Cheese

Great served as a side dish with roast chicken, pork chops or veal chops.

This simple but highly seasoned breakfast, brunch or supper dish became fashionable during the craze for Tex-Mex food that began in the Southwest and California in the 1940s. Our recipe highlights tortillas that are currently available in a variety of flavors, like sun-dried tomato and jalapeño.

We find that different generations have different ideas about what a typical New York cheesecake is. To us, a New York cheesecake is high, firm, and dense, with a slightly lemony flavor. The Lindy's cheesecake in our January 1991 issue, adapted here for a simpler crust, is all of that. It's also a cake that keeps for up to two weeks and lends itself easily to flavor variations.

Chef Laurent Manrique is a big fan of Laura Chenel goat cheese in Sonoma, which is available at many cheese shops across the country.

For a change of pace, use purchased tortellini filled with pumpkin instead of cheese.

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.

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 35 min

Pick up grilled zucchini and fresh figs from a specialty market to round out the meal.

Active time: 1 1/4 hr Start to finish: 1 3/4 hr

From Lidia's in Kansas City, an informal company dish that's sure to satisfy.

Offer these as a starter or as a light lunch with a salad of greens tossed in vinaigrette.

Serve Champagne to add an elegant, light touch to this terrific brunch menu.

Pink grapefruit can be used if you can't find the blood oranges.

To impart smoky flavor to food when using an outdoor gas grill, add a handful of wood chips (soaked in cold water 30 minutes and drained) to a smoker box and place it under the grates and on top of ceramic briquettes in the far right or left corner of the grill.

Active time: 35 min Start to finish: 40 min

You can substitute skinless boneless chicken breasts for the veal cutlets. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 35 min