American

One of my favorite meals was made by finding some leftover meat or fish and some cooked rice, and tossing them in a skillet with whatever caught our fancy. When you're good and hungry, a mixed-up quick meal tastes every bit as good as any long pot [long-cooked dish]. And you don't have to wait.

If you'd like to make the jalapeño-lime butter one day ahead, use a broiler or gas burner to char the chiles and save the grill prep for the corn.

Anadama bread, a traditional New England yeast bread made with cornmeal and molasses (said to have been created by a woman from Massachusetts named Anna), is the inspiration for the following muffins. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Deviled is a southern term for a dish that is highly seasoned. To make life easier, have the butcher cut up the chicken, and use a small chicken — around three pounds — so that it will cook through quickly. If you're cutting it yourself, start by going along both sides of the backbone with kitchen shears or a large knife. Once the backbone has been removed, cut the chicken into eight pieces (two breasts, wings, legs and thighs); include the top third of each breast with the wings for a more generous serving. The chicken needs to marinate for at least a day, so plan accordingly. See how to joint a chicken.

This cobbler is wonderful after the chipotle-honey glazed pork (frankly, it's wonderful after anything).

Chipotle hot sauce and queso fresco can be found at Latin American markets and at many supermarkets.

If you cut up the potatoes ahead of time, keep them in cold water so that they don't discolor.

Canned yams make this side dish a snap.

We loved L.A. chef Mary Sue Milliken's crisp baked-tortilla crackers in her pool-party menu (August 2000). Here, we invent our own version of them.

This crust is an excellent choice for double-crust fruit pies. For a single-crust pie, simply divide the recipe in half. The dough may also be used for tartlets

In the book American Gourmet, Jane and Michael Stern describe beef Wellington as a "lardaceous dish" that is "rich beyond reason." The pastry-wrapped beef was the ultimate in dinner-party fare in the sixties. In our re-creation, salmon fillets cook in frozen puff pastry sheets, which arrived in the seventies.