Gourmet

Using prepared pizza dough, you can make these homemade cheese-filled calzones just as fast as your favorite pizzeria could deliver them.

Condensed milk is the secret ingredient that gives this popular Spanish dessert its silky texture.

Better than anything you can get at your local takeout joint, this way of making the Chinese classic can be done in record time.

It's traditional to serve a whole chicken, including the head and feet, for Chinese New Year. The white meat symbolizes purity, and serving the entire bird represents unity. Plunging the chicken into ice water after poaching ensures that the meat is perfectly juicy and tender. A very simple but powerful dipping sauce tops it off. Use only a tiny amount — it's quite strong.

Why this once popular drink has faded into obscurity is a mystery to us. It's relatively light but packed with flavor, and it deserves to reclaim its place in the punchtheon.

In this recipe, associate food editor Alexis Touchet uses pork to create a new sensation based on her mother's recipe for traditional chicken fried steak.

From the rich broth to the velvety cubes of winter melon — a gourd commonly used in Chinese cuisine for the wonderfully soft texture it takes on during cooking — this wholesome soup is immensely satisfying. Although the winter melon's delicate white flesh has no distinct taste of its own, it absorbs the broth's flavor. We recommend buying a good-quality organic free-range chicken to get the best results. Since Chinese ham is unavailable in the United States, we substitute Smithfield ham. But other cured hams, such as prosciutto, also work well.

You can never have enough potatoes, especially when they're perked up with fennel, which becomes so tender, it lends loads of moisture to the dish.

Couscous is one of the fastest side dishes to prepare, but this jazzed-up, garlicky rendition shows that it need not be bland. Serve it with the Moroccan-Spiced Chicken Paillards or with grilled Italian sausages.

Packed with springtime vegetables, this meal is a quick fix for the winter blues.

Lauren Farber of Wellesley, Massachusetts, writes: "I have eaten twice at Lumière in West Newton, Massachusetts, and each time I have enjoyed the mushroom soup. Can you help me get the recipe?" A combination of white and porcini mushrooms makes for a full-flavored stock — the key to a soup that's simple and smooth.

Silky smooth and with a crunchy topping, this seductive soup packs a range of flavors — earthy, smoky, and tart-sweet. If you decide to omit the bacon, substitute 1 tablespoon butter when you cook your vegetables.

You'd never guess such a sensational main course was so easy to prepare. Roasting and then quickly broiling the duck results in tender meat with crisp, golden-brown skin — and no messy stovetop to clean.

This savory tart hails from France and features cottage cheese, sour cream, bacon slices, onion, and freshly grated Parmesan. You've never know by looking at it, but it's actually very easy to make and ready in under an hour. 

More elegant than jam but just as handy, this compote goes with almost everything.

Joe Miller of Glasgow, Montana, writes: "Though this recipe was introduced to me by a college friend from Anchorage, it originated — generations ago — in Charlotte, North Carolina. Today, it is a Miller family tradition." Featuring the crunch of toffee, the creaminess of chocolate (a combination of milk and bittersweet), and a finishing sprinkle of walnuts, this sweet snack has all the bases covered.

Parmigiano-Reggiano enriches canned broth for a quick, hot, and truly delicious meal in a bowl.

This chai is a knockout on its own, but gin adds subtle flavors that complement the chai's complexity. (Needless to say, since Kashmir is predominantly Muslim, alcohol would not be added there.) Nuts in a cocktail seemed a little odd at first, and it's fine to strain them out before serving, but most of us found them addictive.