European

(CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH NUTS AND RAISINS) Here is a chocolate cake that will delight your palate. Use the best bittersweet chocolate you can find!

Francoise preferred not to share her specific recipe with me, but she gave me enough hints so that I could make this version of roestis, (which means twice cooked in the Jura dialect) which closely resembles the delicious dish I had at La Grangette. Try this with thick slices of gently smoked ham and a white Arbois, from the Jura, or another buttery white wine.

This colorful dish plays with the Basque sauté of red and green bell peppers. The Sherry wine vinegar gives the salad a delicious sweet-tangy edge.

Caponata is a Sicilian antipasto; its bold flavors usually include eggplant, anchovy, olives, and capers. We call our version a "caponatina," because we've finely diced the ingredients for a more refined hors d'oeuvre. Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 1 hr

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The extra-virgin olive oil from Countess Lisa-Contini Bonacossi's estate is a favorite of mine and an important element in Lisa 's great cooking. She has an easy going style, changing recipes according to what's in the garden and larder, and is hard to pin down about quantities. Lisa slices her zucchini with an electric meat slicer. I use the 3-mm. blade of my food processor to slice by hand, not with the machine. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

A favorite accompaniment is the rice-shaped pasta called orzo.

This duck recipe is unusually light and delicate.

Lemon juice is an integral part of this classic dish. Choose the smallest clams possible, and make sure not to overcook them.

Just serve any of these dishes with a salad and some bread and you've got an easy, complete meal. You can find good-quality prepared pesto in the refrigerator section of your supermarket.

This salad was inspired by a classic Salade Niçoise with its fresh anchovies, potatoes and green beans, and one offered to me by Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse, who comes to France every year to avail herself of, among other things, the fine green beans of summer.

For a nice touch, fold fresh raspberries into the mousse and garnish it with additional berries.

This luscious cake has two chocolate mousse fillings and a rich dark-chocolate topping.

Clearly this is an Italian soup. Biete is Swiss chard, usually green, although I have a fondness for the drama and beefy taste of the red-stemmed kind.