Alcohol

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. This recipe originally accompanied Prune Kumquat Sticky Pudding with Amagnac Toffee Sauce .

For a casual supper, broil rounds of prepared polenta roll, and toss romaine lettuce with oil and vinegar; end with cheesecake. For a special dinner, have broccoli spears with browned butter and orzo pilaf with Parmesan. Buy a hazelnut dacquoise or other fancy cake from the bakery for a great dessert.

Brunch drinks get updated with this take on the traditional duo of orange juice and champagne. Note that freshly squeezed orange juice is not the best choice here, as its intense taste can overwhelm the other juices. Topping the drink with a boysenberry "floater" creates a vibrant color contrast.

For this recipe you may use whatever mushrooms you happen to have on hand. Serve the dish as an accompaniment to grilled or roasted meats, seafood, or chicken or with soup as a light lunch or dinner.

To my way of thinking, the traditional way of serving hanger steak is the best. The steaks are quickly pan-roasted—they're best served medium-rare (although in France they're often served "bleu," so rare that they're almost blue and only just warm in the center)—and sauced with shallots that have been cooked to a compote's consistency with red wine and vinegar and then tossed with butter and herbs. Whether you sauce the steaks or not (sometimes small bistros in France will serve the steaks with just a spoonful of butter and some sea salt or a pot of strong mustard), I hope you'll serve them with the greatest and most classic accompaniment: pommes frites, French-fried potatoes.

There are a number of variations of this traditional Scandinavian Yuletide drink. Dry red wine, muscatel and sweet vermouth, with aquavit in place of the brandy, may be used. In another version, 2 bottles of dry red wine, preferably Bordeaux, are used with the quantity of aquavit increased to a whole bottle, which is poured over the flaming sugar.

This Franco-American combination of bourbon and bubbles gives you another reason to be thankful. It doubles easily to accommodate the number of guests around your holiday table.

An appealing dish from Matt's in the Market in Seattle, Washington.

Butter melting over a pan-fried steak mingles with its rosy juices, creating a luscious sauce right on the plate. For smaller appetites, these large steaks can be cut in half to serve four.

These are called arancini (little oranges).

This turkey is roasted in true French fashion with black truffles and shallots. Prepare the truffle butter and rub it over the turkey the day before roasting. A red Burgundy complements the earthy truffle flavor.