Frank Stitt

As this soup cooks, the kitchen will quickly fill with the tantalizing aroma of leeks stewing in butter with pumpkin, curry, and spices.

This puree is a wonderful vegetable side dish for any cool-weather braise or stew.

In a large menu, the salad is often served after a number of hearty dishes, so the portions are scaled down. For a smaller meal, this amount would serve 4 to 5 hearty salad eaters.

Stitt likes to use rock salt — the kind used for old-fashioned ice cream churners — as a bed for these oysters because it keeps the shells from tipping and sliding around in the pan and on the plates. Rock salt is sold at many supermarkets, but kosher salt is a good substitute.

At the restaurant, Stitt makes this recipe with local Apalachicola oysters, though he also likes the flavor of East Coast varieties such as Blue Point, Pemaquid, and Malpeque, so feel free to use your favorite.

Stitt likes to take advantage of seasonal fresh beans, but he also makes this dish using dried beans such as cannellini, borlotti, and even giant limas. He often serves a mixture, simmering each variety separately, as cooking times differ.

Having the lamb boned makes it easier to serve at the table — you won't have to struggle with trying to slice around the bone.

Though we used parfait glasses for this pudding to show off the layers, at the restaurant Stitt serves it in large coffee cups with saucers and spoons. The whipped cream topping looks like the foam on a cappuccino — hence its name.