Morel Mushroom

Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 40 min

This recipe was created to accompany Grilled Veal Chops with Morel Sauce . Fresh morels, veal stock, or demiglace are available at specialty foods shops.

The ribs can be braised one day ahead and topped with the breadcrumb mixture shortly before serving. What to drink: Robust Pinot Noirs with firm acid (to cut the richness of this dish), such as French Burgundies from Volnay, and Oregon or California Pinots.

Use fresh button mushrooms if wild mushrooms are hard to get; you will still have delicious results. Yukon Gold potatoes have a pale yellow color and a buttery taste that adds to the richness of this dish.

"Recently I had dinner at Highlands Bar & Grill in Birmingham, Alabama. To say I was dazzled by the baked grits is not overstating the case," writes Mary Lane Stiglets of Jackson, Mississippi. "This divine and truly southern recipe should be printed in your magazine for all to enjoy."

Serve this rustic dish with French bread or rice to savor every last drop.

Most people are familiar with confit duck legs, but the French confit the gizzards, too. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Find the dried mushrooms in the produce section of the supermarket. Breadsticks and a radicchio salad with crumbled goat cheese and lemon vinaigrette round out the meal. End with poached apricots and honey cookies.

Croûte Forestière This is based on a croûte forestière I tasted at the Bois Gourmand restaurant outside Champagnole, in the heart of the mountainous Jura region in France. The restaurant is known in the area for its regional specialties, and this was an intriguing interpretation of the typical croûte forestière which is made entirely with morels.

One of the very best things about this stew is its practical nature: If you blanch the vegetables, boil the potatoes, and make the infused broth a day ahead, this dish takes only 15 minutes to cook.

Great with any mushroom you can find (crimini, white button, etc.), but excellent with some morels, porcinis, or chanterelles into the mix.

You don’t have to peel asparagus (unless you really want to!); just leave any thicker spears in the pan for an extra minute.

We wanted a recipe that was a better expression of “primavera,” literally "spring" in Italian. We swapped the oft used tomatoes and angel hair pasta for sturdy linguini and the first of spring’s green offerings.