Fried Chicken

A food processor is the cleanest, quickest way to get the toasts to a sand-and-pebble consistency, but you can also leave the Melba toast in the packaging, let out any excess air and crush them with a rolling pin.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 45 min

Don't be intimidated by the amount of hot pepper sauce in the marinade; the chicken will pick up only some of the heat.

A spicier version of that old Southern favorite. From Mother Africa's Table, National Council of Negro Women, Washington, D.C.

When cooking for my college roommates years ago, I discovered that although tuna-fish casserole is consumed in millions of households, love of mother's own must be imprinted during infantile nurturing. As my friends summarily banished all my childhood favorites, I concluded that a hankering for mother's recipes could be used to distinguish genuine family from interlopers (call it genetic tasting). But I soon forgot the recipes. So, it took a call to Pam Ross, my sister and sole surviving mother in our clan, to retrieve this cholesterol-boosting pleaser from our Mom. My nieces like it, and it doesn't wear out the cook. Pam serves it with garlic mashed potatoes.

This crispy chicken is accented with ginger and sesame oil, and served with a simple dipping sauce of soy, cilantro, green onions and ginger. Wrap the chicken in foil, and store the sauce and slaw in plastic containers; be sure to add a cold pack or two to the picnic basket. Fill a thermos with limeade, or bring along a cooler of your favorite beers.

The two-pronged cooking method used for these wings —incorporating both braising and deep-frying — is a takeoff on the Chinese technique of steaming, then frying. We think it keeps the meat unbelievably tender while getting the skin supercrispy. Be sure to allow 2 hours for the wings to marinate.

Serve with black-eyed peas, biscuits, a watercress salad and cold beer or iced tea.

In this recipe, the oven does the frying, eliminating most of the fat, and all of the messy splatter of traditional pan-frying. This quick and easy supper will be a sure family favorite, especially if you serve it with steamed green beans, sliced tomatoes, and biscuits.

Fans of Buffalo wings will understand why we suggest serving these chicken cutlets with Crunchy Iceberg and Watercress Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing . Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 35 min

One diner's instructions on how to find Mrs. Wilkes': "Walk along West Jones Street until you smell fried chicken."

Chef Lisa Ahier likes the flavor of Key limes or Mexican limes, which she can buy locally and year-round, for the marinade below. But even if you use regular lime juice, you'll love this chicken, which is as delicious at room temperature as it is hot. In fact, Gourmet's food editors couldn't get enough of it.

Not much goes better with fried chicken than braised mustard greens or turnip greens, hot biscuits and sweet pickles. For a perfect dessert, serve squares of warm gingerbread with whipped cream. This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.