White Wine

The butter is also delicious over scallops. Serve the dish with steamed rice.

Caramelized pears plus dried apricots, cranberries, and prunes add intense fruit flavor to this stuffing from Rochelle Palermo Torres, a freelance recipe developer and cooking teacher.

Fideua con Láminas de Sepia Salteadas Fideos are a vermicelli-style noodle, sold in nests, that comes in several thicknesses. For this delicate dish, it's important to use the thinnest fideos possible, cabello de ángel (angel hair). Cuttlefish (sepia), a marine cephalopod of the same family as octopus and squid, is widely available throughout northern Spain; fresh squid is much easier to get in this country, however.

Active time: 1 3/4 hr Start to finish: 12 hr Before you start this recipe, make sure there's room in your refrigerator for a 24-inch fish poacher and a 25-inch platter.

My recipe was adapted from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I've changed the meats (a lot) and the seasonings (a bit). I've also tinkered with cooking times and sequence.

Use on your favorite toast for breakfast or spoon over vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Pancetta, the salty Italian bacon, forms a crust around the chicken. Offer a bottle of Pinot Grigio, a crisp Italian white wine, with this entrée. For dessert, try spumoni and sugar cookies.

This can also be made with turkey cutlets.

Serve this elegant first course with Champagne or sparkling wine. The recipe makes a few extra pancakes for those who want seconds.

For a cozy supper, accompany this quickly prepared dish with pumpernickel bread and hot mustard. Finish with a European-style dessert of cheese and fruit.

Haricots verts (small, thin French green beans) would also be nice as a side dish, but regular green beans would be fine, too.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The port cities of Normandy-Caen among them-offer almost endless choices for fall menu planning. For this satisfying stew, the natural bounty of Normandy's waters, the rich cream of its pasturelands and its distinctive apple-based brandy called Calvados are combined with savory root vegetables from the local harvest. Start out with your favorite pâté and some cornichons, and serve a crusty baguette with the stew. Pour a white Burgundy or hard cider.

Dijon mustard and dry white wine add French flair to this longtime favorite.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.