Make Ahead

This rendition of the traditional southern side dish is served chilled.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but require additional sitting time. These peppers get even better when made ahead because the flavors develop more fully over time.

Nicola, Steve's wife, likes this dessert more than any of his others, mostly because you have to eat it with yet more Pedro Ximénez sherry. If you don't want to splash out on the real McCoy, use another good, sweet dark sherry.

This recipe originally accompanied epi:recipeLink="101021"Pork Medallions with Mustard Cream Sauce</epi:recipeLink>.<P> This tangy sauce would also be terrific with roast chicken.

This recipe was created to accompany <epi:recipelink id="12400">Pork Tournedos with Blackberry Gastrique and Mango Salsa</epi:recipelink>.

Before using the cherry cola, pour it into a bowl and allow it to stand at room temperature until no longer effervescent, about four hours. Start with a relish platter, then serve the spareribs with the State Fair Potato Salad and corn on the cob. What to drink: Tall glasses of iced tea or frosty mugs of lager.

This summery trifle is simple to make since it calls for a purchased pound cake. Begin preparing the trifle one day ahead.

Pasteli There are many variations of sesame honey candy from around the Mediterranean and the Middle East — some are hard and crunchy; others, like this Greek version, are chewy. This pasteli is sticky, but using a nonstick bakeware liner such as a Silpat pad will help you unmold the candy with ease. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

Instead of Panela, other soft white Mexican cheeses — such as Oaxaca, or those used for making quesadillas — work well in this recipe. If none is available, substitute Monterey Jack cheese. The stuffed chilies can be assembled one day before baking. What to drink: A Napa or New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (or any dry but fruity white wine).

Artichokes and truffle cream make these poached eggs an elegant brunch dish. If you use porcini (cèpes in French), leave the stems attached but trim the side and bottom of each stem well.

Honey cake is often served during Rosh Hashanah because honey symbolizes wishes for "sweet" things to come. The cake becomes moister and its flavors deepen a day or two after it's made. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 3 hr (includes cooling)

Serve this perfect fall dessert after a dinner of roast pork tenderloin.

"While visiting my daughter near Portland, Oregon, I ordered the soup of the day at Mother's Bistro & Bar," writes Roslyn Levy of Palm Harbor, Florida. "It turned out to be the best sweet-potato soup I've ever had." Buy leafy celery stalks for this soup; the chopped leaves make a great garnish.

(Baked in a Tart Pan) For people who find even my less sweet Pecan Pie too sweet, or who are hopeless chocolate lovers, this is the answer. Cocoa perfectly tempers the sweetness of the filling and adds a full chocolate flavor that goes so well with pecans. If correctly baked, the filling, when cut, is soft and slightly molten. The surface of the pie is unusually appealing. Unlike the regular pecan pie where you can see clearly the shape of each nut, this filling cloaks the nuts with a dark milk-chocolaty glisten so you can just make out their shape.