Brandy

A rich entrée that's even more satisfying served over noodles.

This dessert, long favored by the British at holiday time, originally contained minced meat along with the fruits and spices. This version, more suited to the nineties table, is meatless and brimming with apples, dried fruit and lots of spices.

"During parents' weekend at Bowdoin College here in Brunswick, a group of us went to Rachel's Wood Grill, a restaurant in nearby Portland," says Jennifer Buechner of Brunswick, Maine. "Dinner was great, but the tiramisù we had for dessert was out of this world. I'd love to serve it for a graduation dinner." A perfect do-ahead dessert for a party.

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.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.

Setting the skillet that contains the caramel onto a larger skillet of ice cubes is a clever way to prevent the caramel from burning.

The following is chef Robert Freitag's variation of a recipe by Joyce Goldstein, chef-owner of Square One, in San Francisco, until it closed in 1996. The chef likes to use king salmon when making this dish.

This version of the much maligned Christmas classic is deliciously lacking in candied cherries, giant mixed nuts and citron, but it is filled with bits of marzipan and lots of appealing dried fruit. Baking the cakes in disposable aluminum loaf pans (available at supermarkets) or in decorative cardboard loaf pans (available at some cookware stores or by mail order) makes gift giving easy; just wrap each cake in its pan in cellophane, and add a colorful ribbon.

Serve with steamed rice and some traditional condiments, such as chopped red and green onions, raisins, shredded coconut, peanuts and diced bananas.

All of the components for this sophisticated dessert can be made the day before, then assembled quickly at the last minute. Sabayon (also called zabaglione) is a custard sauce that is whisked over hot water until it is light and foamy.

Since moving to Stockholm to join my Swedish husband, I'm learning to base my cooking on ingredients that are plentiful here. It seems that pork is more popular--and more readily available--than chicken (my usual standby) so I developed:

A milk pudding that dates back to the Middle Ages, syllabub was first prepared by milking the cow straight into a bowl containing "Sille," a wine that used to be made in Silléry, in France's Champagne region. "Bub" was medieval slang for a bubbly drink. There are a number of syllabub recipes in eighteenth-and nineteenth-century Irish cookbooks. This modern version calls for a sweet dessert wine and whipping cream.

A western twist on the old-fashioned pecan pie . California walnuts, dates and brandy give this pie its candy-bar flavor.

Definitely not Ye Olde English Classic, but very delicious and very contemporary. Using store-bought sponge cake (ask for it at your supermarket bakery) or pound cakes simplifies assembly.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Pistachio Blancmanges . Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 hr

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.