Fruit

Earthy and rich without being heavy or filling, this creamy vegetable dip is just the thing to whet the appetite without ruining it before a big holiday meal.

This classic French bistro preparation pairs lightly breaded fish with a succulent brown butter and lemon pan sauce.

Appalachian apple stack cake is communal cooking at its finest. Originally, each layer was baked at home by individual cooks, likely in cast-iron skillets, then brought together and assembled for church suppers and gatherings. Instead of the spongy cakes we're used to today, these layers are more like cookies—firmer, so they slowly soften beneath liberal applications of apple butter and cooked apples. This recipe stays mostly true to those principles. Instead of individually baking the layers one skillet at a time, though, use a cake pan to trace a pattern on parchment paper and trim circles of rolled dough to fit it. Bake two layers simultaneously (more if you have a convection oven). The edges of the cake layers won't be as perfectly neat as if you'd baked them in skillets or cake pans, but that's all right. This is a rustic cake.

We're partial to the grenadine from Jack Rudy Cocktail Co.

Almost any fresh fruit (pears, apples, berries) can replace the figs.

The elegant Cuban combo of lime and rum has nothing to do with the syrupy slush you'll find at swim-up bars.

You can't beat the classics when it comes to desserts, and this is one of my best. Zesty, creamy and light-as-air, this cake is completely heavenly. It's impossible to stop at one slice!

Be on the lookout for collards with smaller, tender leaves. If using more mature bunches, cut into thin ribbons instead of tearing.

Sandwiching the puff pastry between two baking sheets ensures that the pastry rises perfectly even.

Even if you're not a huge fan of bitter greens, don't substitute regular lettuce here; the slightly sweet dressing will taste cloying without some sharp contrast.

When in doubt, add soda. The resulting highball (about 2 ounces of any booze filled to the top with soda) is refreshing—and impossible to mess up.

Make sure the cake pan you're using is at least 2" deep; the batter will rise to the very top while baking and will overflow in a shallow pan.

Whole wheat flour gives this brown sugar–oat topping a nutty flavor that perfectly complements the sweet-tart apples beneath.

You can stuff this slawlike salad inside your pita, or eat it on its own.

Of this take on a martini, James Bond quipped, "I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made." What he said.

If quinces are unavailable or you want a shortcut, purchase quince paste at a specialty shop and heat it slowly to create a syrup, then simply spoon it over the custards.