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Gail Simmons may be best known for her role as a perennial judge on the cooking competition show Top Chef, and her life as a professional eater wouldn’t have materialized without some kitchen prowess of her own. Simmons credits her early passion for food to her mother, who ran a cooking school out of their family home in Canada. Once she realized she wanted to marry that passion with her love of writing and travel, Simmons moved to New York City to attend the Institute of Culinary Education, after which she trained in a handful of the city’s most notable restaurants.
Even with an incredibly packed work schedule, Simmons makes time to cook at least a few times per week. This collection of recipes is a patchwork biography, reflecting favorite flavors of her childhood, Canadian roots, travels, and, of course, her time on Top Chef. Cook your way through these tasty Gail Simmons recipes and discover some new favorite flavors of your own.
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Jerk-Grilled Lobster
A trip to Jamaica prompted Simmons to make this jerk lobster. “After trying every item that can be basted or drizzled in the flavors of jerk, from shrimp to chicken to whole fish and even cocktails, hands down my favorite incarnation is lobster, where the jerk paste is stirred into butter and used to baste the crustacean while it cooks over the flames,” she says. “My streamlined version is one that you can make all year round, but grilling the lobsters outside, beer in hand, is always encouraged.”
Grilled Scallops with Miso-Corn Salad
In summer, Simmons cooks scallops on the grill until they’re just kissed by the flames, then piles them on top of warmed veggies with a bright dressing. This version, a favorite for quick and easy backyard dinners, incorporates miso, ginger, and toasted sesame, adding a savory dimension to the salad and a rich contrast to the corn and scallops’ inherent sweetness.
Lemon Parfaits with Tart Cherries
Fred Hardy / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
This elegant layered dessert delivers a balance of luscious lemon curd, tangy crème fraîche, and jammy cherries. Serve it with Simmons’ tender, buttery shortbread for a welcome crunch.
Buttery Vanilla Shortbread
Fred Hardy / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
Made from just a handful of pantry staples, these golden, vanilla-scented shortbread cookies are just as terrific served on their own with a cup of tea as they are alongside a cool and creamy dessert.
Gail’s Anchoïade
Simmons created this anchoïade, a rustic Provençal spread typically made with tinned anchovies, vinegar or lemon, and garlic, after vacationing with her husband in the town of Arcachon in southwestern France. Her version includes chile flakes and a big pinch of lemon zest. “Making and using it — on seafood, on buttered bread, even as a condiment for steak — scratches that daydreamy itch for the flavors of the French seaside,” she says.
Spicy Merguez Scramble with Lemon-Harissa Yogurt and Moroccan M’smen
M’smen — an intensely buttery Moroccan flatbread — is the foundation for all kinds of tasty meals. “It’s the ideal vehicle for almost any dip and a gorgeous base on which to pile a salad or braised vegetables and meat,” Simmons says. “Crisped up in a pan with a little (more) butter or oil, my most recent m’smen revelation is for breakfast, served with harissa-spiced yogurt, merguez sausage, and eggs.”
Frozen Cucumber Margaritas with Chili-Sumac Salt
These icy cocktails are an ode to Simmons’ favorite Mexican street snack, fruta con chile y limón — little bags of sliced mango, cucumber, and jicama usually sprinkled with spicy-sour Tajín. Her slushy is a cucumber, coconut water, and tequila creation blended up with cilantro and lime, served with a rim of chili powder, sumac, and salt.
Pear Sticky Toffee Cakes with Miso-Caramel Sauce
“When the weather turns colder and I start planning for the holidays ahead, this spoonable sweet is everything I need in the dessert department,” says Simmons. “In addition to the traditional dates, I like to add chopped pears to the batter, where they cook down as the individual cakes bake. I add miso to the toffee, which lends a salty savoriness that may sound gratuitous but exceeds expectations.”
Chocolate and Hazelnut Nanaimo Bars
For these bite-sized beauties, Simmons layers a chocolate and coconut crust with buttercream frosting, hazelnuts, and chocolate ganache with swirls of tahini. The result is an incredibly crave-worthy treat that’s easy to share.
Blackberry and Mascarpone Crêpe Cake
This dessert harkens back to Simmons’ time working as an apprentice in the kitchen at Le Cirque, where she started her days making 50 French crêpes for the restaurant’s appetizer station. Here, she layers crêpes alternately with plain and blackberry mascarpone whipped cream for a memorable cake.
Whole-Fruit Rocket Pops
Simmons takes an adult approach to the classic childhood treat with her creative flavors for these popsicles: layers of strawberry-lime (red), coconut-banana and ginger (white), and blueberry-mint (blue). “Rest assured,” she says, “the kids will still come running!”
Maple-Bacon Popovers
“My version includes maple syrup and bacon in the batter, as well as more maple brushed on top, giving the adapted American dish a distinctly Canadian accent, just like me,” says Simmons of her airy, eggy maple-tinged popovers.
Lemon-Tahini Cookies
Simmons created this recipe after returning home from a trip to Israel. While at a market in Tel Aviv, she’d sampled lemon halvah with cacao nibs and fell in love with the flavor profile.
Pastrami-Style Roast Turkey
Simmons transforms roast turkey with a pastrami-style rub of black pepper, coriander, smoked paprika, and brown sugar. Rolled and roasted until juicy, the butterflied breast yields deli-worthy slices — perfect for holiday dinners or piled high on sandwiches the next day.
Za’atar Baked Eggs
In her teens, Simmons spent a summer on a kibbutz in Israel, working in her first professional kitchen. There, she fell in love with egg cookery. These Za’atar Baked Eggs are one of her brunch go-to dishes, with eggs baked in a savory mix of tomatoes and peppers. “It never fails to conjure happy memories of that magical time,” she recalls.
Spaghetti Pie with Wild Mushrooms and Spinach
Simmons has prepared multiple flavor variations of spaghetti pie, and it always makes her guests extremely happy. This version, perfect for fall gatherings, incorporates plenty of wild mushrooms, spinach, and herbs. Add a spoonful of chopped oil-packed black truffles, if desired, as Simmons sometimes does.
Quinoa and Brown Rice Bowl with Vegetables and Tahini
While she was in Los Angeles filming the second season of Top Chef Just Desserts, Simmons discovered the vegan hotspot Café Gratitude. “For me, its fresh, simple food was the perfect antidote to all that sugar. I loved aptly named dishes like I Am Fortified — a bowl of whole grains with lots of cooked vegetables. When I got back to New York, I developed my own version.”
Chewy Black Licorice Chocolate Brownies
Simmons inherited her love of salty, chewy Dutch-style black licorice from her father. Here, she pairs it with another of her dad’s favorite things: bittersweet chocolate. The deep, dark chocolate serves as a welcome, fudgy base for the anise and molasses notes of the licorice to create an irresistible treat that’s just sweet enough.
Horseradish Brisket
© Lucy Schaeffer
Simmons braises brisket rubbed with horseradish — slow-cooked with red wine, onions, root vegetables, and Yukon Gold potatoes — for a tangy, rich dish that’s even better the next day.
Butterscotch Pudding Pie
Simmons’ butter-meets-Scotch pudding gets re-envisioned for special occasions inside a pecan-studded piecrust. Unsweetened whipped cream tops the pie, cutting the rich sweetness with cool creaminess.
Chicken and Barley Stew with Dill and Lemon
For this hearty one-pot dinner, browned chicken breasts and barley cook in an aromatic stock. The dish is brightened with lemon juice and fresh dill.
Bumbleberry Buttermilk Upside-Down Cake
Caramelize a medley of blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries — aka “bumbleberry” in Canada, where Simmons grew up — to top this tender, lemony buttermilk cake.
Black-Eyed Pea Stew with Sausage
To streamline the cooking process, Simmons skips soaking beans, instead opting for black-eyed peas in this thick and luscious stew, which simmer right in the pot alongside spicy Italian sausage.
Winter Galette
Simmons crafts a rustic, savory cold-weather galette with paper-thin root vegetable ribbons — acorn squash, celery root, and potato — nestled atop herbed ricotta and finished with honey.
Broccolini with Crispy Lemon Crumbs
Here, Simmons tosses crisp-tender broccolini with sautéed shallots, then tops it all with spicy, zesty lemon crumbs for a bright, crunchy veggie side that’s done in 30 minutes.
Apple Bread Pudding
© Anson Smart
Simmons rescues dense, dull bread pudding by sautéing the apples in brandy and butter, then soaking both the fruit and brioche in lots of vanilla custard before baking.
Pan-Seared Salmon with Bok Choy and Rice Noodles
For this recipe, salmon is pan-seared until the skin is perfectly crisp, then served over tender rice vermicelli in a fragrant ginger-garlic broth with soy, lime, and sesame oil. Wilted baby bok choy and fresh scallions add brightness to this vibrant, weeknight-friendly dish that’s ready in under an hour.
Potato Rösti with Pastrami
In this re-creation of a dish from famed chef Daniel Humm, Simmons first uses a spiralizer to cut russet potatoes into long shoestrings, then fries them into a potato cake. She tops it here with pastrami and whole grain mustard, but also suggests smoked salmon and crème fraîche, or a gently fried egg for a luxurious breakfast or brunch.
Braised Pork Belly with Pickled Radishes
Simmons marinates pork belly overnight in a blend of soy sauce, mirin, lime juice, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic, then mixes the marinade with chicken broth for braising. Simply pickled radishes cut through the pork’s savory, fatty texture
