Simmer

A full-bodied Merlot would go well with this impressive Mediterranean-style dish. For an appetizer, offer melba toast spread with blue cheese; pass hot crusty bread with the shanks; and complete the supper with a simple green salad. Afterward, break out a lemon meringue pie from the bakery.

The truffle oil is not essential, but it's a nice indulgent touch. Since the oil's flavor dissipates with heat, add the oil to this first-course soup just before serving.

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes A simple ragout of shellfish and sausage, so easy to prepare it's almost a heat-and-serve dish. Cook the shallots and garlic, then the sausage, add the wine and rosemary, then the mussels, which will release their juices into the pan, and finish with the parsley and bread crumbs — a rustic, spicy, brothy dish to be eaten with good crusty bread.

Here's a delicious example of an Eastern spice used to complement a Western dish.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Margaritas, crisp Mexican beer or sangria would be perfect with this dinner.

Fresh fruit marinated in Scotch and sugar is a lovely topper for the purchased cake.

Dashi is a subtly flavored soup stock that is used throughout Japanese cooking.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Although we call for canned black-eyed peas, you can use frozen peas or cook up a batch of dried ones.

While this recipe isn't terribly difficult, it is labor-intensive. We recommend you break it up into a couple of steps: Make the filling, then enlist a friend or two to help you do the rolling the following day.

This recipe originally accompanied epi:recipeLink="101035"Masa Pancakes Topped with Poached Eggs and Chipotle Ranchera Salsa</epi:recipeLink>.

This recipe originally accompanied <epirecipe:link id="15601">Fried Banana Ravioli with Vanilla Custard Sauce</epirecipe:link>.

This recipe originally accompanied epi:recipeLink="101031"Thai Curry Penne with Ginger-Tomato Chutney</epi:recipeLink>.

In Austria, warming bowls of goulash soup are served in all kinds of establishments — from quick-service restaurants along the Autobahn to Vienna's elegant Hotel Bristol. This hearty beef and vegetable soup can be found in many areas of central and eastern Europe, especially in regions that were once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Our satisfying rendition has chunks of beef and potato plus red peppers, bacon, onions, and garlic, all fragrant with paprika.

You can make this stock with a variety of fish carcasses (from nonoily fish) or with just one type — whatever your seafood market can give you.

Carl Taplin of Gott's Island, Maine, writes: "Every summer, I look forward to homemade vanilla ice cream. Do you have a favorite recipe for it?"

This lovely dessert combines the flavors of cherries jubilee in an easier rendition of the classic recipe.

Try the compote on pound cake, too.