Crimini Mushroom

We took an old favorite and reserved the usual proportions of spinach and mushrooms to create Mushroom Spinach Salad With Tarragon Egg Dressing. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Unlike their big brothers, baby artichokes are almost completely edible and require minimal preparation. For this first course, sautéing the artichokes instead of steaming adds good flavor. Some people don't like to have artichokes with wine because they can make the wine taste either metallic or strangely sweet. In Italy, though, artichokes and wine are usually served together. A crisp, steely Pinot Grigio does the trick.

Bonnie Wilkens Metully of Cincinnati, Ohio, writes: "As much as my husband and I love to go out to eat, it's just more fun, intimate, and cozy to cook and entertain at home. I've taught a lot of our friends just how easy it is to prepare restaurant-quality dishes themselves. Who taught me? My older sister, who's a professional chef. She showed me the importance of getting everything prepped beforehand and seeking out the freshest ingredients." This sophisticated appetizer is one of Bonnie's greatest party hits.

Crab and mushrooms have always made good dining companions, but never more so than in this velvety soup. Serve it as the first course at a dinner party or as the centerpiece of a soup supper, with corn bread on the side.

For a more elegant presentation, we cut out rounds from the gratin with a 4-inch cookie cutter. Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 2 hr

Try a green salad with Champagne vinaigrette on the side, and some dinner rolls. Serve miniature fruit-filled pastries after.

Judy Rodgers is currently working on a cookbook from her Zuni Café in San Francisco. Grilling the mushrooms for this salad (which will appear in the new book) intensifies their flavor. Active time: 35 min Start to finish: 35 min

For trained foragers, the autumn forests around Lancaster, Pennsylvania, yield an abundant wild mushroom crop. Celebrate the harvest with this succulent pork roast, accented with mustard, another typical ingredient of the region. Begin the meal with a relish platter, and offer an American Pinot Noir or beer.

Cèpe is the French name (porcini is the Italian name) for the boletus mushroom, which grows in the southwest. Dried cèpes are not readily available here, so we use dried porcini.

Hazelnuts and wild mushrooms - popular ingredients from Oregon and Washington - add terrific flavor and texture to this sophisticated stuffing.

"While traveling in the Northern California wine country with friends," writes Stephen Carkeet of Merced, California, "we ate dinner at Zin Restaurant & Wine Bar in Healdsburg and had one of the best meals I can remember. Chef Jeff Mall prepared a wonderful chicken dish he called 'coq au Zin.' It was a winner." A taste — and word — play on the classic French dish coq au vin, this time made with red Zinfandel. At the restaurant, this is served with creamy mashed potatoes.

For ease of preparation, ask for the full round, not the short cut or partial leg, and have the butcher butterfly it for you.

Top blade steaks — great for a weeknight supper — are inexpensive and cook in just minutes.

Bonnie Wilkens Metully of Cincinnati, Ohio, writes: "Having two very active teenagers means I've also had to learn how to put together an interesting dinner even on busy nights. I get inspiration from my favorite bedtime reading, an immense collection of cookbooks and food magazines. I also do a quick grocery run every day — usually because I've just read about a dish that I simply must try — but also because having a well-stocked refrigerator is the key to easier cooking."

Roasting the asparagus intensifies its flavor and is easy to do.

Cremini mushrooms or their mature form, portobellos—or both—can be used in this side dish from Cory Schreiber's new cookbook, Wildwood: Cooking from the Source in the Pacific Northwest (Ten Speed Press).