Puff Pastry

For this easy appetizer, you'll remove the top rind of the wheel of Brie, then top with a juicy mix of raspberry preserves, raspberries, and fresh rosemary. Wrapping and baking in store-bought puff pastry makes the combination elegant, gooey, and crisp. If you're looking for more Brie cheese inspiration, check out our gallery of Brie recipes.

Have your butcher skin and bone the turkey thigh. Toss curly endive and radicchio with apple slices and cider vinaigrette for a salad. Orange sorbet with warm chocolate sauce and toasted pecans is a simple ending.

Offer these as a starter or as a light lunch with a salad of greens tossed in vinaigrette.

This tart was inspired by a specialty of the Engadine region of Switzerland. It has golden layers of puff pastry that surround a honey, caramel and walnut filling.

These cheese straws may be assembled and frozen ahead of time and then baked at the last minute, as described in the procedure. Alternatively, they can be put together and baked the day before serving and kept in an airtight container, though they will not be as crisp as just-baked cheese straws. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This appealing do-ahead dessert, perfect for a picnic, can be formed ahead and frozen. Just thaw, then bake and cool.

Lee Schmidt of Wichita, Kansas, writes: "My wife and I just returned from our honeymoon in Mexico. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the elegant Mahakua Hacienda de San Antonio in Colima. Our last night there, we dined on the rooftop terrace and shared an amazing pineapple tartlet." Dice any leftover pineapple and use it, with its caramel syrup, as an ice cream topping.

The 1970s saw perhaps the biggest change in cooking in this century. That's when a group of talented young chefs in France came up with "nouvelle cuisine," emphasizing fresh ingredients, elegant presentation, and interesting and unusual combinations of foods and flavors. American chefs quickly imported it and made it into something uniquely their own. For our take on this landmark in contemporary cooking, we've shaped purchased puff pastry into individual tartlet, filled them with pistachio frangipane and sliced pears, and topped it all off with a sweet-wine glaze.

The base of the tart is purchased puff pastry, which makes this dish — served as an appetizer at Lucques — as easy as it is delicious. With the addition of a soup, it could also be a lovely lunch or supper.

Prepared puff pastry makes this easy.

Camembert aux Noix Amuse-Bouches Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 50 min

These simple tartes aux pommes are great with vanilla ice cream. What to drink: Barton & Guestier 1999 Sauternes "Tradition."

Supermarket staples — puff pastry and fruit jams — are transformed into delicate teatime treats that require very little effort.

This dessert, prominent in the window of virtually every Paris pastry shop, is a true classic. The puff pastry rounds are usually filled with an almond mixture, but my version features hazelnuts and chocolate. Purchased pastry makes it approachable for the modern cook. Since it reheats nicely, the Pithiviers can be made ahead.