Roast

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 4 hr

Marinate the duck two days ahead.

Lovely dinner fare from L'Auberge Chez François in Great Falls, Virginia. Serve with roasted new potatoes and asparagus.

I didn't grow up eating pork, so I was pleased to find out how lean and flavorful it was when I made this roast loin of pork. I cooked it the way I cook lots of meats — roasted with carrots, potatoes, and fennel. It's important to let meat rest after it's cooked; you'll find that all meats become juicier and more tender after 15 to 20 minutes. The rub on this comes from my dear friend Anna Pump and her wonderful Loaves and Fishes Cookbook.

This is a quick, attractive dish, terrific with softly fried eggs for a spring weekend breakfast, as an appetizer for lunch or dinner, or as a side vegetable with roast chicken.

"When a friend celebrated her birthday at El Teddy's in New York City's TriBeCa, I really enjoyed trying the innovative dishes there," says Thea DeSando of New York, New York. "But the one thing I couldn't get enough of was the salsa—smoky and full of tomato flavor. Is there any way you can get the recipe?"

Transporting this dish is easy: Stack the fillet slices together and wrap them in plastic wrap; pack the arugula, onions, beans, and dressing in separate containers. Then toss everything together just before serving.

Small imported Turkish bay leaves, available at supermarkets, are ideal for this recipe.

Tomatillos are the key ingredient in this alluring green sauce. They have an unusual and pleasant tartness that works well with a variety of dishes. I pair this mojo with a grand Fish in Foil . The sauce has the brightness of a lemon with the attendant complexity you'd expect of the other ingredients that go into making it.

Few foods metamorphose as dramatically or alluringly as garlic when it is roasted. Hardly a savory recipe exists in which one could not imagine this substance. I always have these garlic preparations on hand. This recipe is a component of Fish in Foil with Sweet Onions, Tomatoes, and Mojo Verde and Grill-Roasted Rack of Lamb in Red Mole .

To maximize the flavor of this salad, toss the beets with the dressing while they're still warm, so they'll absorb more of it. Sunflower seeds turn rancid fairly quickly, so it's important to purchase them from a place with high turnover, such as a natural foods store. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

Serve with: Red-skinned potatoes roasted with thyme, and steamed green beans.

Simplicity at its most comforting, this dish also makes a wonderful breakfast side.

At the restaurant, the lamb is served with cilantro-corn mashed potatoes.

If you aren't a restaurant chef or caterer, you probably don’t want to cook a 40-pound round roast, which is what most Buffalo chefs use. But a nice eye of round, 4 to 6 pounds, works fine.

Roasted pork loin, which is commonly served on special occasions in Denmark, is here richly flavored with cardamom, juniper berries and currant jelly. Ask the butcher to cut into the chine bone of the rib roast to make it easier to carve. Note that the pork needs to marinate at least 12 hours before roasting, so plan accordingly. Uncork a fruity Merlot to go with it.