Almond

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Pass a pitcher of cold low-fat or nonfat milk to drizzle over this cereal.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. This granola is delicious topped with fresh fruit (we suggest kiwifruit and pineapple) or on its own, served with milk or yogurt. The recipe makes about 6 cups, so you'll have some left over.

When I was asked to be the guest chef for a meal honoring Sr. Alvarez del Manzano, the mayor of Madrid, at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, the menu included this classic Spanish tart. It is so rich and moist, it needs no more garnish than a little natillas [crèeme anglais] and a dusting of powdered sugar.

When we think of gazpacho most of us think of a cold chunky tomato-based soup. But this world-renowned export from the Andalucian region of Spain is actually one of many different types of soup — cold, hot, thin, red, green and white — which share the name gazpacho. White gazpacho remains closer than most modern varieties to the soup's origins as a simple combination of bread, nuts, salt, olive oil, and vinegar. Cucumbers, grapes and a pinch of cayenne elevate what was once a poor man's meal to a refined soup.

"One of the most unusual restaurants in our area is Kemo Sabe," says Laura Bates of San Diego, California. "Co-chef and co-owner Deborah Scott combines influences from around the world to create interesting dishes—including the restaurant’s signature appetizer of fried Brie with jalapeño jelly. I’d love to serve it to my friends." Place a small bowl of jalapeño jelly on a platter, and surround it with fried Brie wedges and French bread slices for a lovely presentation. Chef Scott makes her own jalapeño jelly; the purchased kind is an easy substitute.

Begin preparing this a day ahead.

"When we visit our daughter at Amherst College in Massachusetts, my husband and I stay at The Lord Jeffery Inn," says Caroline I. Cameron of Washington, D.C.."The granola at breakfast is terrific. I would be grateful if you could get the recipe from their chef so that I can surprise my husband by making the granola at home." This granola can also be enjoyed as a snack with the addition of chocolate chips. You could sprinkle it over ice cream, too.

The filling is wonderfully creamy, like ice cream, but is made without using an ice cream machine. Be sure to have plenty of extra fruit to go along with the torte.

Try jazzing up the shortbread with chopped toasted nuts. We particularly like pecans, hazelnuts, and almonds. Use your favorite fine-quality butter for the best-tasting cookies.

This soup, actually my mother's recipe, is traditionally served at Passover, but it's so good that my family likes to make it all year round. A little chicken stock goes into the matzo balls, and the rest makes up the soup base. You can also use canned chicken broth, but for the best-tasting and most authentic soup, we think nothing beats homemade chicken stock. Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

Almond paste in the shortcake biscuits and fresh berries glazed with red currant preserves give this dessert a Swedish accent.

These rolls are based loosely on b'stilla — a phyllo-crusted "pie" of shredded chicken that's been simmered with Moroccan spices and then mixed with egg and nuts. The egg lends the filling an almost custard-like richness.

"Last summer we spent a week in Paso Robles, California, and had an excellent dinner at Bistro Laurent," say Rusty and Stacey Willi of Santa Rosa, California. "To our delight, dessert—a warm raspberry clafouti topped with vanilla ice cream—turned out to be one of our favorite vacation memories." This dessert has a more cake-like texture than a traditional clafouti. The version here is even better topped with ice cream.

This dough can also be formed into crescent shapes and coated with confectioners' sugar while still warm, as is done in many eastern European countries.

These cookies from the town of Prato are also known as cantucci. They are usually served with the Italian dessert wine Vin Santo.

Candied, or crystallized, ginger is peeled fresh ginger root that has been cooked in a sugar syrup and coated with sugar.