Ground Pork

Meat loaf has been a favorite throughout the century, especially during the 1940s when meat was rationed and ground beef was a bargain cut. We’ve put a contemporary stamp on this suppertime classic by adding lots of caramelized onions.

Similar to the Latin posole, this stew would be terrific with yellow rice (there are several supermarket choices) and an avocado, grapefruit and red onion salad. Cinnamon-spiced brownies make a good dessert.

Voli are marbles, the multicolored little balls that were so popular with kids during my childhood. But unlike the glass versions, which were quite expensive, the ones we used to play with were made of clay and colored in various bright, glossy shades. They were fragile, and their glaze would crack, revealing their dark red insides, similar in color to these delicious meatballs with bulgur. This recipe comes from the island of Rhodes, and bulgur is probably the grain originally used. Later, in the stewed meatballs of the mainland, it was replaced by rice.

This recipe originally accompanied Crown Roast of Pork with Apple and Pork Stuffing and Cider Gravy . Part of the terrific stuffing is used to fill the crown roast of pork, and the rest is baked alongside. But if you are making the stuffing to go with other meats, simply bake all of it in a shallow baking dish until a meat thermometer registers 155°F.

You can use purchased sauce here, your own homemade or the versatile This is terrific over pasta.

Mashed potatoes and Green Beans with Warm Bacon Dressing (see recipe) are great side dishes. Follow with apple pie à la mode.

We adapted this recipe from Big Bowl Noodles and Rice, by Bruce Cost with Matt McMillin (HarperCollins). Cost likes to stuff dried black Asian"flower" mushrooms. Because these can be expensive and hard to find, we asked if we could try fresh shiitake mushrooms instead. Cost agreed, and we loved the results. Look for shiitakes with caps that have rounded edges to better hold the stuffing. Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 1 hr

These rice-coated meatballs, commonly referred to as zhen zhu, meaning "pearls" in Chinese, are often prepared at home in New York City's Chinatown. Steaming them on lettuce leaves helps prevent them from sticking to the steamer rack. They are traditionally made with sticky rice (sometimes called sweet rice), but we've used long-grain rice, which is easier to find.

"Last year my family spent the holidays on the Big Island of Hawaii," writes Jo Lucarz of Phoenix, Arizona. "One afternoon we ate lunch in Kamuela at the Parker Ranch Grill, where we had the best chili ever — and coming from a group of Arizona natives, that's saying a lot."

Though these dumplings are traditionally cooked in stacked Asian bamboo or metal steamers, you can also use a pasta pot with a deep perforated colander-steamer insert. If your pot has a second shallow colander-steamer insert, you can steam 2 batches at once. The dumplings should be served warm, so reheat them in batches as platters need replenishing.

(Corn Tortillas with Sweet-and-Savory Ground Pork)