American

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Purchased pound cake is sliced and toasted or grilled, then dressed up with a luscious chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream.

This dessert comes from Boulevard restaurant in San Francisco, California. The pastry chef, Karen Shaw, created the treat.

A favorite Christmas drink is transformed into this lovely custard.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Allow at least three hours for the pie to chill in the refrigerator.

Like savory shortbread, these are wonderful when paired with wine, salads or soups.

This strata is ideal for Christmas morning — it is assembled a day ahead and baked just before serving. Mimosas are a nice addition to the menu.

This recipe is from Winnie Spazano, my second mom/housekeeper, who by day ran an elementary school cafeteria and by night cooked "something special" for my brothers and me. The following is a standout. As it was placed in front of my nine-year-old face, I thought, "I can't each something this large!" To this day, I don't understand the name.

This recipe was developed by Houston pastry chef Carrie Hart with the assistance of Girl Scout Amanda Marlow.

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.

Oreos have been popular since Nabisco introduced them in 1912, and they are still the best-selling cookie in the world. There are those folks who twist the cookies apart and eat the filling first, and those who dunk the entire Oreo into a big glass of ice-cold milk. In this recipe, Oreos make a great pie crust that's filled with cookies and cream ice cream. Die-hard fans won't think this dessert is overkill at all.

Many Americans first tasted this cold vegetable soup at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Gazpacho came into favor partly as a vehicle for showing off blenders, the popularity of which created a boom in recipes that called for liquefying ingredients. This recipe goes the Spanish classic one better with the addition of smoky chipotle chilies.