Food Processor

Begin preparing this the day before you plan to serve it to allow the mousse to set.

Stir-fried Sugar Snap Peas and Cherry Tomatoes and buttered couscous are great sides. Round out the meal with sugared strawberries and toasted pound cake.

The base of the tart is purchased puff pastry, which makes this dish — served as an appetizer at Lucques — as easy as it is delicious. With the addition of a soup, it could also be a lovely lunch or supper.

This Vietnamese classic is usually made with top or bottom round beef, which is sliced and then marinated and grilled. We've adapted the recipe to use skirt or flank steak and made it easier by grilling the meat before slicing it.

A blintz is simply a filled crepe. If making crepes is new to you, you'll be glad to know that there is plenty of batter to try a few practice ones. The completed blintzes can be frozen for up to a month.

The secret to crisp latkes is the removal of as much liquid as possible from the ground potatoes. Serve these plain (they're a fine accompaniment to a roast with gravy), or with sour cream or applesauce. See how to dice potatoes.

This zesty condiment is a wonderful addition to sandwiches. It also makes a great dip for raw vegetables and a superb sauce for fish.

Prepare this a day in advance to give the flavors time to blend and the cake a chance to become firm and properly chilled.

A simple corn and cornmeal topping makes these halibut fillets a party entrée.

Bruschetta — a rustic Italian canapé — is the perfect vehicle for the robust flavors of late summer. Serve these topped toasts as a first course or, with a salad and a glass of wine, as a light supper.

Called "Uncle Johns" in the Monegasque dialect (or barbajuans), these little fried pouches are filled with pumpkin, leeks, rice, and Parmesan cheese. Like their Italian cousins — the tortelli di zucca from Lombardy — they are prepared like ravioli, but the similarity ends there. The dough, though not a pasta dough, is very thinly rolled and made with olive oil. The barbajuans are fried to a golden crispiness rather than boiled or baked, and they are served with aperitifs rather than as a first course.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

La Famille gives these sweet petits fours new personality by adding cumin. To make them, we started with Faye Levy's recipe, from our October 1990 issue. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

Purchased sorbet, frozen yogurt and pound cake make this the season's quickest elegant dessert.