Prune

A hearty sweet and savory stew that's a perfect seasonal meal when teamed up with crusty bread and a green salad.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Apple Crisp with Prune Tequila Ice Cream . Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 2 days (includes macerating and freezing)

This tsimmes created by Chef Lenard Rubin of the Phoenician Club in Phoenix, Arizona, is so good that I sometimes serve it alone without stuffing it into the chilies.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 20 min

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 3 1/4 hr

Transforming cabbage into sauerkraut was one way the Germans preserved summer's crop for the hard winter ahead. A combination of rinsing the kraut of its salty brine and baking it with dried fruit mellows its bite. Smoked pork chops can be substituted; just omit the browning step. Offer some dark and light German beers to drink.

At the Princeville Hotel on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai, a mixture of dried and fresh fruits is used to fill the pork. Begin preparing this dish one day before serving.

Watch how to prepare and carve your bird with our streaming video demonstration.

This dessert, long favored by the British at holiday time, originally contained minced meat along with the fruits and spices. This version, more suited to the nineties table, is meatless and brimming with apples, dried fruit and lots of spices.

These muffins are at once light and chewy.

Rum and spices-classic Caribbean ingredients-also happen to be the classic ingredients in the traditional English steamed pudding. This lovely version of the Christmas dessert is from the Grand View Beach Hotel, Villa Point, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Begin preparing it at least one day before serving.

Always cool the stuffing completely before filling the turkey.

Miss Toklas frightens her readers when she says this dish takes four days to prepare. Actually, the labor involved is insignificant.

Kind of a cross between a steamed pudding and a brownie, this rich-tasting dessert has only 1 tablespoon of added fat.

The Centre de Formation en Restauration Traditionnelle, a government-sponsored cooking school in Rabat, is dedicated to preserving the art of traditional Moroccan gastronomy. The students, all young women, will go on to staff Morocco's embassies and consulates around the world. This classic tagine recipe, given to me by the Centre's former director, Monsieur Tamer, is part of the school's delectable curriculum.