Sear

Seared beef tenderloin with Mustard-Horseradish sauce. Guests place the beef atop baguette slices to make miniature open-face sandwiches.

Stew made with lamb may be known as the national dish, but beef is actually the most popular meat today. It turns up everywhere, including Tinakilly House in Rathnew, Ireland, where they offer this lovely dish. It's served with Champ (Green Onion Mashed Potatoes).

The chef serves this salmon over a salad of romaine hearts, artichoke hearts, radishes, green beans, cucumber, potatoes, celery, scallion, olives, tomatoes, and basil with a dressing of lime juice and olive oil.

(Garlic Roast Beef) My husband's Aunt Enza has played an important role in my life as a born-again Tuscan. We often dine at her home on Sundays for a traditional family lunch. The main course is usually what Enza calls magro, which can actually mean meatless but in Enza's lexicon signifies merely a lean or fatless choice cut of beef, sliced thin, lightly sauced with meat juices, and topped with golden brown cloves of garlic. Because Italian home cooks in cities rarely had ovens until the postwar period, meats were often cooked on top of the stove, as is Enza's. It's faster than oven-roasting and a perfect technique for people who love rare "roast" beef.

The delicate 1/16-inch-wide pasta ribbons known as taglierini or tagliolini are the perfect foil for scallops and this elegant-and easy-sauce.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This elegant dish from Tony's in St. Louis, Missouri, is perfect for a small dinner party. At the restaurant, they serve it with sautéed spinach.

Robert Colombi of Paris, France, writes: "My mother was Sicilian and my father, Corsican, but I was born in Morocco and lived there for many years. I learned how to cook mostly from my mother, but also from my many travels throughout Morocco (which is why my favorite spices are coriander, thyme, and cumin). As I became older, I developed a stronger interest in cooking, especially after I moved to France and got married. I guess I started to feel very nostalgic about the country of my childhood, and it became more important for me to remember and re-create those tastes for my French friends and family."

Couscous with fresh herbs, and steamed green beans sprinkled with toasted pine nuts would be lovely accompaniments. Dessert? Try warm apple turnovers from the bakery; top with ice cream.

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 1 hr

Try a fruity, spicy red wine, such as a California Zinfandel, with this main course.

If you are not able to find Pont l'Evêque cheese, either Taleggio or Brie would also work well in this lovely starter from Charlie Trotter's in Chicago.