Oregano

Watch how to fillet fish and sharpen your slicing and chopping skills with our technique videos.

"About a year ago, I discovered a new restaurant in town called Babalu's," writes Richard Shipman of St. Louis, Missouri. "It serves terrific Caribbean food, including a flavorful chili-coated salmon."

Halved cherry tomatoes and diced green chilies make a chunky relish for the tri-tip.

Serve with: Crusty French rolls and steamed new potatoes tossed with butter and chervil. Dessert: Meringues filled with purchased lemon curd and sprinkled with blueberries.

Bettina says that this recipe is one of her delicious and dependable standbys.

Serve this with a crisp Sauvignon Blanc.

Ceviche de Dorado con Chile Jalapeño y Coco The fish is marinated in fresh lime juice (and therefore partly "cooked").

The lamb top roast is one of the three "subprimal" cuts that can be cut from the leg of lamb. The equivalent of the beef top round roast, but smaller and more tender, it provides a succulent boneless lamb roast when you don't want to deal with a whole leg. Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

For this easy starter, the nonfat yogurt is strained to a thick texture and then combined with oregano, lemon peel and cayenne.

A nod to what could arguably be the dish of the eighties, blackened redfish. The technique works equally well with halibut.

Generally this dish is served in Andalusia as part of a mixed fish fry, but it's wonderful on its own. The marinade makes the fish flavorful and succulent.

"In our family," writes Georgia I. Chletcos of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, "we have a saying that the Greek kitchen is the original twenty-four-hour diner: It never closes. And being from a Greek family, I can say unequivocally that food is the center of our lives. As I've gotten older, preserving this tradition has become more important to me, so I've started experimenting with family recipes, including this one." Enough for a large family and guests, too.

Pescado Zarandeado Although you can broil the fish, it is at its best when cooked outside (placing the fish in a grill basket makes it easier to turn over on the barbecue). Ask the fishmonger to remove the head and scales and to clean and butterfly the fish.

In Cuba, this versatile side dish is known as congrí. Louisiana has its own version of red beans and rice, of course, but in that one you won't find the oregano, cumin or cilantro.

Our recipe makes plenty of sauce for two meals, so enjoy some with this menu and freeze the remainder for another time. The sauce is also great over tortellini, penne or fusilli. You can find the convenient prepared ravioli in the refrigerator section of most supermarkets.

This recipe doubles easily.