Eric Ripert

Editor's note: This recipe is excerpted from Eric Ripert and Michael Ruhlman's book the A Return To Cooking.

To read more about Ripert, click here.

Here salmon is poached simply in salt water and served very rare with mushrooms and a mushroom broth, along with creamy polenta. The polenta adds a starch that the salmon needs, but it is also delicate and won't overwhelm the flavors of the fish. Mushrooms and polenta are a great classical pair, and a sturdy, satisfying match for the meaty salmon.

This is a basic court-bouillon that can be used to poach any kind of shellfish and most firm meaty fish.

Editor's note: This recipe is excerpted from Eric Ripert and Michael Ruhlman's book the A Return To Cooking.

To read more about Ripert, click here.

This is a hugely luxurious dish, with the sweet flesh of the scallops enhanced by a sauce flavored and thickened with caviar. The dish is rich and creamy, sweet and salty. And it's very easy to make. The sauce base is clam juice, cream, and butter. The scallops are poached for just a minute or two, and caviar is added to the sauce just before serving. That is the only tricky and critical part of this dish: You must be careful to heat the sauce gently once the caviar has been added, bringing it just up to heat without letting it boil. It is, after all, an egg-thickened sauce, and you must be careful of overcooking eggs in this sauce or the caviar will turn hard and white. Treat it as the delicate product it is. Or, as Eric would put it, "Don't whisk it like an idiot. You must be extremely gentle."

Editor's note: This recipe is excerpted from Maguy Le Coze and Eric Ripert's book the Le Bernardin Cookbook.

To read more about Ripert, click here.

Eric: We used to have a captain who would sell this cake to our female clientele by saying it was like the heart of a man: hard on the outside and meltingly soft on the inside.

Editor's note: This recipe is excerpted from Maguy Le Coze and Eric Ripert's book the Le Bernardin Cookbook.

To read more about Ripert, click here.

Eric: My friend Albert Core gave me the idea to combine port and sherry vinegar, and after some experimenting, I found a way to do it. The result was this snapper, my first signature dish at Le Bernardin. Everyone loved it immediately, except for Maguy, who didn't even want to put it on the menu. Now, of course, she loves it, too.

Maguy: I didn't want this dish going on the menu, and Gilbert said he didn't care, he loved it. It was the first time we disagreed. So I invited some friends for dinner and asked them what they thought. They all said it was great. I was furious! Now I love it, so much so that the kitchen knows to send extra sauce on the side.

Editor's note: This recipe is excerpted from Maguy Le Coze and Eric Ripert's book the Le Bernardin Cookbook.

To read more about Ripert, click here.

Eric: This was one of Gilbert's specialties and was always one of the most popular items on the menu. I think it closed more than one deal, and definitely led to some second dates. If you want, you can make it with langoustine or spiny lobster.

Eric: If you have to make mussel broth for another recipe and don't know what to do with all the leftover mussels, this dish is the perfect solution. On the other hand, if you want to make this salad and don't have a use for the broth, just freeze it.

Maguy: The crunchy diced vegetables contrast perfectly with the softness of the mussels, even though it's not the wonderful moules marinière of my childhood.

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes

A simple ragout of shellfish and sausage, so easy to prepare it's almost a heat-and-serve dish. Cook the shallots and garlic, then the sausage, add the wine and rosemary, then the mussels, which will release their juices into the pan, and finish with the parsley and bread crumbs — a rustic, spicy, brothy dish to be eaten with good crusty bread.