Dairy

If you have aged provolone, which can be quite salty, reduce the kosher salt in the recipe to 1 teaspoon.

Coconut oil adds a rich sweetness to the batter; shredded coconut delivers crunch.

Lett prefers Hachiya persimmons for this fabulously simple dessert (they're the ones with the pointy shape). But don't use them until they're super soft and completely ripe; they taste unpleasantly tannic otherwise.

You can find Thumbelina carrots at farmers' markets.

As with biscotti there is an undeniable American-Italian influence at play here but, once again, I embrace this. Actually, though, American-Italian food has had its own influence on the cooking of the Old Country: these days, I am reliably informed by my Italian publisher and celebrated food writer, Csaba dalla Zorza, you can find dried cranberries with relative ease in Italy. The true Italian Christmas dinner is very much about the capon. Yes, you can find capons outside of Italy, although not everyone can quite cope with the idea of eating a castrated cockerel. Many understandably view old-school caponization with distaste, although it is considered ethically acceptable if the rooster has been chemically rather than surgically castrated. I don't know about you, but the idea of eating meat that has been flooded with the types of hormones necessarily involved here gives me the willies. Besides, my Christmas Dinner is my Christmas Dinner: unchanging, ritualistic, an intrinsic part of me. When in Rome, and all that, but if I'm cooking at home, I don't fiddle with my time-honored menu. I'm not going to give an evangelical tub-thump about my turkey brining techniques, as I've done enough of that in the past, but I am still open to other ways of celebrating the Big Bird and this recipe is a case in point. For me, it is perfect for any sort of seasonal supper party, but really comes into its own on a buffet table, as it carves fantastically and is as good (maybe even better) cold than hot, so you can make it in advance and then be the world's most unharried host on the night. You need to go to a butcher to get a while breast joint and you need to ask for it to be butterflied and boned and make sure the skin is left on. I know it might sound a bit of a faff, but take it from me that stuffing a while double breast joint is very much easier than stuffing and rolling a single breast joint, as is more commonly found in supermarkets. Basically, all you're doing here is opening out your boneless turkey joint, smothering it with stuffing, and folding it over. What you end up with, for all the ease of its creation, is nothing short of a showstopper.

I love how the fruitiness of Cluizel Concepción chocolate, mellowed by a little cream cheese, plays against the caramel and the flowery, slightly musky acidity of the blossoms (actually, calyces) called "Jamaica flowers" in Mexico and red hibiscus in this country. (They are what gives Red Zinger tea its color.) When I first developed this recipe, I used hibiscus to flavor the caramel, but now I include it in a separate sauce where its red color makes a gorgeous contrast with the dark flan. You will find that this flan is reminiscent of the classic cream cheese–fruit paste pairing that Latin Americans like in other contexts. For this recipe, do not use the spice marketed as "cinnamon" in American stores (it's really cassia). Look for the soft, flaky true cinnamon from Ceylon (Sri Lanka), which has a much subtler and more delicate flavor. You can find it in Hispanic markets under the name canela.

Here's another dessert that was inspired by a wine-tasting dinner. It's often hard to come up with a dessert that pairs well with wine, but this savory-sweet dessert does. At its center is a Seckel pear, a small, reddish pear with a slightly spicy flavor. It has a firm flesh that makes it perfect for poaching. In this dessert I poach the pears in pomegranate juice with some ground black pepper. A chunk of Cabrales cheese, a strong blue cheese from northern Spain, is sandwiched between the top and bottom halves of the pear, and a Szechuan Ice Cream is served with it, sitting on a diamond of baked almond cream.

When I was just starting to put some ideas together for recipes that I wanted to be included in this book, I had a conversation about lightened whipped cream with my friend and mentor Maida Heatter. She suggested that I try a recipe of hers called Cream Ooh-La-La, which she uses to top strawberries macerated with sugar and Grand Marnier, in Maida Heatter's Best Dessert Book Ever (Random House, 1990). It's basically sweetened whipped cream with the addition of some sour cream and whipped egg whites. I've transformed it a little by substituting reduced-fat sour cream and a cooked meringue. This results in a whipped cream with overtones of crème fraîhe and an exquisite lightness.

Lucy's Whey The grilled cheese sandwich at Lucy's Whey has garnered an extensive group of followers. These devotees appreciate the careful attention that goes into each bite. With so few ingredients, each one should be extraordinary. If you follow this advice at home, you will see how a humble cheese sandwich can turn heads. You can make as many sandwiches at once as you have room for on a panini press (or in a ridged grill pan weighted on top with a skillet).

The personality of raclette in macaroni and cheese—the combination of cornichons and creamy, salty cheese takes to pasta with an irresistible grace.

Feed this luscious sandwich to your egg-eating veggie friends when they get a burger craving, and they'll likely think twice about ever ordering a veggie burger–puck again. When you eat it, it drips and spills everywhere in a decidedly appealing way. NOTE: The bun must be fresh. Really fresh. A stale bun will wreck this sandwich.

Native to Catalonia, Spain, Garrotxa is a throaty, goaty cheese that imparts an almost cheddar-like tanginess. A gray mold blankets this pasteurized flavor titan, which gets its smooth earthiness from the lush coastal grasses that feed the goats raised to make it. Cutting away the rind on this firm cheese is easy, and a sharp knife run down the sides will shave off the moldy exterior without sacrificing much of the Garrotxa beneath. Here, Garrotxa coalesces with two other signature Spanish ingredients, sun-dried tomatoes and Serrano ham, to create an ethereal cheese gratin polished with just a touch of butter, milk, and crème fraîche. This recipe isn't your typical melty, creamy macaroni and cheese; rather, it's a drier dish that allows the ingredients to mingle coyly while remaining somewhat independent.

Until about a year ago, it never occurred to me that oatmeal could be a savory dish, but once I stumbled upon it (thanks, Penny de los Santos!), it quickly became one of my favorite breakfast (or breakfast-for-dinner) treats. The egg on top mixes up the textures, which could get a little blah by the end of the bowl without it.

A lean ground beef works best for this recipe, inspired by my friend and cookbook author Rebecca Lang. If the small balls of fresh mozzarella are unavailable, sprinkle the layer with shredded mozzarella.

I insisted that the theme of my coming-of-age party be mocktails and canapes because I wanted to be grown up, and had often seen my mum eat canapes at parties. My Rose Beef Bites are delicate and also delicious, with beef and horseradish being lifelong friends. Spending a tiny amount of time to be sure the beef looks pretty makes these canapés stunning to behold. Assemble the beef before the party, so then it's only a matter of spread, drop, serve, and smile!

Yeasted doughs might seem daunting to novice bakers, but these rolls are very simple to make.

Adding sour cream to the dough imparts richness and a bit of tang, and doesn't thin it out too much.

The tang of sour cream gives the illusion that this recipe is not as rich as the cream, butter, and milk would imply.

This chocolate and pumpkin mashup is surprising yet delicious. It's so good that you don't have to brûlée the top,though that effect surely makes the pie a show stopper.

We tried all kinds of gingersnaps to make this easy crust. Our favorite? Anna's Ginger Thins.