Blender

Pozole Rojo Who said you can only enjoy a good rich stew in the depths of winter? Born in the hot climate of Mexico, this melt-in-your-mouth pork and red-chile dish also makes a satisfying but not-too-filling end to a warm summer day.

Begin making the orange cream filling one day before serving the tart.

Jewel-like gelées are the darlings of pastry chefs at the moment. They also happen to be easy to make at home.

A variation on twice-baked potatoes, these are an eye-catching takeoff on a sweet potato casserole. The sweet potato flesh is pureed with butter and milk, returned to the hollowed-out shells, and topped with mini marshmallows before a final baking. You can puree the potatoes in a blender or a food processor; use the blender for an especially silky texture.

Celery root (also called celeriac) is one of autumn's most delicious—but least appreciated—vegetables. Here it adds fresh celery flavor to this velvety first-course soup.

Try this seasonal, six-ingredient wonder as a first course for Thanksgiving dinner.

Four fresh fruits bring a sunny taste of the tropics to your table. If you want to make this a virgin drink, simply omit the rum and add an extra cup of tangerine juice.

It was summer when we received a letter from a reader requesting a recipe for fruit ice cream that was as lush and rich as Ruth Reichl's chocolate ice cream . The secret is to cook the fruit down to a jamlike consistency with sugar, which lowers the freezing point. We were working on our fall issues at the time, so we developed a seasonally appropriate cranberry ice cream ; we also couldn't resist taking advantage of the local peaches sitting on our countertop. Frozen peaches are a perfectly good stand-in for fresh in this case, and a scoop of peach ice cream on a slice of toasted pound cake can be a beautiful thing in the dead of winter. For the silkiest peach ice cream ever, work with the all-cream base for the cranberry ice cream .

Sweet and tart, this robust fruit ice cream is a perfect finish for any holiday feast.

This quick dish has all the deep, exciting flavors of Southeast Asia. The curry paste already has lemongrass in it, so don't worry if you can't find fresh: It will still be delicious without it.

The flavor combinations in this creamy yet light soup are complex, but making it is very easy. Like the best appetizers, the soup wakes up the palate and is not too filling.

Most chestnut soups are fairly substantial. We've made our version lighter and brothier to serve as a first course for a big meal. Chopped chestnuts mixed with tangy croutons add texture and extra layers of complexity.

The filling of these classic cheese blintzes gets its perfect consistency from a mix of cottage and farmer cheeses. The latter, a drier version of cottage cheese, is available at most supermarkets. A simple blueberry sauce tops off the dish. If blueberries aren't in season, frozen berries can be substituted. Use unsweetened, and do not defrost them before combining with the sugar and cornstarch.

A fun idea: Paper-thin slices of white vegetables are dressed with an Italian blue cheese vinaigrette.

Liz and Kurt Gruber of Bellevue, Washington, write: "We really enjoyed the mulligatawny soup we had at Shamiana in nearby Kirkland. Could you get the recipe?"

This soup looks thick but doesn't taste at all heavy. In fact, it has an almost billowy texture, but with enough substance to still be satisfying. The addition of just a small amount of toasted almonds adds some crunch to the equation.

This fresh, colorful soup makes a great summer starter.