Cured Meat

The little green chile makes an appearance in the burger and in its creamy ranch sauce. What to drink: Chateau Souverain 2002 Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley ($22).

To minimize untended grill time, bring the stuffing and reserved cheese to the grill along with the mushrooms.

This is named after the town of Amatrice, not too far from Rome, where the sauce has long been prepared using the few ingredients that were always available: sun-ripened tomatoes, guanciale (salt-cured pork jowl), and a touch of firey peperoncino (dried hot chile).

Pea tendrils taste like a cross between peas and spinach and are used in Chinese cooking, where they are called dau miu. Find them at farmers' markets and Asian markets. Spinach or watercress can be substituted for pea tendrils in this lovely green dish.

Sautéed mushrooms are a classic steakhouse side dish. Here they pair nicely with Stilton, the aristocratic English blue cheese. Improv: Try a less pricey combo of baby bellas and shiitakes. Instead of Stilton, go for Roquefort or Maytag blue. Mâche or arugula can stand in for the lettuce mix.

Make the polenta a couple of days ahead, then assemble each serving an hour or so before guests arrive.

This dish is a take on the bistro classic frisée salad with lardons. We recommend removing the ribs from the dandelion greens; though it's a rather lengthy process, the result will be much more delicate.

This fun dish combines classic antipasto platter ingredients with pasta. If you're in a hurry, omit the sautéed mushrooms.

Extra-sharp Cheddar and malty English ale balance perfectly in this hearty soup.

Daryl Getman of New York City, NY, writes: "I'm a second-year theater student at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, so most days are more about running from class to rehearsal to a performance than they are about cooking. But since I moved out of the dorms last year, cooking has become my favorite distraction. And on the weekends, it's my idea of a break." Daryl likes to use top-notch applewood-smoked bacon for this salad.

This beautiful pasta dish features a classic trio of Italian ingredients. Bottled roasted chestnuts make preparation surprisingly quick.

This recipe makes more smoked-tomato butter than you need for the scallops — use the leftover butter on steak or fish.

We have a renewed appreciation for the beauty, taste, and health-giving properties of the pomegranate lately, and its molasses (made by cooking the juice down to a sweet-tart syrup) delivers just what we are looking for in an ingredient these days: bold, clear, complex flavor. Used in this go-with for the chops, it brings new meaning to "sweet-and-sour pork." Pomegranate molasses is available at some supermarkets and Middle Eastern markets and by mail from Adriana's Caravan (800-316-0820; adrianascaravan.com).