Eastern European

Although this particularly suits Chicken Paprikás , it is also a fine side dish for ham, as well as for roast beef or pork.

Traditional potato latkes are spiced up with hot paprika and enhanced with earthy porcini mushrooms. They are especially good with roasted meats, poultry, or fish. This recipe will serve four to five as a side dish.

Beets for this refreshing cold soup were sometimes finely diced, other times coarsely grated. We liked best whichever we were being served, and I still alternate, indiscriminately.

This dough can also be formed into crescent shapes and coated with confectioners' sugar while still warm, as is done in many eastern European countries.

These pastries are best when freshly baked, so if you plan on giving them to someone who may not be able to serve them within a day or two, you should deliver them frozen, along with the baking instructions.

This dessert is based on an old-fashioned Russian kissel—traditionally a sweetened fruit purée thickened with potato starch, which gives it a puddinglike consistency. We've left the berries whole in order to achieve a more interesting look and texture and substituted cornstarch for the thickener as it's more readily available in the States.

I like to use Yukon Gold potatoes for these blini because they absorb more cream than other potatoes and thus result in the best possible texture. This recipe will make extra batter, but it's a difficult recipe to reduce. The batter is best when used immediately, but it can be made up to two hours ahead if stored in a warm place (the cream may clot if it gets too cold). Use a scale to weigh the proper amount of potatoes after puréeing them, and make the batter while the potatoes are still warm or the blini will not have the correct texture.

To make this borscht into a full meal, serve the butter-braised oysters as a starter, or vice versa.

Few cookies are easier to make or more sublime to eat. I created them for my beautiful Hungarian mom, who called them finum, or refined. Sometimes we eat them with a strong cup of coffee as we play Scrabble, or after dinner, with a slightly chilled glass of sweet Tokay wine.

Russian cheesecakes, like this one served at The Kaleenka in Seattle, are lighter and drier than most American versions. The texture comes from a dry-curd cheese (known here a hoop cheese) common to Russian cooking.

Inspired by the poppy seed breads made in many Russian homes, these cookies capture the traditional flavors without the time investment of making a yeast bread. You can substitute 1 cup walnuts (toasted, cooled, and finely chopped) for the poppy seeds if you prefer.

This recipe was created to accompany Sauteed Sea Bass.

Helena Seefranz of Rockaway, New Jersey, writes: "My mother, Ethel Lang Kelemen, was born in Hungary. She taught my older sister and me how to prepare many Hungarian dishes, but my favorite is chicken paprikas. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does."

In this recipe, based on a dish from the Republic of Georgia called tabaka, small chickens are flattened and weighted so they cook evenly and quickly. We call for poussins or Cornish game hens, but the same technique works well with a frying chicken.

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.

(Buckwheat Yeast Pancakes with Three Caviars)

Start with crudités and dip, and accompany the entrée (opposite) with sautéed carrots.

(Beef Goulash Soup)