JANUARY:: Noma

Noma in Copenhagen, considered the world's best restaurant. Chef René Redzepi serves only seasonal ingredients from the Nordic region. Interview here. The cookbook.

DECEMBER:: Kanel Bullar

From designer Lotta Jansdotter, a classic recipe for Swedish-style cinnamon buns.

For the dough:

1 oz. yeast

3 oz. sugar

1 cup whole milk

1 egg

4 oz. butter

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. ground cardamom

26 oz. flour

For the filling:

4 oz. butter

2 oz. sugar

2 Tbs. cinnamon

For the glaze:

1 egg

pearl sugar 

Crumble the yeast in a bowl and stir in a few tablespoons of milk.  Melt the butter and pour the milk on it.  Add the rest of the ingredients and knead the dough in a dough mixer for 10-15 minutes.  Let the dough rise while covered at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough so it is about 1/8 in. thick and 12 in. wide. Spread the room temperature butter on top.  Make a mixture of sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle it over the dough.  Roll the dough the long way and cut the roll into about 25 slices.  Place them with the cut edge upward in paper molds.  Place on a baking sheet and let rise under a towel for about 60 minutes or until the buns have doubled in size. 

Beat together the egg and water, brush the mixture carefully on the buns and sprinkle pearl sugar on top.  Bake in the oven at 425 F for 5-6 minutes.  Allow to cool on a rack.

NOVEMBER :: Helena Rizzo

Sao Paolo restaurant Maní chef Helena Rizzo's signature root vegetable dish.  Via NOWNESS. She won the 2010 "Chef of the Future" prize from Paris's Académie Internationale de la Gastronomie.

OCTOBER :: Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemon and Olives

Here, Melia Marden's Moroccan-inspired recipe.

-2 Tbsp. olive oil

-6 bone-in split chicken breasts with skin (ribs removed if possible)

-1 large yellow onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

-2 cloves of garlic, crushed

-1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish

-1/2 cup roughly chopped parsley

-1 tsp. ground ginger

-1/2 tsp. ground cumin

-1/4 tsp. saffron, crushed

-4 cups pitted green olives, rinsed

-1 preserved lemon, sliced into 4 wedges

-salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium/high heat.  Pat chicken dry and place skin side down in a single layer in pot.  Cook in batches until skin is golden and crispy, about 5 minutes.  Flip and cook until other side is slightly golden, about 3 minutes.  Remove chicken and set aside.  Add onion and garlic to pot and stir well to incorporate the fat.  Return all the chicken to the pot.  Add cilantro, parsley and 4 cups of water.  Stir in ginger, cumin and saffron.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook uncovered for 30 minutes.  Add olives and preserved lemon and cook until chicken is very tender, at least 20 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Top with cilantro and serve.

Find Melia cooking at The Smile and in a past issue of Me Magazine.

A perfect tagine.

Preserved Lemons.