Lamb

Having the lamb boned makes it easier to serve at the table — you won't have to struggle with trying to slice around the bone.

For ease of preparation, ask for the full round, not the short cut or partial leg, and have the butcher butterfly it for you.

The fine bulgur in this recipe might seem like a specialty ingredient, but it is actually in most supermarkets, near the rice, under the name Near East Taboule Wheat Salad Mix (you won't need the seasoning packet). Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 2 hr

Oven-roasted red potato chunks sprinkled with chives; steamed and buttered baby carrots; and a limestone lettuce salad would be good accompaniments to this elegant main course. Finish with a strawberry-rhubarb pie from the bakery.

My recipe was adapted from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I've changed the meats (a lot) and the seasonings (a bit). I've also tinkered with cooking times and sequence.

Look for peanut sauce in the Asian foods section of the supermarket. Serve with: Couscous and a cucumber-romaine salad tossed with mint-yogurt dressing. Dessert: Mango sorbet and coconut macaroons.

Easy to make and absolutely delicious. Pour a good Cabernet Sauvignon with this.

Stifado, a hearty Greek stew, can be made with almost any kind of meat, though beef is most common. Here we use lamb. It always involves either red wine or red-wine vinegar or both, herbs, and copious quantities of small whole onions.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

In this recipe, a casserole dish stands in for the traditional tagine. Serve with couscous or an Israeli salad of tomato, cucumber, and sweet onion.