Seafood

Candida Sportiello writes: "As owner and chef of Il Giardino restaurant, on the tiny island of Ventotene off the coast of Naples, I've been cooking professionally for twenty-five years — but I've been cooking for pleasure for a good fifty years. As is the Italian way, most of my favorite recipes were handed down from my mother and grandmother, so they date from the early 1900s." "I love having so many amazing ingredients at my fingertips on Ventotene: fish, lentils, wild asparagus, mushrooms, fava beans, and artichokes. They make it easy to produce home-style cooking at its best."

A nod to what could arguably be the dish of the eighties, blackened redfish. The technique works equally well with halibut.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Serve steamed rice, and drizzle oriental sesame oil and rice vinegar over blanched snow peas. Mango sorbet topped with sliced tropical fruits is the perfect finale.

Accompany this colorful dish with rice pilaf and baby peas with pearl onions. The kicker: spice bars and orange slices.

"My profession as a real estate agent requires a lot of my time," writes Edi Meadows Morrissette of Westin, Florida, "so it helps that I am lightning-fast in the kitchen. I cook every day, and on the weekends I sometimes make three meals a day. I accomplish that by following my main cooking principles: (1) do a lot of prep work, and (2) keep the kitchen well stocked. For example, at holiday time I might chop onions in advance or bake bread the day before company arrives. And since I converted the bedroom next to my kitchen into a pantry for extra storage, I know I'll always have the right ingredients at my fingertips." Use crusty French bread or the roasted garlic cheese toasts to soak up the fennel-flavored juices.

Barquettes are small, boat-shaped pastry shells that can be filled with sweet or savory ingredients.

If they are available, purchase dry-packed scallops, which exude less liquid.

"I am 76 and consider myself a very good cook," writes Dorothy Harley of Norco, California. "I've always looked forward to receiving your magazine. Some recipes I try, love, and make over and over. One recipe I remember most is a shrimp and avocado salad. For our 25th anniversary, I cleaned and cooked 25 pounds of shrimp myself for the dish — it was a hit. And for my daughter's wedding, 21 years ago, I made it again. I'm sure that if you reprinted the recipe, you'd receive praise." Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 25 hr (includes marinating)

Serve with crusty bread to sop up the juices.

Active time: 35 min Start to finish:50 min

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 25 min

For this treat, mashed potatoes — the quintessential comfort food — are combined with lobster, everyone's favorite celebration seafood. Leftover sprigs of fresh tarragon make a nice garnish for the entrée plates.

Toasted onion bagels are great with this.

Braised Broccoli This dish is to Christmas Eve dinner in Amalfi what apple pie is to July Fourth in middle America: an absolute necessity. The Amalfitani choose a leafy, lighter colored broccoli from Campania for this dish; the closest substitute in this country is broccoli rabe; choose a bunch with as many leaves as possible.

Cilantro and lime lend a bit of Mexican flair to this sandwich.

The halibut is delicious with sautéed green beans and steamed new potatoes. End with espresso granita or ice cream with grappa.

If you can't find Thai anise basil and Thai lemon basil, you can substitute Italian basil and lemon balm (the latter is available at farmers markets and specialty produce stores).