Cookbooks

You can make the goat cheese filling one day ahead and refrigerate it. These hors d’oeuvres can be assembled several hours before serving. Loosely cover them with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to 3 hours. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Fill a tiered platter with just as much seafood as it can hold comfortably; refrigerate the rest until you are ready to replenish the platter.

Make all three flavored balls, or prepare just one or two, adjusting the ingredients accordingly.

The tamales can be made through step 4 up to a month in advance and frozen; steam directly from the freezer (cooking time will be longer—follow recipe directions to check for doneness).

Serve this dal as a dip with pita chips or as a side dish with grilled meats or fish.

Select plantains that are firm and green.

You can serve this chunky salsa in seashells as an hors d’oeuvre with cocktails, but it would also be ideal as a dip for Fried Plantain Chips (recipe follows).

An old-fashioned cast-iron skillet with shallow round indentations is ideal for making uniform corn cakes. Since these pans can be rather hard to find, you can use a regular cast-iron skillet and achieve equally lovely results. Pepper jelly adds a bit of sweetness and subtle heat. Look for it at farmer’s markets and in gourmet shops.

Allow this robust dip to mellow overnight in the refrigerator. Before serving, bring it to room temperature, or reheat it gently in a saucepan.