Oven Bake

This is a terrific fall dessert. Soft, syrupy pears and tart sour cherries are nestled under a nutty, spiced topping, which is baked until crunchy and golden brown. At the restaurant, the topping crumbs that fall from the crisps onto the baking tray are one of my favorite snacks, and my staff and I can't resist nibbling on them whenever the crisps come out of the oven. Be sure to bake the crisps until the juices bubble up thickly; otherwise, not enough of the moisture will evaporate and the fruit will be soggy.

"My husband and I went on our first date at Tuscarora Mill in Leesburg, Virginia, more than ten years ago," Jay Lewis of Charlotte, North Carolina. "A few years later, we held the rehearsal dinner for our wedding there. To this day, every time we visit our family in nearby Waterford, we have dinner at Tuscarora Mill. The pork chop with onion marmalade is my favorite entrée." At the restaurant, this dish is sprinkled with candied pecans before serving.

At The Painted Table in Seattle, Washinton, the fish comes with just the beet broth, but the beets themselves are delicious, too.

Serve as an entrée with salad and wine, or as a side dish with steak, ham or roast beef.

In the following recipe, scalloped potatoes, often soaked with cream and cheese, are combined with parsnips and cooked with broth and low-fat milk instead. Though lighter, they are still delicious.

You can use 4 small regular bell peppers (1 1/2 lb total) instead of the 24 baby bell peppers, but you'll need to make 1 1/2 times the filling.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe is an accompaniment for epi:recipeLink id="10953">Lobster Potpies Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 30 min

Offer this simple, hearty dish with a green salad, crusty garlic bread and a light red wine, like Beaujolais.

"I recently ventured to Brooklyn Heights, where I had a sensational meal at Henry's End," says Mariana Field Hoppin of New York, New York. "The shrimp with basil-garlic butter was out of this world. Could you obtain the recipe?"

These can be cooked two hours ahead, then rewarmed in the oven just before serving.

A delicious alternative to gefilte fish. Have the fishmonger fillet the whitefish.

For hearty appetites allow 1 pound of filet for each guest. Be sure to get whole, not sliced, filet. Ask the butcher to lard the filets for you, or if you have a larding needle you can do it yourself.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.