Gourmet

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 1 hr

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Cioppino is San Francisco's answer to bouillabaisse and, like that famous Provencal seafood soup, is made with a variety of the freshest fish possible. In San Francisco the mixture included Dungeness crab, which adds a unique flavor, but any regional crab will do. If crab is not available, substitute another shellfish. No clams? Try mussels. The point is to treat the following recipe as a guide and use whatever looks best in the market the day you make the soup.

You can use these pancakes for the caviar pancakes and save the remaining batter for breakfast. Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 15 min

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Our food editors especially liked the unusually soft and light texture of this oatmeal bread.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Packaged tabbouleh mixes, available at most supermarkets, are a good source of the fine bulgur recommended in this recipe, but don't use the accompanying seasoning pouch if one is included. Bulgur - wheat berries that have been steamed, dried, and then cracked - is also found in natural foods stores. Although this salad is wonderful with standard supermarket lentils and a coarser grind of bulgur, the French lentils and fine bulgur produce a delicate, more refined version.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. =

This cobbler is wonderful after the chipotle-honey glazed pork (frankly, it's wonderful after anything).

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 2 1/2 hr (includes chilling) The electric blender (originally a bartender's tool for daiquiris) became a must-have home appliance in the 1950s. Cooks grew enamored of the blender's ability to create velvet-smooth soups — soups previously (and messily) forced through food mills and sieves.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This traditional spongecake is rippled with cinnamon-sprinkled apples.

"I have such special memories of my grandmother Mimi in the kitchen cooking and baking, all dressed up. My favorite cookies were her pecan crescents," says Barbara Hartwig of Sherwood, Wisconsin. "I am most fortunate to have her original recipe card. We still use it every year."

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.