French

"I have been enjoying Aperto restaurant here in San Francisco ever since it opened eight years ago," writes Leslie Appleton, of San Francisco, California. "Everything prepared in that little kitchen is delicious and attractively presented. If you could obtain the recipe for the soft-centered chocolate soufflés served there, you would make me very happy." These can be prepared ahead.

Serve these mussels with a frisée salad dressed with red wine vinaigrette. Add french fries, plus a baguette for sopping up the sauce. Lemon tart would be good for dessert. See how to clean mussels.

(Salade de Lentilles Vertes aux Lardons) Smoked ham and bacon give this lentil salad a rich, robust flavor. Serve it alongside roasted meats or poultry.

A Provençal specialty, pan bagnat is literally a sandwich with "bathed bread" — that is, the loaf of bread is split and drizzled with olive oil and/or a vinaigrette before being filled with other ingredients. In this version, grilled chicken stands in for the traditional tuna. Begin these sandwiches at least four hours and up to one day before serving. Get the picnic started with a selection of cheeses, salami, and crackers. What to drink: A light red, slightly chilled, such as a Beaujolais or Bandol Rosé.

Offer a plum-tomato salad with the sandwiches. Round out the meal with sliced strawberries drizzled with crème de cassis.

We recommend using the freshest watercress possible — if not at its best, it can give the sauce a slightly bitter taste. (Try hydroponic watercress; it's generally better than conventionally grown supermarket cress.) Tanis suggests skimming all the fat from the cooking liquid and serving the broth as a first-course soup, garnished with toasted slices of French bread.

At Emeril's, in New Orleans, Emeril Lagasse prefers sirloin steaks for this.

Whether spread on sandwiches or served alongside roasts, this classic Provençal condiment of pummeled olives is always handy and delicious. However, it's during cocktail hour, when served simply with croutons, that people seem to love it best. A food processor replaces the traditional mortar and pestle for faster results. Refrigerate for up to a week.

Creamed spinach gets a makeover with three cheeses and a vibrant garnish.

(Baked Banana Pudding) Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The preparation of most hot butter sauces has as its object the relatively permanent and smooth blending together of ingredients. The grand-daddy of these sauces is Hollandaise. Here is the classic.

(MADELEINES) While researching this book, I became fixated, absolutely fanatical, about madeleines, the plump golden tea cakes shaped like scallop shells. They were something to boost my spirits on the days when I walked for miles sleuthing in search of culinary jewels. I tasted dozens of madeleines, but only a few were "just right." The best, freshest madeleine has a dry, almost dusty taste when eaten on its own. One of my favorite versions is made by André Lerch, an Alsatian baker with a bread and pastry shop on the Left Bank. To be truly appreciated — to "invade the senses with exquisite pleasure" as they did for Marcel Proust — Madeleines must be dipped in tea, ideally the slightly lime-flavoured tilleul, which releases the fragrant, flavorful lemon essence of the little tea cake. Special madeleine tins can be found in all the French restaurant supply shops and in the housewares section of department stores. The following is a recipe I developed.

"The last time I was in Texas, where I'm from originally, I had dinner at Zuni Grill on the San Antonio Riverwalk. I felt right at home when I took a bite of the pecans in the clever, southern-style crème brûlée," says Linda M. Dunn of Sparks, Nevada."I'd like to try making it at home." Toasted pecans are sprinkled over the crème brûlée after the sugar is caramelized so that the nuts don't burn. Note that the custards can be prepared two days ahead of time. Caramelize the sugar on top of the custards up to two hours before serving, if you like.

Pitted prunes replace the more customary mushrooms in this delicious variation.