European

(GERMINUS) Sardinia has many interestingly named sweets, and these cookies called germinus are the most famous of all. They are flatter and chewier than classic meringues and get a crisp accent from the nuts.

Shrimp in a garlicky sauce is a classic— and a classically simple— Spanish tapa. It is usually cooked and presented in individual shallow earthenware casseroles, but it can just as easily be made in a larger casserole or skillet. Offer crusty bread alongside.

Orzo--the small rice-shaped pasta used here--is available at Italian markets and most supermarkets.

Sautéed zucchini or spinach makes a delicious accompaniment. Serve with a dry red wine such as a Naoussa from Greece or a Zinfandel or Pinot Noir from California. Baklava from a local Middle Eastern market is the ideal after-dinner sweet.

The sauce is a recipe from Sue Ann's father. She uses it with purchased tortellini in this recipe, but she also pours it over chicken, which is then baked, for an instant cacciatore-style dish.

Ragoût de petits L
égumes au Parmesan et Vinaigre Balsamique Also nice as a meatless entrée—with some crusty French bread, of course.

(FRAGOLE ED UVE CON MENTA E VINIGLIA) This colorful salad is accented with mint, a favorite ingredient in native cooking.

Tracy Tortora of Marion, Massachusetts, calls these cookies Venetians and said they were the best from the assortment her grandmother baked every Christmas.

You can use purchased sauce here, your own homemade or the versatile This is terrific over pasta.

Many Moravians--a Germanic people from a region in what for most of the twentieth century has been known as Czechoslovakia-- settled in Ohio, southern Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois in the last century. The mashed potatoes give this coffee cake, which is good for breakfast or an afternoon break, a distinctive, moist texture.

This recipe originally accompanied Frozen White Chocolate and Hazelnut Dacquoise .

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

There are innumerable recipes for this favorite English breakfast dish. Some call for Béchamel sauce, some for cheese. This version is easy.

When the use of chocolate became common in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, chocolaterías opened in Madrid, serving hot chocolate to weary voyagers and the homeless. In Spain, the warming elixir is distinguished by the addition of spice, but especially by its rich, frothy texture, achieved by heating and beating it several times. Traditionally, a wooden hand mill called a molinillo is used, but a whisk works as well.

These biscotti can be baked in different size pans — even free form on a baking sheet — depending on what shape you’d like them to be. We used an 11- by 4-inch pan for a square shape. A 9- by 5- by 3-inch pan yields a long, narrow rectangle. The cooking time will not be affected by the pan you use.