You have seen it done with fish, but the Italians have a classic version with a whole chicken baked in a salt crust. I have seen many recipes with many traditional flavor accompaniments. My version is very pared down. In fact I have removed all the herbs and other seasoning except thyme, a little pepper and of course the salt. I think this allows the chicken to shine and taste so darn chicken-y. Which is my biggest complaint about most roast or baked chicken recipes. Too much everything!

I know you have had chicken soup before, but this Peruvian version should make you look twice. It's got corn, potatoes, boiled egg and cilantro to make it very special indeed.

This is classic French comfort food flavorfuly braised to perfection.

It seems that the famous Cobb Salad was invented at the Brown Derby by the owner as a midnight snack for a special patron. It has since been copied and adapted through the generations. It has morphed countless times and falls into the category of the chop salad that can feature pretty much any ingredient your mind can think of.

It seems back in 1937, Bob Cobb, then owner of The Brown Derby, was alerted that Sid Grauman had shown up at the restaurant looking to be seated. It was quite obvious that he was too drunk to be seated in the main dining room, but too important to be turned away. Bob pulled Sid into the kitchen to get the man fed. It was quite late and Bob knew the refrigerators were full of partially prepped ingredients from all the meals that had been served that night. Opening a huge refrigerator, he hurriedly pulled whatever his hands first touched. A head of iceberg lettuce, an avocado, some romaine, watercress, tomatoes, some cold breast of chicken, hard-boiled eggs, chives, cheese and some of the restaurants own version of an old-fashioned French dressing. He started chopping perhaps to distract Sid, or perhaps he had a plan.

Whatever the case The Cobb salad was born. The next day to repay his friend’s kindness Sid Grauman arrived at the restaurant for lunch and heartily asked to be served “The Cobb Salad”.

Cobb's midnight invention became an overnight sensation with Derby customers, people like movie mogul Jack Warner, who regularly dispatched his chauffeur to pick up a carton of this salad.

How true this story is I cannot say, but it has become part of the lore of Hollywood. Which makes this salad the perfect choice for my evening in Panama featuring legendary recipes from famed Hollywood restaurants. The version I have decided to present is very close to what Bob may have served Sid and has earned the moniker The Brown Derby Original Cobb Salad.

This is a super flavorful, easy meal. If you have never had Jerusalem artichokes, also known as sunchokes, they will quickly become a favorite.

Poblano peppers are spicy, sure. But they are not too hot and make a wonderfully nuanced soup.

This chicken is poached simply and gently. This is a great way to serve chicken, especially when you want to feature some particularly nice ingredient or accompaniment. Like homemade mustard.

These quesadillas are way more than just cheesy. That's because they are grilled. Grilling adds a mildly smoky quality to most foods. I think it's a great compliment to big, diverse flavors.

This is a super flavorful recipe. It is satisfying and a real beauty on the plate. Which is great because you can never have too many chicken recipes.

This recipe for chicken with rhubarb is cooked low and slow, with lots of onions and chicken broth. I’ll get a deeply intense, rich sauce with the mild undertones of sweet and sour rhubarb tang.