Saute

Mark Taylor of West Hartford, Connecticut, writes: "I started cooking out of necessity when I first graduated from college, since I couldn't afford to eat out. Having grown up watching my mother cook for our large family, I used her recipes. She was always trying new dishes whenever we had guests and sharing her adventurous attitude toward eating. These days, even though my wife and I both work, we still cook several times a week. Now I tend to rely on recipes I've picked up from restaurants and friends. I enjoy experimenting with different ingredients and figuring out new ways to improve a recipe, as I've done with the one here."

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Lisa Caiazza of Franklin Square, New York, writes, "At the Manhattan law office where I'm a legal secretary, it seems as though the phones are always ringing. And if it isn't the phones that have me occupied, then there are lots of documents that need my attention. By the time I get home from the city, I usually have only about 45 minutes to put together dinner for my husband, Angelo, and myself. Still, that's enough time to make something filling and delicious, like a salad and a hearty pasta or soup." A quick and flavorful pasta dish that's special enough for company.

This American variation of a Chinese stir-fry—combined with a loaf of crusty bread—is a meal in itself.

To round out this menu, serve roasted squash, corn muffins and boiled green beans with orange zest. End with vanilla ice cream topped with warm chestnuts in syrup.

On the eastern side of the Indian peninsula, fronting the Bay of Bengal, is Madras, the capital of Tamil Nadu state. This recipe from that cosmopolitan city is typically made with sardines, mackerel, and crab, but we have substituted orange roughy for a more delicately flavored dish.

"My brother has a small shrimping net, and once, years ago, he brought me several pounds of shrimp after a successful trip," says Robert Randolph of Perdido Beach, Alabama. "I created this appetizer as a way to use all that shrimp. Now, whenever my brother stops by with his catch, my family requests this dish."

When a dark chilly afternoon in October portends a killing frost, gather the last of the garden's bounty and make a steaming pot of soup for dinner. This recipe makes a generous amount that will feed a family for more than one satisfying meal.

Try braised lettuce flavored with thyme, carrots and garlic to accompany this satisfying dish.

Auruduci is the Sicilian way of saying agro-dolce, or "sweet-and-sour." This is definitely not the type of sweet-and-sour dish you find in Chinese restaurants. It is a wonderful, subtle recipe that shows off the number one fish in Sicily — tuna. This could be my favorite of the many Sicilian tuna recipes I've encountered over the years. You have to make it with fresh tuna, and always remember to serve it rare — never overcook it.

"This is a recipe inspired by a salad I had as part of a sumptuous feast at Adriatica, an exquisite restaurant atop Seattle's Queen Anne Hill," says Lise R. Bonin of Austin, Texas. "Both the view and the food made for a most memorable anniversary dinner for my husband and me several years ago."

I know what you're thinking: Another crabcake. Well, all crabcakes are not alike. When this dish goes on Commander's menu, more than half our patrons will order it. They probably feel as my mother does: "True jumbo lump crabmeat is the caviar of Louisiana." We want to highlight the crabmeat, not mask it with heavy binders or frying, so this has no bread crumbs and only a small amount of binder. And the cakes are _not_fried, making them incredibly light. As for the accompaniment, crab and corn are a classic Creole combination.

"Years ago, when we were dating, my husband took me to Park Bistro in Manhattan," writes Therese Tetzel of Dallas, Texas. "To this day, we return to the restaurant every time we go to New York. Its version of coq au vin is the best I've had in the United States—similar to one we tried in Burgundy."