Beverages

Nougat is an egg white, honey and nut confection traditional in the city of Montélimar, in the Rhône Valley. It is one of the 13 sweets offered to churchgoers on Christmas Eve. Start making this impressive dessert at least one day before you plan to serve it, although it can be prepared up to one week ahead.

To accompany the pork, toss egg noodles with butter and chives, and sprinkle lemon juice over sautéed vegetables. Finish with vanilla ice cream and butterscotch sauce.

In the eighties, the popularity of this homestyle dish caused take-out rotisserie chicken shops to spring up across the country.

In this luscious soup, the restaurant uses a squash that is relatively new to the American market: the kabocha, a beautiful jade-green winter squash with deep orange flesh. Chipotle chilies canned in a spicy tomato sauce, sometimes called adobo, are available at Latin American markets, specialty foods stores, and some supermarkets.

Be sure to make this dessert at least one day ahead to allow the flavors to blend.

Susanna Foo, who was born in Mongolia, learned to cook classic Chinese cuisine from relatives. After arriving in the United States, she took a course in French cooking at the Culinary Institute of America. So when she and her husband, E-Hsin Foo, opened Susanna Foo Chinese Cuisine in 1987, her menu naturally featured Chinese dishes interpreted with French techniques. Foo emphasizes fresh, locally available ingredients and delicious sauces, and the results of her approach have brought a slew of local and national awards.

The flavorful broth that results from cooking the pork is known in Chinese cuisine as a master sauce — save any that's left over in the freezer and use it for braising other meats, such as duck or chicken. Allowing the pork to cool overnight in the broth ensures its succulence — and because it's made ahead, this dish is ideal for entertaining. Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 14 1/2 hr (includes chilling)

Cabernet Sauvignon can be substituted for the Merlot, but either way, have mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli florets with the veal, and wedges of chocolate mousse cake afterward.

A green salad completes the meal. What to drink: A riserva Chianti.

Here's an elegant and refreshing dish that features a wine syrup drizzled over grapefruit segments (skip the syrup on the kids' portions) and served in hollowed-out halves.

One of the traditions of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, includes pairing honey with apples, in the hope of sweetness in the coming year. The custom is to dip apple slices into honey. I decided to combine the apples and honey in one cake. The result is moist, subtly spiced, and deliciously sweet. I bake this in a round pan, symbolic of the hoped-for fullness in the new year. This cake can be served not only on Rosh Hashanah but over the course of the year as well.

None of us expected to fall in love with this dish when we tested it, but we all did. Most Thermidor recipes yield something that tastes stodgy and heavy, but this version, by 1940s Gourmet chef Louis P. De Gouy, is almost sleek.