Make Ahead

This recipe is an accompaniment for Warm Peach Shortcakes with Bourbon-Brown Sugar Cream.

The tea adds an elegant complexity to the sauce for the pears, dried apricots, and cherries. Using dried tart cherries instead of Bing cherries helps balance the sweetness.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 8 hr

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 3/4 hr

Kirsch, a cherry-flavored liqueur, brings out the flavor of the raspberries rather than masking it.

The easy tomato chutney is adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's cookbook From Curries to Kebabs. Make the chutney and combine it with the green beans about four hours before serving, which allows plenty of time for the beans to soak up the flavors.

Chef Christoforos Peskias turned rice-stuffed tomatoes inside out and came up with something that resembles sushi topped with tuna. He forms rectangular "sushi" using a special mold; we found that a scoop works well for the home cook. Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 4 hr

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Halved cherry tomatoes and diced green chilies make a chunky relish for the tri-tip.

These rich custards are the perfect ending to this — or any other — spring meal.