Recipe Sifter

Try these fruit cake bars instead of fruit bread, they are very handy and delicious, also they are great gifts at Thanksgiving or Christmas!

New Orleans-style bread pudding loaded with pecans, raisins, and apple, baked low and slow in spiced custard, then drenched in a rich bourbon butter sauce. Pure Southern indulgence.

Delicious and nutritious cookies, they are not too sweet, and almost like granola bars that are perfect for grab-go breakfast.

Homemade mincemeat with raisins, currants, apples, almonds, candied peel, and brandy. No suet needed. Ground twice, baked, and aged for rich, spiced holiday filling.

Moroccan chicken stew with acorn squash, chickpeas, raisins, and warm spices served over fluffy couscous. A microwave-friendly one-pot North African dinner with toasted almonds and fresh mint.

Pan-seared pork tenderloin medallions in a Riesling wine sauce with green peppercorns, raisins, balsamic vinegar, and toasted pine nuts. Restaurant-quality in 40 minutes.

Bread pudding loaded with pecans, raisins, and chopped apple, baked in a spiced custard and drowned in a rich bourbon butter sauce. A classic New Orleans-style dessert.

Canterbury jumbles: chewy, generously loaded drop cookies with shredded coconut, macadamia nuts, raisins, and semi-sweet chocolate chips. The everything-but-the-kitchen-sink cookie that lives up to its name.

Malai kofta are golden-fried potato and paneer-style balls stuffed with cashews and raisins, simmered in a cashew-cream sauce warmed with cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenne. A North Indian restaurant classic.

Raisin orange polenta cookies fold Cointreau-soaked raisins, bright orange zest, and a scoop of cornmeal into a buttery Italian-style drop cookie. Golden, subtly crunchy, and citrus-bright.

Greek Pasta Flora with a Cognac-butter pastry crust and a rich filling of stewed apricots, dried figs, raisins, apricot jam, and orange zest. A traditional Athenian lattice tart.

Here I adapted an 18th century English spice cake recipe which also makes nice cupcakes.

Chef Paul Prudhomme-style rice with apple and raisin dressing: pecans, bell peppers, and spiced Cajun seasonings folded through fluffy rice. A holiday side with sweet-savory Louisiana flair.

Maple pecan sticky buns bake an oat-enriched dough over a gooey maple-pecan syrup that turns into a glossy topping when inverted. Filled with cinnamon, raisins and pecans, they're a weekend brunch treat.

Rugelach roll flaky cream cheese dough around apricot preserves, cinnamon-brown-sugar, walnuts, and raisins into bite-sized crescents. A classic Jewish bakery cookie for Hanukkah and Christmas alike.

Mughlai-style mixed vegetable curry with paneer, cream, pineapple, and golden raisins. A rich, mildly spiced North Indian dish that finishes with a sprinkle of fried nuts for royal-court flair.