French

(Roasted Potato Slices with Salt Cod Purée and Roasted Red Pepper)

An infant version of vichyssoise, this is for the nine-month-old — and older — baby with a discriminating palate. It can be served warm or at room temperature.

Like the tarte Tatin, that famous French upside-down apple dessert created by the Tatin sisters, these savory stacks have a crispy top crust that ultimately becomes the bottom-perfect for sopping up the unctuous tomato juices and pesto. This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

(Provençal Tuna and Vegetable Sandwich)

We used a wire mesh cooling rack to form the decorative pattern on this pastry, but any metal cooling rack can be used. Also, if you have a small rack that cannot cover all the pastry at once, you will need to bake it in batches.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The espresso-flavored cream puff pastry and fluffy coffee and chocolate custard filling vary from the traditional plain pastry and praline buttercream. Delicious on its own, this is even better with the chocolate caramel sauce.

This recipe originally accompanied Grilled Lamb Sandwiches with Grilled Onions . Two easy sauces from a single recipe: plain aioli here and one with red bell peppers .

This Franco-American combination of bourbon and bubbles gives you another reason to be thankful. It doubles easily to accommodate the number of guests around your holiday table.

(Gâteau de Semoule d’Isabelle) A favorite on the Dugord farm in Normandy, this cake (which is really more of a pudding) wins with everyone. According to Isabelle Dugord, who convinced her grandmother to share the recipe, her family ate this all the time when she was growing up, and it's still her preferred sweet. Isabelle works part-time at a day-care center and always has the children make this at least once while they’re with her. "It's easy to make, healthy, and they all, down to the last child, just love it," she said. It can be served hot, lukewarm, or chilled, and is best the day it is made. Raisins are traditional, though dates or figs are luscious, too.

Inside each soufflé is a melting chocolate truffle that adds richness and depth of flavor. It's the kind of over-the-top detail that places this dessert in the same league as any served in your favorite restaurant.

Easy sides would be a salad of mixed lettuces with balsamic vinaigrette, a whole wheat baguette and roasted baby potatoes. Finish with apple tarts.

A clever way to present every morsel of a cooked whole artichoke is to remove all the leaves before serving, and use their bits of tender flesh as a stuffing for the hollow artichoke bottom. It takes a bit of time to scrape the leaves of an artichoke clean, so reserve this as a special treat for 2, or at most 4.

Why Madame? Because it has an egg, of course.