Gourmet

These frozen dessert bars are large enough to hold you through a double feature. Don't worry about them melting — they're just as delicious when they soften.

Armelle Curley of Smithtown, New York, writes: "My mother, who was French, traditionally made this almond butter cake for Easter. She ground her own almonds, but I find it's much easier to use almond paste instead. I've been making it now for 70 years — not just for Easter, but for other holidays and special occasions."

Inspired by Monsoon Wedding Monsoon Wedding is an intensely colorful chronicle of a wealthy northern Indian family's preparations for their daughter's marriage. During the run-up to the event, the bumbling wedding planner falls in love with the family's maid. Food plays a central role in the nuptial festivities.

Pommes allumettes There are two temptations in this recipe that you need to resist: Do not use a small pot for frying the potatoes — the oil will bubble up and overflow, which is extremely dangerous. And do not try to cook the potatoes in fewer than 6 batches or they won't get crisp enough. Because the timing for this menu can be complicated, we recommend that you make the potatoes ahead. They are just as delicious at room temperature as they are when hot.

Inspired by Big Night Set in New Jersey in the 1950s, this 1996 film revolves around the conflict between two immigrant brothers who decide to open a restaurant. Primo defends his purist Italian cooking to Secondo, his brother, who is more concerned with the bottom line. Frustrated with customers who want simple plates of spaghetti and meatballs, Primo prepares timpano, a complex, drum-shaped dish of pasta-filled pastry. We've taken the timpano and simplified it into a timballo, a molded casserole without a pastry crust. For added flair, arrange the ziti in a decorative pattern as you make the first layer of the timballo.

Serve this quiche (John Travolta's favorite) for lunch or dinner with a green salad.

It's very important not to use all white meat in this recipe — dark meat, which is higher in fat, has far more flavor, so look for ground turkey with at least 7 percent fat.

Unlike salmon fillets, salmon steaks have bones in the center. Any leftover red-wine butter is delicious on beef, lamb chops, chicken, or mushrooms.

If you're making this entire menu, you'll want to brown the quail and figs before starting the eggs; then you can simply pop them in the oven when serving the first course.

Santo Stefano di Sessanio produces some of the best lentils in Abruzzo. Small French lentils make a good substitute.