Gourmet

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Whether you pick blossoms from your garden or buy them at the farmers market, choose male flowers. The males — which don't produce a vegetable but exist to pollinate the females — are recognizable by their long, straight stems and the unmistakably male-looking stamen in the center of each blossom. Females swell at the base of the blossom, where the squash forms, and four little shoots make up the pistil inside. Some chefs like to fry female blossoms when the baby zucchini is just emerging and still attached, but Mexican and Italian purists wouldn't hear of it. Other chefs like to remove the stamen of the male flowers, but it isn't necessary.

The crisp-crusted corn cakes of Colombia and Venezuela called arepas were the inspiration for these delicious sauce soppers. In their native habitats they can be found as thin as crêpes or as thick as scones; savory or sweet; plain or stuffed; fried, baked, or even grilled. We like these straight from the skillet — and they are even better made a day ahead and then reheated. But we really love them loaded up with the juices from a plateful of steak and chimichurri sauce .

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe originally accompanied Braised Beef Short Ribs with Root Vegetable Ragout.

These mashed potatoes are a great accompaniment to the bass fillets with mushrooms and the shrimp and endive. Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 40 min

When shopping for ham, be aware that smoked pork shoulder is available partially or fully cooked. This will affect the braising time (partially cooked takes about 1 hour longer). We found that blanching the ham before braising helps eliminate excessive saltiness in both the ham and the broth. Leaving the skin on the ham adds body to the resulting sauce.

Even those who aren't fans of lima beans will love this recipe. The tough bean skins are completely broken down, so the texture of the purée is silky and smooth.

Everyone wants the juiciest turkey possible for Thanksgiving, and we find that brined or kosher turkeys are best for this. If you'd like to try brining, stir together 8 quarts water with 2 cups kosher salt in a 5-gallon bucket lined with a large heavy-duty plastic garbage bag, then soak raw turkey, covered and chilled, 10 hours. (Kosher turkeys, which are salted during the koshering process, are just as succulent and flavorful as brined ones.) If you are making this entire menu in a single oven, bake the stuffing and sweet potatoes and reheat the potato parsnip purée while the turkey stands after roasting.

Fans of Buffalo wings will understand why we suggest serving these chicken cutlets with Crunchy Iceberg and Watercress Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing . Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 35 min

Naomi Wagman Kirstein of Danvers, Massachusetts, writes: "I would love to have the recipe for the West Indian beef stew served at The Golden Lemon Inn & Villas on St. Kitts, in the West Indies." The green olives in this recipe cut the richness of the stew by adding a slightly pungent flavor.<

Buffalo meat can be very red, even when cooked to medium-rare. Don't be alarmed — this is a naturally occurring phenomenon that has to do with the animal's diet and how little fat is marbled through the muscle. While testing this recipe, we learned that buffalo meat varies in quality; the purveyors whose meat we like best are Wild Idea Buffalo Company (866-658-6137; wildideabuffalo.com), Jackson Hole Buffalo Meat Company (800-543-6328; jhbuffalomeat.com), Arrowhead Buffalo Meats (877-283-2969; arrowheadsteaks.com), and D'Artagnan (800-327-8246; dartagnan.com). Before you begin roasting your buffalo, roughly calculate the total roasting time: Plan on about 16 minutes per pound once the oven temperature is reduced to 350°F (20 minutes per pound for beef), but start checking the temperature of either type of roast about 30 minutes before you think it will be done. Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 5 1/4 hr (4 3/4 hr for beef)

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 45 min

Pressing excess moisture out of your tofu will increase its firmness and its ability to absorb the flavors of the marinade.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.