Make Ahead

What could be more French countryside than pulling a chilled bottle of homemade (or at least home-doctored) wine from the fridge for a special celebration? This orange sipping wine is a little sweeter and stronger than a regular glass of white, and it's the perfect aperitif for the onion tart with mustard and fennel .

Just as diced roasted red peppers add a distinctive vegetal sweetness to any dish they appear in, these, left in large chunks for maximum boldness, really complement the meat and its stuffing.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Diane Kochilas's book Meze: Small Plates to Savor and Share from the Mediterranean Table. Kochilas also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. To read more about Kochilas and Greek cuisine, click here. Giant beans in some form or another are never absent from Greek meze menus. The key to making this dish taste as good as possible is to use high-quality roasted sweet peppers preserved in extra virgin olive oil. I usually make my own oil, and have them on hand. All you need to do is roast the peppers whole under the broiler, let them cool, peel them, and store them in a container in the fridge covered with good olive oil. You can pour a few tablespoons of the pepper-infused oil into the baking dish for added flavor. As for the beans themselves, the trick is to get the texture right. Giant beans need first to be soaked, then boiled, and finally baked. Once done, they should be soft, almost buttery, without being baked to the point that they fall apart.

The bright flavor helps balance the richness of the other fillings.

A lovely little palate cleanser.

Blanching the root vegetables shortens the stew's cooking time and keeps the flavors bright. Plus, the blanching water makes a great quick stock.

Ground ginger and crystallized ginger amp up the flavor of the cake; fresh ginger adds a spicy hit to the fresh strawberries. The Bundt pan is coated with raw sugar before the batter is added, giving the cake a sparkly crust.

Top the dough with the onion mixture, then add your toppings. Blue cheese and halved Kalamata olives would work well with the onions.

Spread the pesto over the dough , then add toppings. Roasted asparagus, well-drained cooked spinach, and crumbled feta would be delicious.

A simple but sophisticated starter: Puff pastry squares are topped with a bright spring mixture of asparagus spears, fresh shiitakes, and crème fraîche.

The dough gets its slightly tangy flavor from a "sponge" (a mixture of warm water, yeast, and flour that’s allowed to ferment). Timing note: The sponge needs to rest overnight; the dough needs to rise for about eight hours.

This sauce goes with almost any topping. Three to try: slices of fresh mozzarella, fresh basil leaves, and roasted eggplant. This recipe originally accompanied the <epi:recipelink id="352109">Overnight Pizza Dough recipe</epi:recipelink>

This rustic cake gets a zing from a tangy lemon glaze. The sauce dresses up the cake for dessert (or brunch).

A buttery shortbread with bright lime flavor and a crunchy topping.

You will not regret investing in a set of coeur à la crème dishes, as this is the most captivating of summer desserts, and can be varied all season according to what fruits are available.

Use your favorite nuts, candies, or cookies to coat the bananas.