French Bread with Walnut-Garlic Butter

Assemble these supplies:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup walnut halves or pieces
• Small clove garlic, peeled
• 1 long loaf French bread

Steps in preparation:

1. Cut 6 tablespoons butter into small pieces and set aside in small bowl to soften.
2. Coarsely chop walnuts in food processor fitted with steel blade or in blender.
3. Put garlic through press, stirring into softened butter to blend. Add walnuts and mix.
4. Cut bread in half lengthwise and spread each half with butter mixture. Place buttered halves together and wrap loaf in aluminum foil. Bake loaf in 350-degree oven about 20 minutes.
5. Just before serving, remove foil, cut bread crosswise into 4 pieces, and place in napkin-lined basket.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
7. Peel and finely chop enough onion to measure 1/2 cup. Tear bread into pieces and process in blender to make about 1 cup crumbs. Rinse, dry, and chop enough parsley to measure 1/4 cup, reserving 4 sprigs for garnish, if desired.
8. If using link sausages, remove from casings and cut into small pieces. In large skillet, cook sausage and pork over medium heat, stirring well with wooden spoon, 5 to 7 minutes, or until no trace of pink remains. With slotted spoon, transfer to large bowl.
9. Add onion to fat remaining in skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring until softened, about 3 minutes. Add onion to pork and sausage.
10. Wash and dry apples. Set aside red apple, if using, for garnish. With apple corer or paring knife, remove cores from whole yellow apples. Cut a thin slice from top of each apple. With paring knife and teaspoon, carefully hollow out apples, leaving 1/4-inch-thick shell. Reserve pulp for stuffing mixture. Brush inside of each shell with lemon juice to prevent discoloration. Place apples in baking dish, spacing evenly.
11. Coarsely chop reserved apple pulp. Reserving 1 tea-spoon, combine remaining lemon juice and pulp in small bowl. Add pulp mixture, bread crumbs, parsley, sage, salt, and pepper to taste, to skillet with pork and sausage and stir to combine.
12. Fill each apple with stuffing, mounding slightly. Place remaining stuffing around apples in baking dish; baste with a little apple cider.
13. Place apples in oven and bake 40 minutes, basting with cider about every 10 minutes.
14. Just before apples are done, halve red apple, if using, for garnish, reserving one half for another use. Core remaining half, cut into 4 thin wedges, and brush with reserved lemon juice.
15. Using spatula, carefully transfer apples from baking dish to 4 dinner plates and divide remaining stuffing among plates. Top each serving with a red apple wedge and parsley sprig, if desired. Serve immediately.

Pork-and-Sausage-Stuffed Golden Apples

Assemble these supplies:

• Small onion
• 2 slices home-style white bread
• Small bunch parsley
• 1/2 pound mild fresh pork sausage or link sausages 
• 1 pound lean ground fresh pork
• 4 Golden Delicious apples (each about 1/2 pound) Small red apple for garnish (optional)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice plus 1 teaspoon (optional) 1 teaspoon dried sage
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup apple cider
• 3 tablespoons walnut or vegetable oil Small clove garlic, peeled
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Freshly ground pepper

Steps in preparation:

1. If using dried shiitake, place in medium-size bowl with enough water to cover and set aside 20 to 30 minutes to soak.
2. In medium-size saucepan, bring 2 1/2 quarts water and 2 1/2 teaspoons salt to a boil over high heat.
3. Meanwhile, trim green beans and rinse in cold water. Place beans in boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes.
4. Turn beans into colander, refresh under cold running water, and set aside to drain.
5. Remove mushroom stems, reserving for another use, and wipe caps with damp paper towels. Or, drain recon¬stituted shiitake and strain soaking liquid, reserving for another use; dry with paper towels and trim stems. Cut mushrooms into 'A-inch-thick slices.
6. In large skillet or wok, heat butter and oil over medium- high heat. When butter-oil mixture is hot, put garlic through press directly into pan. Add beans and mush¬rooms, and sauté, stirring, until mushrooms are limp and beans are hot and just tender, about 3 minutes.
7. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste, tossing to combine.
8. Divide vegetable sauté among 4 dinner. plates.

Lemon Mousse with Tropical Fruits

You can use fresh raspberries rather than frozen ones for the sauce: Macerate 1 cup of fresh berries with 3 table­spoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of Drambuie for an hour or two, then purée the berries and strain out the seeds.

Assemble these supplies:

• 3 lemons 1 orange
• 3 tablespoons Drambuie
• 1 package (1 tablespoon) unflavored gelatin
• 1 ripe mango
• 1 large kiwi, or 2 small
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 8-ounce package frozen raspberries, thawed

Steps in preparation:

1. Place large bowl and beaters in refrigerator to chill. Grate zest of 2 lemons and orange into small saucepan. Squeeze enough lemon juice to measure 1/2 cup and strain juice. If necessary to make 1/2 cup juice, squeeze orange and add to lemon juice. Add juice, Drambuie, and gelatin to pan and set aside to soften.
2. Peel mango and remove flesh. Chop fruit into small dice and set aside in strainer to drain. Peel kiwi, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices, and set aside.
3. Bring juice mixture to a simmer over low heat until gelatin dissolves, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour mixture into me­dium-size bowl, cover, and refrigerate until cooled, about 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, separate eggs, placing yolks and whites in separate bowls.
5. With whisk, beat egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar until thick and lemon colored. Wash and dry whisk.
6. Add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar to egg whites and whisk until stiff.
7. When gelatin mixture is cool but not set, add to yolks and stir to combine.
8. In large chilled bowl, beat heavy cream with electric mixer set at high speed until it holds a soft shape.
9. With rubber spatula, fold yolk mixture into whites. Gently fold this mixture into cream until no streaks show.
10. Divide mango among 4 stemmed glasses and top with spoonful of mousse. Cover with slices of kiwi and top with remaining mousse. Cover with plastic wrap and refriger­ate until chilled and set, at least 1 hour.
11. Just before serving, purée raspberries in blender or food processor and then strain them. Top each mousse with a spoonful of raspberry sauce.

Wild Rice with Sautéed Carrots and Celeriac

Assemble these supplies:

• 1 cup wild rice
• Medium-size onion
• 2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
• 1 orange
• Small bunch carrots (1 pound total weight)
• Small-size celeriac (about 1 pound)
• 2 tablespoons walnut oil or vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
• 1/4 cup veal or chicken stock, preferably homemade, or canned
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Freshly ground black pepper

Steps in preparation:

1. In medium-size heavy-gauge saucepan, bring 5 cups water to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, place wild rice in strainer and rinse thor­oughly under cold running water. Peel onion.
3. Place rice, tamari, and whole onion in pan of water. When water returns to a boil, reduce heat to maintain a brisk simmer and cook rice 30 to 40 minutes, or until tender but slightly al dente.
4. While rice is cooking, cut orange in half, reserving one half for another use. Squeeze juice from half of orange and set aside. Peel carrots and cut crosswise on the diagonal into long flat slices. Scrub and peel celeriac. Halve celeriac lengthwise and cut each half into wedges. If center is hollow, trim away any discolored flesh. Cut wedges crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices.
5. In large sauté pan, heat walnut oil over medium heat. Add carrots and celeriac, and sauté, stirring, until color of vegetables begins to deepen, about 3 minutes.
6. Add marjoram, cumin, stock, and orange juice to pan; cover, and cook until vegetables are just tender, about 10 minutes.
7. Remove cover from pan and increase heat to medium- high. Sprinkle sugar over vegetables and stir with wooden spoon. Cook, stirring, about 5 minutes, or until liquid reduces to a glaze. Remove pan from heat and cover to keep warm.
8. Drain wild rice in strainer and discard onion. In me­dium-size bowl, combine rice with half of vegetables. Add butter and pepper to taste and toss rice mixture until butter melts. Add remaining vegetables to rice and serve.

Stir-Fried Celery

The knobby Jerusalem artichoke, or sunchoke, a native American vegetable, is the root of one type of sunflower. Available year-round at health food stores and many super­markets, Jerusalem artichokes are at their best in winter. Before using, scrub them with a brush under cold water.

Assemble these supplies:

• 6 to 8 large celery stalks
• 1/2 pound small white mushrooms
• 1/2 pound Jerusalem artichokes
• 2 large shallots
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1 tablespoon clarified butter
• 1/4 cup good-quality dry sherry
• Trim celery stalks; wash, and dry with paper towels. Cut stalks into crescents 1/2 inch wide and 2 inches long.

Steps in preparation:

1. Trim mushrooms and wipe clean with clamp paper towels.
2. Scrub artichokes well and cut into VI-inch-thick slices. Peel and chop shallots.
3. In wok or medium-size saute pan, heat peanut oil over high heat until smoking. Add clarified butter, celery. and mushrooms, and stir fry until mushrooms are golden and celery is bright green, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Add shallots and sherry, and cook 1 minute. Add arti­chokes, toss briefly, and serve.