97 blanched recipes

Golden fruitcake with dried apricots, raisins, candied cherries, orange peel, citron, and shaved almonds in a light cake flour batter. Baked low and slow for 4 gorgeous holiday loaves.

Twice-baked Italian biscotti with fresh ginger, Dutch cocoa, and toasted almonds. Crisp, dunkable cookies with warm spice and a deep chocolate undertone.

Soba noodle and cucumber salad with daikon sprouts and seared ahi tuna. A cold Japanese-style noodle plate finished with chile oil drizzle. Light, fresh, restaurant-style.

Banana rum sherbet made with yogurt, dark brown sugar, lime juice, nutmeg, and chopped almonds. A tropical frozen dessert churned in a food processor, no ice cream maker needed.

Medianyky, traditional Ukrainian honey cookies spiced with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg, topped with almonds and sugar crystals. A fragrant holiday cookie with Old World charm.

Roasted Long Island duck with a gastrique sauce made from caramelized sugar, red wine vinegar, and duck stock, garnished with fresh grapefruit sections. A refined, restaurant-level dish.

Oxtails braised 4 hours in red wine with tomatoes and capers, then stripped, stuffed into cabbage rolls with Parmesan, and baked golden. Served on mashed potatoes for the ultimate comfort meal.

Gelo di Mellone, a traditional Sicilian watermelon pudding thickened with cornstarch, studded with pistachios, chocolate, and candied citron, finished with cinnamon.

While Schwartz describes the name for this Israeli dish as slightly pretentious, he notes that it won a cooking competition and found its way onto the menus of five star hotels. He recommends serving it over a bed or bulgur pilaf.

Traditional Swiss Basel Leckerli: honey-spice cookie bars with cinnamon, cloves, candied peels, kirsch, and almonds under a crackly sugar glaze. Makes 50 to 60 bars that keep for weeks.

Hawaiian papaya chutney with fresh pineapple, ginger, golden raisins, almonds, and white wine simmered in a tangy vinegar-brown sugar base. A tropical fruit chutney for grilled meats and curries.

Steamed fish and vegetables in stove-top papillotte: halibut and sugar snap peas steamed in plastic over diced tomatoes and basil. A clean, light, restaurant-style dinner in 20 minutes.

Cherry and almond Christmas cake: maraschino cherries, apricots, ginger, and almonds macerated in amaretto and brandy, baked into a lighter apple-puree batter, then soaked in more amaretto. A boozy, fruit-packed festive cake that keeps for a month.

Traditional English piccalilli with cauliflower, cucumber, pearl onions, and green tomatoes in a turmeric-mustard sauce. Homemade mustard pickle that improves with keeping.

Ratatouille is a Provencal vegetable stew that is popular all along the Mediterranean coast. It is a summer dish, best when the vegetables are in season and at their peak.

Chinese shrimp balls (pai chiao hsia chiu) rolled in stale bread cubes and double-fried until shatteringly crisp. Served with Sichuan pepper-salt dip. 30 pieces.