Banana-Nut Pancakes
Pancakes are a familiar sight on the breakfast table, but my favorites are these banana-and-nut-packed flapjacks. Serve them hot with genuine maple syrup - supermarket pancake syrup is nothing more than artificially flavored sugar syrup.

Lemon and Oregano Polenta Muffins
Not your usual muffins by any means, these little gems go perfectly with grilled dishes such as Greek-style chicken. Add a cucumber and tomato salad and search out a cold bottle of retsina, the pine resin-scented Greek wine.

Chicken Pot Pie with Cornmeal Crust
Sometimes you just need a chicken pot pie.

Duck Breast with Wild Mushrooms
Kosher ducks are easy to find in the freezer section of your kosher butcher shop or large supermarket. For this recipe, you need only the duck breasts.

Sweet-and-Sour Peppers with Almonds
The Sicilians inherited the technique of sweet-and-sour flavoring from the Saracens (Arabs), who invaded the island in the first century and stayed on for three hundred years.

Fennel Seed and Rosemary Breadsticks
Whether you've worked with yeast before or not, you can reproduce these.

Roasted Pork Loin with Cranberry-Ginger Chutney
Try serving the pork with a salad made of watercress, endive, and fresh oranges or sautéed shiitake mushrooms.

Shrimp Steamed with Mustard Seeds

Champagne-Baked Oysters
with Braised Leeks and Truffle Cream

Christmas Soup

Modern Mini Fruitcakes

Noche Buena Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Hazelnut Brownies

Goose with Chestnut Stuffing and Port Sauce

Pumpkin Pie

Squash with Fresh Ginger

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pavlova

Grilled Ratatouille

Nutty Roof Tiles (Tuiles)

Roast Lamb with Rosemary, Garlic, and Lemon

Peppers Stuffed with Eggplant

Yorkshire Pudding Puffs

Roast Prime Rib of Beef with Horseradish Cream Whip

Pumpkin-Filled Ravioli (Ravioli con la Zucca Barucca)

Roast Turkey and Winter Vegetable Chowder

Thanksgiving Biscotti

Rejuvenating Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Sautéed Green Beans with Shallot Crisps

Carmelized Sweet Potato Wedges

Cheddar and Jalapeño Corn Bread Stuffing

Dessert French Toast with Fruit

Coffee Cream Tart in a Cocoa-Espresso Crust

Tortilla and Lime Soup

Hazelnut Wafers with Cheese and Fruit

Raspberry Baked Alaska

Spanakopita

Vegetables à la Grecque

Five-Spice Diced Vegetables in Endive Leaves with Plum Sauce

Asparagus with Toasted Sesame Aioli

Mushroom Caps with Basil-Pecan Stuffing

Fresh Cranberry Orange Relish

Pumpkin Cranberry Custard

Blueberry Pancakes

Salt-Roasted Pears with Camembert

Asparagus with Orange Essence and Almonds

Pepper Pork Satay with Peanut Dipping Sauce

Clams in Pepper Broth

Duck Breasts with Honey, Ginger, and Lavender

Mussels and Prawns with Orange-Pink Peppercorn Vinaigrette

Coconut Rice Pudding with Tropical Fruits

Summer Fruit Compote with Lemon Verbena

Portuguese Clams with Linguiça

Grand Aioli

Horseradish-Stuffed Pork Loin

Chilled Leeks with Green Olives, Capers, and Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette

Gazpacho-to-go

Pan Roasted Seafood with Smoky Paprika and Roasted Garlic

Grilled Corn on the Cob with Flavored Butters

Fresh Strawberry Shortcake with Summer Cream

Thyme Scented Mushrooms

White Chocolate Truffle and Raspberry Tart

Sautèed Scallops in Spiced Carrot Juice
In Morocco, carrot juice is popular as a refreshing summertime beverage. Cooks with juicers at home can make their own, or you can easily find fresh or bottled carrot juice at most natural foods stores and specialty shops like Dean & Deluca.

Flourless Chocolate-Walnut Torte with
Pinot Noir-Laced Strawberries and Whipped Cream
The inspiration for this dessert comes from northern Italy, where pizza di noci, a thin chocolate-nut torte, is one of the best-loved desserts.

Asian Crudités
This crudités platter Is a welcome change from the standard carrot sticks and dip.

Grilled Fresh California Asparagus with Pancetta, Pepato Cheese, and Herbs
Fresh, hot, and so good! It doesn't get any simpler - or much better.

Tortilla Soup with Pasilla Chilies, Fresh Cheese, and Avocado
Everyone loves the process of making this soup, from frying the tortillas to adding the condiments.

Shrimps, Mussels, and Tofu in Lemongrass-Miso Broth
Here is an elegant seafood stew impued with a profusion of asian flavors: lemongrass, thai red curry paste, cilantro, and miso.

Oven Puffed Pancakes
Known by the picturesque name Dutch babies, these showy, German classics are among my favorite breakfast treats for entertaining.

Steamed Lobster with Truffle Beurre Fondue
Lobster and black truffles are heavenly together, and many fine restaurants serve this wonderful combination.

Orange Angel Food Cake with Fresh Berries and Whipped Cream
Light and airy angel food cake is a perfect summertime dessert, and when flavored with a little orange zest, its appeal is heightened.

Grilled Tri-Tip with Savory Dry Rub
Tri-tip - also called Santa Marla tri-tip, or a bottom sirloin tip roast - is flavorful and easy to cook on the grill.

Grilled Sesame Tofu
Even non-vegetarians won't miss the meat when served this intensely flavored tofu with a crispy crust.

Tajarin with Fresh White Truffle
Tajarin are the unforgettable fresh egg-yolk-rich noodles of the Piedmont region of Italy, the heart of white truffle country.

Saffron-Ginger Rice Cakes with Spicy Shrimp
This recipe will come together very quickly if you prepare the rice cakes a day ahead and buy your shrimp cooked and shelled.

Cold Minted Pea Soup
If you grow English peas, the common green peas in a pod, or if your local farmers' market sells them, use them for this light, easy soup. If not, frozen peas will work well.

Grilled Pork-and-Pineapple Kabobs with Scallions
While few gardens produce fresh pineapples, the duo of pork and pineapples is so good we could not resist these simple, grilled kabobs.

Whole Wheat Pancakes with Blueberry Compote
This is one of the more popular breakfast items at Vancouver's Diva Restaurant. Star chef Michael Noble confesses that he did not invent the recipe, but "borrowed" it from his mother.

Pacific Rim Risotto
Chunky bites of chicken and sausage combined with the creamy risotto make this a wonderful side when served with a simple green salad.

Walnut and Rosemary Flat Bread
This flavorful, light brown, pitalike bread looks almost like wheat bread because the dough is colored by groud walnuts.

Pasta with Pressed Purple Basil Leaves and Blossoms
Herb leaves and blossoms are easily pressed between two sheets of pasta to create a design that is beautiful and delivers a bouquet of flavor.

Classic Paella
There are numerous versions of Spain's paella, but for me the classic remains one laced with fish, shellfish, and spicy sausage.

Thai Red Curry with Kabocha Squash and Shrimp
You may not have come across this Thai curry before, but coconut and kabocha are a classic combination. I prefer to add shrimp, but a traditional addition is roasted duck.

Tamari Shrimp and Scallops
As it cooks, the scallop expands to meet the embrace of the shrimp in a miracle of geometry and reaction to heat. They have similar flavors but different textures, and for centuries both have teamed beautifully with Asian flavors.

Sweet Corn and Vegetable Chowder
This recipe proves a belief of mine. When you cook with ingredients that sound good in your head, they will taste good, too, I feel this way about vanilla and corn, which may seem like a strange pair, but once you try this combination, you'll like it.

Fresh Figs with Semolina Toast and Rhododendron Honey
When the honey and the figs collide, the flavor is fantastic. The bread does not have to be semolina bread; use sourdough or a country loaf instead, but make sure it has a good, dense texture when toasted.

Dark Rum and Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Caramelizing the pineapple in rum adds a flavor that sends me right to the tropics! I like to serve this cake at Sunday afternoon get-togethers

Chimichurri Lamb Chops with Goat Cheese
This dish is a 'gran mezcla', or mixture, of my Latin-American heritage and French culinary education.

Crab Spring Rolls with Sweet Garlic Sauce
Though they use the same kind of wrapper, Thai spring rolls are thinner than Chinese egg rolls and have a fliting with classic Southeast Asian ingredients such as bean thread noodles (also called sai fun, or cellophane noodles), shallots, cilantro, and fish sauce.

Scallop Seviche
It's easier than you think to make the connection between the incomparable Nantucket Bay, Scallops and the quintessential South American preparation for raw fish, seviche.

Cider-Soaked Baked Ham with Honey-Rum Glaze
Ham is usually best served at room temperature, and this one is no exception.

Cranberry Beach Plum Cheesecake

Roast Young Hen Turkey with Pomegranate Sauce
The female turkey is more tender and tastier than the tom. An independent butcher can usually special-order hen turkeys weighing between 5 and 7 pounds.

Sage-Grilled Chicken Souvlakia & Olives
The chicken is served on a cushion of bread crumbs gently sautèed with shallots, pine nuts, sage, and chives.

Pumpkin Soup
The pumpkin soup of Venice is a simple affair of purčed pumpkin cooked with milk.

Horseradish-Salmon Cakes on Wilted Greens
This is an excellent next-day use of the leftovers from a whole poached salmon.

Parsnip Dark Spice Cake
The parsnips, like carrots in carrot cake, add moisture, texture, and fluffiness.

Baked Three-Cheese Pasta with Pancetta
This sophisticated version of macaroni and cheese is slightly dressed-up comfort food at its best.

Grilled Shrimp With Tomatillo-Garlic Salsa
No matter what else I'm serving, the zesty, garlic-dusted grilled shrimp are eaten first, but not before they're dipped and tipped with the spicy tomatillo-garlic salsa.

Scalloped Potatoes Layered with Anchovies
This makes an excellent accompaniment for roasts of all kinds and for game birds with character.

Rigatoni with Broccoli Sauce
My mother learned to make this dish when she lived in Rome as a girl.

Allspice Crusted Lamb Chops with Roasted Pepper Sauce

Cinnamon-Scented Lentils

Garlic Risotto with Baby Peas and Truffle Oil
Give me a little time, a glass of wine, and not too many ingredients, and I'll fix risotto.

Mussels with Black Beans and Flowering Garlic Chives
Black mussels are readily available in the Bay Area where I live - and cheap at that - but clams also work fine for this dish.

Poached Salmon with Cucumber, Dill, and Watercress Sauce
Poaching the salmon in a flavorful court bouillon gives it added taste, and decorating the fish and platter makes for an impressive presentation.

Mariner's-Style Clams
Clams from the Mediterranean are very small; many more than the two dozen littlenecks called for in this recipe would be used when making this dish in Rome

Chilled Cucumber Soup with Garlic and Mint
This elegant soup has subtle nuances and understated layers of flavor.

Savory Caramelized Onion, Tomato, and Basil Tart
This recipe uses ingredients that are most delicious in summer, but it can change with the season.

Butter Almond Cake
When small strawberries or fresh raspberries are available, I substitute them for the jam and nuts and arrange the berries on top of the cake as though it were a tart.

Fish Fillets in Caper Sauce, Roman style
The Italians typically cook the whole fish rather than fillets, as the full, brinish flavors of fish are diminished when it is cooked without the head and skin.

Medallions of Sesame & Coriander-Crusted Ahi Tuna with sesame scallion rice, wasabi cream, fried wontons & pickled ginger

Tiramisu Crêpe Soufflé with Coffee Crème Anglaise & Seasonal Fruit

Frozen Passion Fruit Mousse with Tropical Fruit, Passion Fruit Crème Anglaise, Fresh Raspberry Purée and Dried Fruit Chips

Pan Seared Striped Bass with preserved kumquat on parsnip potato puree with butternut squash custard

Santa Fe Chicken (from Cooking USA)
The following recipe was a 1989 winner at the National Chicken Cooking Contest.

Peach Cake (from Cooking USA)
This cake is a popular and easy way to use fresh peaches.

Pioneer Bread (from Cooking USA)
This tasty bread is typical of the hearty, homemade loaves still served in farm kitchens.