Apricot

LaVerl Daily, director of Le Panier cooking school in Houston, suggests supplementing this slightly tropical entrée with rice, black beans and buttered green beans sprinkled with chopped macadamia nuts. Finish with sweet potato pie or coconut cream pie.

This pretty tart is great with vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt.

These tiny turnovers have the same balance of filling to dough as my number one favorite cookie, rugelach, but they are easier to prepare because they aren't rolled. Rugelach means rolled; therefore, I have dubbed these "un-rugelach." The buttery cinnamon/walnut flavors fill your mouth with opulent pleasure, but despite their richness, they are easy to keep on eating because of the fresh tangyness from the apricot jam filling.

This sorbet has summer in every bite. Be sure to use very ripe apricots, and don't neglect the lemon juice. The sorbet is best eaten right after it is made.

When ripe, fresh apricots have a velvety-soft deep golden skin with a faint blush and the most delicate flavor. When picked before maturity, the flavor is less than exciting but baking surprisingly intensifies the flavor even of the pallid ones, bringing them more toward the piquancy of dried apricots. Since baked aprictos are so vivid, I always bake them entirely open-faced in a pie. Glazing them with strained apricot preserves adds extra flavor and makes them glisten.

Diced apple, dried apricots and golden raisins accent this 30-minute entrée.

A lovely combination of apricots and cherries tops a tender crust in this great summertime treat. Serve it with lightly sweetened whipped cream.

(Apricot Almond Cake) Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Use a cherry pitter to remove the pits before cutting the cherries in half.

We used veal in the following recipe; however, turkey cutlets (slices of raw turkey breast) would also be delicious and have about half the fat grams. When the veal or turkey is pounded, the cutlets may tear. The holes can be sealed with wooden toothpicks, and as soon as the roulades are baked, the holes with close. We suggest cooking the potatoes before the roulades, as they require a higher oven temperature. If desired, the potatoes may then be warmed up in the oven as the roulades finish baking.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The tender nut crust and a vanilla bean syrup make these cheesecake-like tartlets extra special. Top with more nuts, if you like.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The nutty topping is the perfect complement to the sweet-and-tart filling.

Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr