1 teaspoon sesame oil.

Fish Grilled in Banana Leaves with Chile-Lime Sauce.For this quick and bold sauce, Zak Pelaccio purees vibrant ingredients like fresh lemongrass and ginger with chiles and fish sauce.

The sauce is delicious with any grilled or roasted fish, with or without the banana leaves.. Get the Recipe.Striped Bass Fish Tacos with Heirloom Tomato Salsa and Avocado.© Phoebe Lapine.

Made with a fresh heirloom tomato salsa, these fish tacos are an ideal summer dish.. Get the Recipe.Comforting dinners inspired by the peak of summer are one way Paola Briseño-González likes to bring paradise to the dead of winter, as with this traditional Mexican meal reimagined to bring a taste of sunshine and cheer to dark, cold nights.In the summer, tostadas topped with chicken, poblanos, and diced potatoes are a popular snack in the beach town of Yelapa, Jalisco, just south of her hometown of Puerto Vallarta.

In her wintery version of the dish, it is transformed into a spicy braise of chicken thighs, tomatoes, onions, and charred poblano peppers.

Briseño-González swaps the diced potatoes in the original for a creamy bed of mustard-laced mashed potatoes that helps make this a more substantial meal — and goes deliciously with the spicy stew.. Cook Mode.Inside Melka Estates in St. Helena, California.. Adrian Gregorutti for Melka Estates.

"'Baby fat,' if you wish, is what the California weather can give you," Melka told me.It's the kind of love-hate relationship that all French winemakers have with the California sun, which can over-ripen grapes, unlike in Bordeaux where it's typically cool and rainy.

"It's like when you see a baby photo of a toddler, and those wrinkles and folds start to go away, and you begin to see the framework of the real kid.I think that's the same thing for the wines.".