Cheese

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Tomatoes from the garden are put to good use in this salad.

The heartland is known for its grains and its pork; this first course features two of the region's best products—corn and bacon.

This delicious and easy-to-make salad would be nice with grilled lamb or steak.

This is a very near replica of the small cheese quiches Madame Fromage sells each Saturday at the Louviers market.

Though cheese blintzes rate as an all-time favorite in my family, I don't always have the time to prepare them in the usual fashion. Therefore, I created the following casserole, which has a fantastic flavor very similar to blintzes (some say it's even better); yet it takes only a few minutes to prepare. In fact, I make it often throughout the year. It is quite different from the popular cheese blintz casseroles made with frozen commercial blintzes. For my version, a layer of cheese filling is baked between two light layers of a special blintz-type batter. The casserole is then cut into squares for serving, making it a perfect choice for a dairy buffet and great for Shavuot. Since the first edition of this book was published, this layered blintz casserole has proven to be one of its most popular recipes. The dish is served at the famous Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, New York, where it has become a favorite brunch offering under the name "Easy Cheese Blintz Puff." And the recipe has appeared in a number of books and magazines. Like some of the other "creative" recipes in this book, this one appears to be on its way to becoming a classic of "new" Jewish cooking. <a name="note"></a>Notes: The types of cheese in the filling were determined after much experimentation with various mixtures. It is the best combination to produce the desired results of separate layers. The top of this casserole is rather plain. If desired, it may be sprinkled lightly with cinnamon or cinnamon-sugar before the casserole is returned to the oven for the final baking.

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

Pesto made with basil also works beautifully in this dish.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

My mom (the "Jill" of this recipe) used to make lots of finger foods when I was younger. These were always a big hit. Easy to make, easy to love, these snacks are equally at home at a fancy dinner party as they are during the Super Bowl. You can experiment with this recipe to alter the taste: Use vegetable or flavored cream cheese, or any other kind of easily spreadable cheese (I like that Alouette herb cheese a lot).

At Valentino, this is prepared with fresh pasta. Wonton wrappers make a convenient substitute.

The coconut tuiles (cookies) that go into this layered dessert (left) are delicate, so the recipe provides for quite a few extras to allow for breakage. Tuiles are also terrific with ice cream. The syrup gets an interesting (and delicious) kick from nontraditional dessert ingredients like black peppercorns and a jalapeño chili.

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

This dessert tastes indulgent, but it's made with nonfat cottage cheese, nonfat cream cheese and evaporated skim milk.