Jean Thiel Kelley

Spaghetti and meatballs get spiced up with a classic Italian sauce. All'amatriciana hails from Amatrice, a town northeast of Rome. Classic all'amatriciana sauce is made from tomatoes, guanciale (salt-cured pig's jowl), and hot peppers. Here, bacon stands in for the guanciale.

Albóndigas is Spanish for meatballs. Ours are lightened with grated zucchini.

The Middle East on a flatbread: Turkish meatballs, a tahini-spiked yogurt sauce, and muhammara, a Syrian red pepper spread.

A tagine is a Moroccan stew. In this version, tender beef meatballs are braised with vegetables, then served over herbed couscous.

To intensify the flavor of the compote, Jeanne cooks the plums with their pits. Any leftover compote would be delicious spooned over vanilla ice cream.

This recipe yields two extra portions for second helpings. The hens are brined for at least six hours, so be sure to plan ahead. To make things easier, ask the butcher to halve the hens for you.

A sophisticated cookie for sesame lovers.