moderate

Dishes that require a moderate amount of skill, not for beginners, but still manageable for the home cook.

Hand-sized pastry turnovers filled with raw diced beef, potato, rutabaga and onion, baked until the crust is golden and the filling is tender. Brought to Michigan's Upper Peninsula by Cornish miners, the pasty became a local staple and is eaten by hand, hot or cold, with ketchup or gravy.

Salt cod, white fish, shrimp, sardines, and crab simmered in a creamy peanut sauce and served with rice or fufu. Known as moambe (also mwambe, mwamba, or muamba), this Central African sauce is better known as the base of a chicken stew regarded as a national dish in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, and Gabon. This version uses fish and shellfish instead.

Fish simmered in a rich tomato broth with cassava, cabbage, carrot, and eggplant, then served over rice cooked in that same flavorful liquid. Known in Senegal as ceebu jën (or thieboudienne), this is the country's national dish and a centerpiece of family meals and celebrations across West Africa.

A whole fish marinated in a bright, spiced chermoula, then layered into a tagine with potato, tomato, and onion, topped with lemon and chile, and simmered until everything comes together into one dish. Classic Moroccan fish tagine, traditionally made with sea bream or another firm white fish, built almost entirely from pantry spices and whatever vegetables are at hand.

One of Morocco's great sweet-savory dishes: lamb simmered slowly with prunes, cinnamon, and honey until it turns almost jammy, finished with a scattering of golden fried almonds. This home-style version is a simplified take on mrouzia (m'rouzia), the festive tagine traditionally prepared for Eid al-Adha with leftover mutton from the sacrifice. Grander versions lean on ras el hanout and saffron, but everyday home cooking often pares the spicing down to cinnamon alone, as it is here.