Salmon

A make-ahead smoked salmon butter and some fresh cod dress up clam chowder beautifully for company. Team the stew with a favorite coleslaw and warm buttermilk biscuits for a cozy winter meal.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Goat cheese and fennel prove to be the perfect partners for smoked salmon. Pour glasses of Champagne or Sauvignon Blanc.

This recipe can be made in 45 minutes or less.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 45 min

"My husband, Don, and I both like to cook," writes Lisa Pendelton of Pasadena, California. "We run our own architectural firm. The business is rewarding but stressful, so spending time in the kitchen is a wonderful distraction. We divide the work and always help each other out. Actually, that's also the way we work at the office." Lisa's salmon is also great with her lemon cream: Mix 2/3 cup sour cream with 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice.

To start, offer a seafood appetizer, such as chilled cocktail shrimp with herbed mayonnaise. What to drink: Pour Champagne or sparkling wine throughout the meal.

Natalie Zschiesch of Woodstock, Georgia, writes: "When I was a student at the University of Georgia in Athens, I frequently walked across the street to The Last Resort, a restaurant located in the heart of downtown. I'd treat myself to the delicious salmon, served atop creamy grits and surrounded by a rich caper-cream sauce. If only I had the recipe, I wouldn't have to make the trip back to Athens every time the craving sets in."

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min

This bread is adapted from Jean Lemlin's recipe, from our March 1994 issue.

"I have just returned from London, where I stayed at the beautiful Lanesborough hotel across from Hyde Park," writes Marjorie Wordingham of Mequon, Wisconsin. "I had the most delicious salmon with Thai-style vegetables and rice at its restaurant, The Conservatory."

Cranberry sauce or huckleberry preserves can be substituted for the lingonberry preserves. Serve with: Roasted fingerling potatoes tossed with dill, and a mixed green salad.

Note: To slice the cucumber in the following recipe into a paper-thin spiral, we used a Japanese rotary device known as the Benriner vegetable slicer.

With uniformly sized fillets, the cooking time can be gaged precisely, resulting in the kind of lovely individual pieces of salmon served in restaurants. For four servings, buy one and a half pounds of skinned salmon fillets, taken from the thick (not the tail) end of the fish. Cut across the fillet to make four pieces of equal size. Although the technique is about as straightforward as can be, allowing the fillets to sit for a while after coating will encourage the fragrant seasonings to permeate the flesh of the fish; try fifteen minutes or so at room temperature, or a couple of hours in the refrigerator.