European

The light custard is quick to make, but it has to be prepared just before it's served.

Picada is a Spanish flavoring made with garlic, herbs, and ground nuts. Here, breadcrumbs stand in for the nuts.

Clams cooked in the shell pop open on the grill, just like they do when steamed. And there's a bonus for the cook: No big, heavy pot is needed.

This recipe was created by chef Dan Barber of Blue Hill restaurant in New York City and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York. It's part of a special menu he created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program.

Try the topping on burgers or in quesadillas, too.

This recipe is a great excuse to buy heirloom tomatoes in different colors and varieties — they'll look beautiful here.

Grilling eggplant lends it a smoky flavor, and this fun, layered presentation gives a wintertime favorite a summer makeover.

This side, originally 575 calories and 26 grams of fat, was a meal in itself. SELF cut 277 calories and 17 grams of fat.

These Italian kebabs make a very stylish one-dish supper.

For a quick defrost, microwave the veggies in bowls for one to two minutes on high.

A balsamic vinaigrette flavors the chicken and dresses the salad.

Great with soup or salad — or alongside Linguine with Spicy Leek and Tomato Sauce.

This classic, heart-shaped dessert is basically a no-bake, crustless cheesecake. Coeur à la crème molds are perforated, heart-shaped, and available online at fantes.com. You can also rig up makeshift molds by cutting the sides of four 12-ounce paper cups to 3 inches high. With a toothpick, poke 12 holes in the bottom of each. Line with cheesecloth; fill as directed.

A simple, traditional British dessert that combines fresh berries, buttered bread, and a little sugar — and it couldn't be more delicious. Start the recipe at least 12 hours ahead.

A dollop of cream gives rich contrast to this pink summer ice.

Rösti In Zurich, a German-speaking city, practically every bar and beer hall Garnishes its big plates of meat with this kind of hash brown cake; it might be "cheese" or "onion" or "plain" Rösti, but you'll always be happy to see it. Refrigerating the whole baked potatoes overnight makes them much easier to grate.

All over Switzerland, tiny macaroons in every color and flavor fill the bakery windows, like rows and rows of candy dots. Almond is one of the classic flavors of these sandwich cookies — and it's particularly nice with the poached apricots and zabaglione.

Silky zabaglione, warm from cooking but also imbued with deep heat from the wine, cloaks the vanilla-scented fruit with a heady richness. Though it's normally made with Marsala, this more subtle version gives the season's first apricots a chance to shine.

Tarragon leaves and meaty morel caps shoot up all over the Jura mountains in the spring. Here, tossed with juicy green and white asparagus — Europeans are particularly mad for the latter — they're a genuine sampling of the season.