What’s his secret?

The gazpacho that appears on the summer menu at the Iberian Pig stays true to the traditional formula of ripe tomatoes, vegetables, herbs, olive oil, and vinegar. What distinguishes Eric Roberts’s version from the original Andalusian recipe is the assembly

Fresh, plump sea scallops take well to all kinds of cooking methods: poaching, grilling, baking. But the most common approach is searing, a lightning-fast technique that’s easy to pull off if you know what you’re doing—and easy to screw up if you don’t.