Gourmet

These hors d'oeuvres—a dressed-up version of shrimp toasts—are adapted from a recipe by Chinese cooking authority Nina Simonds, a longtime contributor to our pages.

The tofu in this chowder provides a richness surprisingly similar to that of cream but with much less fat.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

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.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Spritz cookies-from the German Spritzen, meaning "to squirt"- are formed into fanciful shapes when the dough is piped through a cookie press. One food editor still uses her aunt Carol's old metal spritzer to make these delicate cookie.

We couldn't have an American potluck dinner that didn't include at least one thoroughly native dish. The wild rice, hickory nuts, and dried cranberries in this salad are a nod to the potluck's origins.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.

Liptauer gained its name from the provenance of the fresh sheep's milk cheese with which it was originally made, Lipto, Hungary. Our version of this seasoned spread is made with cream cheese.