Recipe Sifter

Glazed apple gem cookies: small drop cookies with chopped apple, raisins, and nuts, dipped in apple juice glaze while warm. Soft, spiced, and packed with fall flavor.

Vegetarian Greek moussaka with eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, feta cheese, and bechamel sauce. Spiced with cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg for an authentic Mediterranean flavor.

Sweet potato pie with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a flaky shell, finished with a decorative ring of pecan halves and a dollop of whipped cream. The yogurt in the custard adds tang and lift that traditional milk-only versions miss.

Boudin blanc de Liege, a delicate homemade white pork sausage. Lean pork and fat pureed silky with eggs, Port and aromatic spiced milk, dotted with currants, poached gently then browned in butter.

Hot fig pudding with molasses, buttermilk, dried figs, and ginger baked in a tube pan, served with a warm sherry-butter sauce with nutmeg and lemon. A British-style steamed pudding baked in the oven.

Iowa chops stuffed with brandy-soaked apricots, pecans, currants, orange zest, and fennel. Seared, baked, and finished with flambeed brandy for a tableside showstopper.

Light pumpkin praline cheesecake: low-fat cottage cheese stands in for cream cheese, wheat germ replaces graham crumbs in the crust, and pumpkin pie spice carries the flavor. Topped with maple-drizzled pecans.

Oatmeal apple raisin muffins with cinnamon and nutmeg, ready in 30 minutes. Hearty, warmly spiced breakfast muffins that taste like fall in every bite.

Orange apricot jam muffins with orange juice concentrate, yogurt, and apricot preserves. Bright citrus-fruit notes and a cinnamon-nutmeg crackle top.

Traditional British Christmas plum pudding with cognac-soaked dried fruit, walnuts, suet, and warm spices, steamed in a mold and served with brandy butter sauce. A Victorian holiday classic.

Black bean chili with ground chuck, cocoa powder, molasses, cinnamon, and liquid smoke for complex depth. Pressure-cooked dried beans and a low-and-slow simmer build serious flavor.

Roast pheasant draped in bacon and basted with a port wine and broth glaze, served with a rich port wine sauce and grapes. An elegant way to keep a lean game bird juicy and tender.

Pineapple muffin cookies: soft, cake-like drop cookies made with crushed pineapple and juice, warm nutmeg, and chopped walnuts. The tropical-twist church-supper cookie that's part muffin, part cookie.

Pumpkin sheet cake: a fast, one-bowl fall cake loaded with canned pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Moist, not-too-sweet, and big enough to feed a potluck without breaking a sweat.

A pureed onion soup with deeply caramelized onions, beef stock, fresh nutmeg, and a beer-and-aged-cheddar finish stirred in for tang and richness. A rustic French-Canadian twist on the classic.

Try this scrumptious and easy to make quiche that is made with bacon and swiss cheese.