Dried Fruit

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The rich flavors in this moist cake intensify with a little bit of age. Though the Armagnac toffee sauce and Armagnac ice cream make festive partners, leftover cake is excellent served plain with tea or coffee. To give extra height to the cake, we call for an 11-cup Kugelhopf pan, a taller-than-ordinary bundt pan (available by mail order from Bridge Kitchenware, tel. 800-274-3435 or 212-838-1901). You may also use a regular 11-cup bundt pan for a slightly broader cake.

At the restaurant the chef uses a rich duck stock when preparing this dish. Duck-and-veal demiglace is substituted here. The duck breasts as well as the demiglace are available at many butchers and specialty foods shops.

Serve the pesto with grilled or sautéed scallops, chicken, or fish. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The caramelized onion jam can be prepared three days before you make the sandwiches.

"I literally didn't know how to boil an egg until I was in my 20s — when I tried to impress a guy by making dinner for him," writes Sally Siegel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "I didn't have much success with the dinner or the guy, but I regrouped and put together a repertoire of fairly elegant dishes I felt confident making. Over the years, my cooking style has become more casual; I make dishes that are not too demanding, but still special for company."

This bread gets even better if stored for a day. Enjoy it toasted and buttered for breakfast.

Try this fresh, no-cook chutney with grilled chicken, sautéed shrimp, or lamb burgers.

"Moist and pretty in color when blackberry, currant, or some such jam was used, [jam cake] was a favorite with pioneer women, for it kept well," James Beard wrote in his American Cookery (Little Brown, 1972). The only thing more that might be said about jam cake is that it is delicious.