Saute

The vegetables can be prepared ahead and finished up to the middle of step 3. Heat for 5 minutes before serving.

Oysters are a great way to start any meal, but buttered on toast they are ideal winter comfort food.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Although lamb is not commonly found in Chinese dishes, Hong Kong restaurants reach out to explore every nuance of Asian cuisine. Lamb is popular with the nomads of Mongolia and Manchuria; they would most likely cook the meat in a firepot. Here it's used in a more delicate stir-fry.

Satisfying accompaniments for this clever hash would be steamed broccoli and a salad of crisp romaine lettuce with red wine vinaigrette and some shaved Parmesan cheese. We recommend serving slices of Boston cream pie afterward.

This recipe was created to accompany Roasted Monkfish with Fennel-Saffron Compote

Serve these succulent eggplants with the steamed red snapper .

Serve with: Unoaked California Chardonnay • wild rice with spring herbs • watercress with orange juice vinaigrette • lemon curd tart with strawberry sauce

Candida Sportiello writes: "As owner and chef of Il Giardino restaurant, on the tiny island of Ventotene off the coast of Naples, I've been cooking professionally for twenty-five years — but I've been cooking for pleasure for a good fifty years. As is the Italian way, most of my favorite recipes were handed down from my mother and grandmother, so they date from the early 1900s." "I love having so many amazing ingredients at my fingertips on Ventotene: fish, lentils, wild asparagus, mushrooms, fava beans, and artichokes. They make it easy to produce home-style cooking at its best."

Make this at least one day and up to two days ahead for best flavor. This is a much simplified version of the classic smoked meat and bean cassoulet.