Parsley

A quick version of the traditional Sicilian dish pasta con le sarde. Accompany it with herbed focaccia topped with goat cheese, as well as a salad of roasted red bell peppers. Finish the meal with a fresh fruit tart. This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

For extra eye appeal, use tricolor pasta in this fresh-from-the-garden salad.

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 breadcrumbs crust, known as persillade in France, is excellent with lamb. This makes an elegant meal when served with new potatoes and green beans.

Offer this as a side dish with grilled lamb or as a light supper for two with a salad.

Some soups genuinely do inspire a devotion akin to love, and this is one of them. In the cold of winter, when Gourmet editors ponder the matter of what soup to cook up in a steamy Saturday morning kitchen to provide comfort all weekend long, they decide with remarkable frequency to make the following one. Those in the know also add about a pound of smoked sausage; even the best can be made better.

The sweet bread called for here was introduced to Hawaii by nineteenth-century Portuguese immigrants. The stuffing can also be cooked inside the turkey, provided the bird is roasted immediately after being stuffed. For more flavor, rub the turkey with a mixture of salt and pepper and two tablespoons each of sesame oil, orange juice and lime juice, and let it marinate overnight.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 2 1/4 hr In addition to being a great complement to the poached salmon, this mayonnaise is a good pair with shrimp, veal, or poached chicken breasts.

Don't let these cool — they're best served straight from the oven.

This delicate cut of meat is ideally sautéed (a quick cook in butter or oil) until lightly browned. Don't overcook!

This rich, slightly smoky sauce is cooked for only ten minutes.

(Poulet aux Echalotes de Mme. Lascourrèges) This is an interpretation of a recipe given to me by Denise Lascourrèges, whom our son christened "Madame Châtaigne." It was she who revealed to us the marvelous Gascon woods, which were so full of chestnuts we had to dodge those falling from the trees. Mme. Lascourrèges raises her own chickens and ducks, and the appear frequently on her table. At her house I found ways of preparing chicken that departed from the norm. This recipe, which relies on the sweet heat of shallots and the bite of vinegar, intrigued me most of all, and I've made it often since I returned from her farm. I use the oven most often, though occasionally I cook it on the grill, which is the way Mme. Lascourrèges usually makes it. In general, French farm cooks use a lot of shallots, which here turn dark and caramelized — some turn almost black — but they don’t get bitter. Instead, their flavor intensifies. The vinegar adds a pleasant tartness; the oil smooths all. At the last minute I like to add parsley, which scents the whole dish with its slight anise flavor. Consider it an option — it is my addition to Mme. Lascourrèges’s recipe. Try this with a lightly chilled dry red Bordeaux, or a Chinon. Watch how to cut a whole chicken into parts to use in this recipe.

A growing interest in Middle Eastern food, spurred most likely by the vegetarian movement, brought tabbouleh to the attention of many Americans. It was often served as a side dish at health food restaurants.