Sausage

Go completely southern: Serve the chops with cornbread, coleslaw, and ice-cold beer.

Luganega, a coiled slender Italian pork sausage sold at Italian markets and some supermarkets, often comes with flavorings such as spices and cheese. If you can't find it, substitute any fresh Italian sausage.

Associate Food Editor: Alexis Touchet
Father: Rodney Miller, Abbeville, LA
When I was a kid, our summer routine started with the opening day of shrimp season — my dad would get the boat ready and out we would go, winding our way down the bayou until we reached Vermilion Bay. He would check to make sure the trawl net was securely tied before tossing it into the water, and would then let it be dragged down slowly along with the trawl boards. When we painstakingly pulled the net up onto the boat and untied the bag, it spilled out a catch of shrimp, crabs, and fish. These fresh shrimp were the stars in Dad's favorite gumbo recipe.

Fresh pizza dough is now available at some supermarkets; look for it in the refrigerated deli case or use thin Boboli crusts. Piave is similar to, but a bit creamier than, Parmigiano-Reggiano. Look for it at Italian markets and specialty cheese stores.

The unofficial national dish of Spain, paella makes a fantastic main course for entertaining. Once you've prepped the components a couple of hours ahead, the finished product comes together in about 30 minutes. Just add a green salad dressed with Sherry vinaigrette. What to drink: Chilled Spanish rosé (called rosado); Rick Rodgers likes Las Rocas de San Alejandro Rosado.

Hearty ingredients make this a perfect dish for a cold night.

Fideos, pasta nests that are often toasted in oil, are popular on the eastern coast of Spain. Here, the sauce is enhanced with a sofrito, a concentrated mixture that imparts a deep tomato flavor. The browned fideos slowly absorb the seafood-based sauce as they cook.

The pasta is divided among four 3 1/2-quart baking dishes so they can be baked individually for open-house-style serving. But you can use any size bake-and-serve dishes — even a roasting pan or a paella pan.

This dish would be great served with fried eggs for brunch.

Tracy Jones Midland, Texas, writes: "I wanted to share a Christmas breakfast recipe given to my mother, Cherry Jones, by Ann Westerman, a lifelong friend. My family quickly adopted the tradition of preparing this dish on Christmas Eve, then baking it on Christmas morning while opening our presents." The thick slices of garlicky bread in this dish are known as Texas toast.

This variation on paella uses Israeli couscous in place of rice.

Diane Brown Savahge of Los Angeles, California, writes: "I'm a part-time restaurant manager and food writer, and occasionally I teach cooking classes. One piece of advice I always share with my students is to keep the ingredients list short — you don't need to empty out your refrigerator to make a great meal. You just need a few quality ingredients with bold flavors."