Raisin

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Kathy Lee, Valley Center, Calif.
If you can't find a package of thighs at the market, buy whole chickens. You (or the butcher) can cut up the chickens and freeze the leftover pieces for another use.

Kari and Brian Chase of St. Paul, Minnesota say that their neighborhood has a great restaurant: 128 Cafe. The last time they were there they tried a delicious appetizer of crisp bread with roasted garlic, goat cheese and apple chutney.

The use of raisins and pine nuts in lightly sweet-and-sour sauces probably came to Sicily from Turkey; these ingredients also turn up in the cooking of Venice, long a commercial gateway to Turkey and the East, but less commonly in the anchovy-and-tomato sauces that are so fundamental to the Sicilian kitchen. Note that the zucchini in this dish is cooked rather soft, in the traditional Italian manner; if you want a more contemporary crisp product, add the zucchini toward the end for a quick cooking in the thickened sauce.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 2 1/2 hr

"I have never been a bread-pudding fan," writes Marie Hernandez of Chicago. "But after trying the pumpkin bread pudding at Wildfire restaurant in Oak Brook, Illinois, I think I've changed my mind. Had I know that this dessert could be so good, I would have started eating it long ago." Do as the restaurant does, and serve this with sweetened whipped cream.

Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 1 hr

This poultry dish features many of the flavors of the classic Moroccan dish b'stilla but is much easier to make.

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 1 3/4 hr

Dja'jeh Burd'aan b'Teen Dja'jeh Burd'aan b'Teen is particularly liked by children because of the sweet, familiar flavor of orange juice. Serve over white rice. The dish tastes even better reheated the next day, once the chicken has marinated in the juice and spices.

"Richardson's Canal House Inn is in a historic building on the Erie Canal, outside of Rochester, New York," says Ellen Wagner of Pittsford, New York. " All the food is great, but the apple raisin cake is especially good. It's so moist and delicious—know gourmet readers would love it. Will you request the recipe from the pastry chef?" Pastry chef Debbie Maruke glazes the cake and serves it with a caramel sauce, but we think the cake is terrific on its own.

This is the pastry version of the popular Franco-German dessert.

For a more delicate cookie, chop the raisins instead of adding them whole (most easily done with an oiled knife).

Arroz con Leche Mexican cooks prefer Ceylon cinnamon, a less pungent variety than the cassia cinnamon sold in U.S. markets. In Latin American markets, it will simply be labeled canela (Spanish for "cinnamon"). In supermarkets or specialty foods stores, look for Ceylon or Sri Lanka cinnamon.

If you can't find Italian Moscato, substitute Essencia, the Muscat-based dessert wine made in California. Serve this rich custard with the raisin-studded cookies featured here.

Serve this on its own, or use it for chalupas, tacos, or nachos.

A healthy take on an old favorite.

Haman's pockets, or Hamantaschen, were brought to this country by Jews from the eastern part of Germany and Eastern Europe. Hamantaschen are so popular here that at many academic institutions there is an annual Hamantaschen versus latke debate. The filling for the following Hamantaschen recipe comes from the Taste of History: Recipes Old and New put out by Philadelphia's Historic Spanish and Portuguese Congregation, Kahal Kadosh Midveh Israel, founded in 1740. With the filling I used my own butter cookie dough, which everyone in my family loves. Although adults like fruit or poppy-seed fillings, my children do not, and they fill the dough with chocolate chips and even make a Hamantaschen with chocolate chips and peanut butter. I'll stick to this prune filling and leave the chocolate-chip Hamantaschen to them. Regional Variation: A similar and equally delicious Hamantaschen filling comes from Natchez, Mississippi. Naturally, it includes pecans rather than walnuts.