Gourmet

Crumbly, delicate, and glistening with golden sugar, these easy slice-and-bake cookies are the ideal complement to Calvados toddies. Perfect as an after-dinner nibble or an everyday treat, they will quickly become one of your favorite standbys.

Fèves au Lard
These beans boast two staples of Montreal cuisine —sweet maple syrup and rich salt pork.

These warm little drinks are delicious — you may want to make a double batch.

Elena slow-cooks her polenta the traditional way, which can be a soul-satisfying experience if you set aside the time. When polenta is cooked properly, each grain of cornmeal slowly absorbs the liquid until it swells, becoming perfectly tender and seeming to disappear within the whole.

For a gentle boost of sweetness, these buttery biscuit roll-ups feature maple in both the dough and the filling.

Sometimes the simplest meals are the most delicious. This bacony soup with toasted cheese couldn't be more satisfying.

If you like chicken liver mousse, you'll definitely want to try this recipe, which uses a completely different method than most. Puréeing the chicken livers and then baking them in a hot water bath results in an extremely tender spread.

The eggplant and garlic in this recipe are roasted until they are so soft, they create a spread that nearly melts into the crisp slices of baguette.

Straccetti di Manzo Generations of Roman cooks have relied on this trattoria favorite — made with classic ingredients — for dinner in a hurry.

Maple syrup brings out the subtle sweetness of the bacon. If you like, you can substitute molasses (not blackstrap).

In this easy dish, a little bit of almondy custard dresses up fresh fruit, making it special for company while preserving its pure goodness.

In this recipe, simple pantry ingredients come together to make a homey cake that's so tender and moist, you'll be fighting over the last piece.

These delightful tartlets hold just the right amount of gooey pecan filling.

Crêpes au cidre
These are not the thin, delicate crêpes you may be used to. Made with baking powder, they are rustic-style: heartier and a little thicker — and perfectly suited to soaking up plenty of sweet syrup. Hard cider (fermented apple cider) can be found in the beer section of most supermarkets.

Donald D. Wilson of Sidney, British Columbia, writes: "Your recipe for coffee fruitcake ("The Way We Were," October 2005) reminded me of something our family calls Aunt Maggie's Boiled Raisin Cake. My wife, Frances, claimed she could make the cake just as well as her Aunt Maggie. Frances and I have been married for over 55 years, but guess who has made the cake during all that time?" Raisins, currants, and candied orange peel bring bursts of sweetness to this rich coffee-flavored cake.

It's impossible to overstate just how well the ingredients come together in this beautiful salad. The textural contrast of juicy ripe oranges and crisp endives is enhanced by a surprisingly complex vinaigrette containing sweet, spicy, and smoky flavors.

The distinct flavors of fresh cilantro and curry powder, along with the unexpected addition of peanut butter, turn a simple tomato-based soup into something special. You can make it vegetarian by using vegetable broth.