Lamb

Mashed Yams and Apples and Fried Onion Rings are superb accompaniments.

Honey and mint are the special ingredients in this lovely lamb dish.

(GIGOT D'AGNEAU AUX POMMES DE TERRE ET OIGNONS)

For a more elegant presentation, ask your butcher to french the rack of lamb (that is, trim the meat and fat from the ends of the bones). Also serve the Potato Silk with Truffle Oil and sautéed cherry tomatoes. A good Merlot is the perfect accompaniment.

The breadcrumbs crust, known as persillade in France, is excellent with lamb. This makes an elegant meal when served with new potatoes and green beans.

Serve this quick stir-fry with rice.

The lamb needs to marinate for a least eight hours, so start the recipe ahead of time. This menu is nice with light red wine, like Beaujolais. Purchase your favorite cookies and some top-notch ice cream to make home-made ice cream sandwiches; it's as easy as placing a scoop of ice cream onto a cookie and topping it with another cookie. Freeze the sandwiches until you're ready to indulge.

This recipe was created to accompany Crown Roast of Lamb . Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Lard is the fat of choice on Majorca, but here we have substituted solid vegetable shortening in the crust, with equally delicious results. For a truly authentic version of this dish, use sobrasada, a sausage that tastes very much like Spanish chorizo but is much softer.

Sephardim (Jews of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean extraction) eat coriander seeds during Passover; if you do not because you are from an eastern European Jewish background, you can simply leave the coriander out of this recipe. Active time: 50 min Start to finish: 3 hr

What is unusual about this recipe is the conspicuous absence of garlic and the addition of artichokes to the roasting pan. Christos Koukoutsis, from the small village of Doloi, was adamant about the garlic when he explained to me how to make his village's Easter specialty. Olive oil—lots of it—is essential.

"When my ancestors left Spain and settled on the Greek island of Rhodes five hundred years ago," writes Rebecca Levy of Los Angeles, California, "they brought with them their Sephardic culture. Likewise, when I fled Greece during World War II and eventually relocated to Los Angeles, I brought with me the traditions of my home. Many of my recipes are centuries old, and since each one is connected to a story, I always try to tell a little anecdote about the food so that the history will not be lost." Serve the stew over rice to soak up the juices.

Start marinating the lamb one day before you plan to serve it.

The lamb in this recipe is blanched to make a light-colored stew. Active time: 1 1/4 hr Start to finish: 2 1/2 hr

If an herbes de Provence blend isn't available, use a combination of dried thyme, basil, savory, and fennel seeds. Dried porcini can be found at Italian markets, specialty foods stores, and many supermarkets.

Bobotie In the popular South African dish known as bobotie, leftover lamb or beef is minced and combined with bread and spices and baked for awhile before being covered with a custard and baked again. It is generally served in squares or wedges. We have substituted kaffir lime leaves for the lemon leaves called for in the original and used ground meat instead of minced.

The honey does not sweeten the chops-it just helps them brown. For an authentic accompaniment, uncork a bottle of the pungent resin-flavored Greek wine called retsina, or simply opt for a favorite Sauvignon Blanc. Serve coffee ice cream and purchased baklava to complete the menu.