European

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Madeira is combined with Cointreau, honey and spices in a simple English-inspired hot drink for the holidays.

Nudies? In Florentine dialect they’re called gnudi, nudies, poking fun at a dish from the Casentino, a neighboring area that makes their greens and ricotta gnocchi with the same filling Florentines use for ravioli. Nudies because they’re not wearing pasta. Pronounced YNOO-dees. Spinach is used in Florence but wild greens are common in the mountainous Casentino. And ravioli are stuffed with wild greens in many regional recipes. Use wild greens if you can get them, otherwise use chard or spinach, whichever is fresh and tender. Traditionalists may want to search for sheep’s milk ricotta, which yields richer results, but everyone else can get by with whole cow’s milk ricotta. Drain watery ricotta in a metal sieve for 30 minutes if necessary. Cooks in search of a labor-intensive experience can form nudies by hand, one at a time, or use the 2-spoon French quenelle method. I prefer to pipe the mixture from a plastic bag onto a floured countertop, sprinkle the blobs with flour, and lightly roll to form walnut-sized, roughly shaped balls. Serve the nudies with melted butter or tomato or meat sauce, sprinkled with Parmigiano, and baked in the oven to melt the cheese.

This recipe, from Lord and Baroncini's cookbook, calls for simmering a small amount of tomatoes for over an hour. The result is a rich, concentrated sauce. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 2 1/2 hr

Tocqueville presents this elegant soufflé-like dessert with mint ice cream and mint syrup.

Here's a delicious specialty from The Gallic Kitchen in Dublin, Ireland, a small, bright pâtisserie with excellent sweet and savory goods.

A bit of water whisked into the eggs tenderizes them. You may fill this omelette with anything you like, of course. It makes two very generous servings. For the mushroom and goat cheese variation, sauté 1 pound of thickly sliced mushrooms in 2 tablespoons unsalted butter until they are golden and most of their liquid has evaporated. Use about 4 ounces fresh goat cheese, and 1/2 cup of chervil sprigs (you may substitute flat-leaf parsley), which you mince at the very last minute, to take advantage of their flavorful oils.

Caramelized Fresh Fruit These crackly-coated fruits bring back childhood memories of candied apples. I've given the Roman recipe here; in Venice, where they're coated with a thicker layer of caramel, they are called golosezzi veneziani. Set aside about 1/2 hour for the caramelizing and finish the procedure no more than 1 1/2 hours before serving so that the fruit remains crisp.

A classic of the Balearic Islands, where lobster is found in abundance, this stew (known as caldereta) is intensely flavorful and fun to eat. Live lobster is essential, since the tomalley (liver) is a key ingredient. Serve the stew with plenty of crusty country-style bread.

This recipe yields more than is needed for the Parisienne apples. Use the remainder on pancakes or waffles, or as a flavorful boost for hot cereal. Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 10 min

Cornmeal may be either fine- or coarse-grained. Both work well in the following recipe; we used a fine-grained variety found in most supermarkets.

Also try the flavored mayonnaise on roast beef or ham sandwiches.