Starter

Don't be put off by what might look like a complicated technique. It takes more time to describe how to make Parma braids than it does to actually assemble them. Slightly salty and very buttery, these savory croissants are hard to resist. Active time: 2 hr Start to finish: 18 hr

The aged goat cheese called for in this recipe is firmer than fresh and has a dry rind. Two kinds work best in this dish, Bucheron and Pouligny-St.-Pierre, both of which have just the right amount of tang — but ask at the cheese counter for comparable substitutes if you have trouble finding them. Cafe Pasqual's, in Santa Fe, serves its version of this dish — "pigs 'n' figs" — with blue cheese. Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 45 min

Allen Susser is the man behind Chef Allen's, a favorite special-occasion restaurant near Miami. (He is also a cookbook author, has his own line of sauces, puts out a newsletter and has a Web site—www.chefallen.com.) Calling his food New World Cuisine, Susser uses an international repertoire of cooking techniques to prepare dishes with the best local ingredients. His focus on simple but powerful flavors shows in this dish.

Feel free to add, subtract, or substitute any raw or cooked vegetables you'd like, but make sure there's a good variety of textures and colors.

This is one of the never-absent standard-bearers of the Greek meze table, a classic dish found from one corner of the country to the other, on almost every taverna and meze menu.

When fresh wide rice noodles are stir-fried, they are called fun. Fresh rice noodles have to be pulled apart and fluffed before cooking.

A nice side dish for grilled fish or lamb.

The crust of this tart is tender and quite crumbly.

"Dinner at J. Alexander’s in nearby Troy is a treat my family enjoys regularly, and there’s one thing we always order: the chicken soup. says Katie Randlett of Wixom, Michigan."Although it sounds ordinary, this version definitely isn’t — it has a rich, creamy texture, and it’s full of goodies like pasta, sugar snap peas and carrots." Sugar snap peas add crunch to this comforting soup. The restaurant uses penne pasta, but macaroni would also work well.

Garlic bread is perfect on the side. You can find Creole or Cajun seasoning in the spice section of most supermarkets.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

A splash of aquavit is the finishing touch to this practically-no-fat starter.

To make this easy appetizer even easier, substitute store-bought roasted red bell peppers for the home-roasted ones.

(MINESTRA DI CAMPAGNA) Creativity with simple ingredients is one of the themes of Sicilian cooking. There's no better example than this bean and vegetable soup, which some say evolved from food that fifteenth-century galley cooks made for mariners. Serve an island dry red wine such as Corvo with this.