Cinnamon

The herb-and-spice blend would also be terrific with eggplant or lamb.

The Product: Earthy-fruity spice powder with a mild kick.
The Payoff: Hot chocolate with complex, subtle flavor and an intriguing, gentle spiciness.

When­ we ­decided­ to start serving brunch, we were determined to stick with the original concept of the restaurant, "tea turned on its ear," so we racked our brains to come up with a way to do french toast that was unique, fun, and, most important, tasty! We all tossed a bunch of ideas out there, and one of them was french toast bread pudding. All heads tilted curiously at this idea, so of course we tried it. The idea was for it to be like a true bread pudding—tea-infused, of course—but when the first batch came out, our chef said, "I don't think this one is right—the top is crisp and chewy, but the bottom may be mushy." We tried it, and lo and behold, there it was, the brunch item that would make eyes widen and taste buds explode: a layer of crisp and chewy french toast on top and a wonderfully gooey, creamy bread pudding infused with apricot brandy tea underneath. Note that you will need eight 2-inch-deep oven-safe glass bowls (8-ounce ramekins or crème brûlée dishes work well).

Ah, the pumpkin scone. The most discussed and praised scone on the planet. In all honesty, this scone was a happy accident of sorts. for Thanksgiving 2003, our baker, Sue McClinton, had the idea of making a pumpkin scone instead of a pumpkin cheesecake, and because of its popularity (and the fact that Haley has to have one every day), we kept it on through Christmas that year. Once the holidays were over and the mistletoe un-hung, Sue moved on to another type of scone, and all- but-rioting broke out that week when patrons discovered that there were no pumpkin scones. We heard the message loud and clear and have had pumpkin scones on the menu every day since then. In fact, pumpkin became our staple scone well before the standard and expected buttermilk scone entered our daily repertoire! Moist, slightly spicy, definitely gooey, and sweet on top (think of pumpkin pie inside a scone and you get the idea), the pumpkin scone remains a major favorite, and Haley—and now her kids— continues to have one almost each day! (In fact, Haley's son, Maddan, constantly begs to take one to school for a snack.)
These scones are best when served warm, but if you aren't serving them right away, we recommend that you don't glaze them until shortly before you serve them.

A hit of coffee and a blend of spices (cinnamon, cardamom, and two kinds of ginger) perk up this shortbread.

Pilafs may be served at everyday meals but are grand enough for entertaining as well. If you like, you could add a generous pinch of saffron threads to the rice just before you cover it and let it simmer. You could also use chicken stock instead of the 22 cup water.

Slices of Braeburn apples hold their shape well when baked until crunchy—perfect for a batch of munchable homemade chips.

When I was a student in France, Rose Minkel was a fixture at Friday night dinners at my friend Nanou’s home. Called Mémé, an endearing term for “Grandmother,” she brought with her the recipes from her family’s native Metz, a city in the province of Lorraine with a long Jewish presence. Though the Jews had been in Metz for many generations (some say the first Jews settled there in 221 C.E.), up until the eighteenth century they lived a very different life from non-Jews in the town. They paid extra taxes on meat, wines and liqueurs, and other provisions. It was easy to spot a Jew on the street, because the men wore yellow hats to distinguish them from the black-hat-wearing gentiles. But over time they did assimilate, and already at the beginning of the eighteenth century, the Jews of Metz began to speak French instead of Yiddish. One Rosh Hashanah recipe that I remember most fondly was this simple roast chicken with peeled apple quarters, cinnamon, sugar, and wine.

Think of this as Mexican toast.

The combination of chocolate and cinnamon gives this treat its Mexican flavor. The cake needs to freeze overnight, so be sure to plan ahead.

Try this deliciously smoky side dish with grilled lamb chops.

Brown sugar and butter form a caramelized crust on the French toast. Use a light-textured bread; for a special touch, top with mascarpone (see "Ingredient Tips").

This recipe is a lifer. I’ve been making it for more than 20 years, and every time I try to file it away, someone inevitably comes along asking for it. I brought it to my first staff get-together when I was working at Chez Panisse and, from then on, for all of the parties that followed, when I would even think of making something different, my friends and coworkers would cry out for this caramelized chocolate bread pudding. A few years later, the bread pudding gained an East Coast fan club, too. I was working at Alloro, a tiny restaurant in Boston’s Italian district. Back then, the Mafia owned all the local cafés and had a monopoly on the dessert-and-coffee crowd. Whereas the other (probably wiser) restaurants on the street obeyed the unspoken law of not selling dessert, at Alloro we broke the rule and secretly served this bread pudding to our in-the-know customers. We worked hard to keep the highly requested dessert under cover, and it seems we succeeded: both the recipe and I are still around. A few things make this bread pudding better than most. I love custards and am often disappointed by bread puddings with too much bread and not enough pudding. So be careful to use just a single layer of brioche, which creates a crispy crust but won’t absorb all the rich, silky custard underneath. Once you break through the caramelized, toasty top layer and dig down through the luscious custard, a treasure of melted chocolate awaits you at the bottom.

Donatella still remembers the lure of these addictive sweets. "I always got in trouble with my aunt because I would sneak into the kitchen and steal them," she says. Frying the dough in extra-virgin olive oil adds an authentic flavor. You'll need about five cups of oil for frying.

Biscochitos are the best thing to get with your coffee when you eat breakfast at a Mexican bakery. Mi Tierra makes my favorite version of these rich Mexican cookies. Sorry, there is no substitute for the lard—it's the secret ingredient!

Here's a cake that showcases the flavors and smells of Christmas. This three-layer extravaganza has a touch of molasses and shredded apple to keep it moist. As the cake bakes, it fills the house with a fragrance that beats the most expensive holiday-scented candle. Many amateur cooks are intimidated by just thinking about making a cake that doesn't come from a box. Yes, it takes extra time, but it isn't hard. Just follow the steps outlined below. I say, if you want to make an impression, bring on a tall, showy homemade cake. Your friends will be talking about it long after the party is over.