Dairy

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less, but requires additional unattended time.

As Gourmet wrote in 1959: "Long ago...it did occur to some blithe spirit, a poet of the kitchen to be sure, that when these little veal rolls were arranged on a platter they looked like a flock of headless birds. And oiseaux sans têtes, or veal birds, they remain to this day in the cuisines of such diverse countries as Belgium, Italy, and France.

My mom (the "Jill" of this recipe) used to make lots of finger foods when I was younger. These were always a big hit. Easy to make, easy to love, these snacks are equally at home at a fancy dinner party as they are during the Super Bowl. You can experiment with this recipe to alter the taste: Use vegetable or flavored cream cheese, or any other kind of easily spreadable cheese (I like that Alouette herb cheese a lot).

At Valentino, this is prepared with fresh pasta. Wonton wrappers make a convenient substitute.

The coconut tuiles (cookies) that go into this layered dessert (left) are delicate, so the recipe provides for quite a few extras to allow for breakage. Tuiles are also terrific with ice cream. The syrup gets an interesting (and delicious) kick from nontraditional dessert ingredients like black peppercorns and a jalapeño chili.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.

This dessert tastes indulgent, but it's made with nonfat cottage cheese, nonfat cream cheese and evaporated skim milk.

Some advance preparation is required for these wings: The yogurt needs to drain for 2 hours and the wings need to marinate for at least 2 hours.

This moist bread is best fresh from the oven, but it can also be made ahead and reheated.

Marinate the cheese for a couple of hours, then assemble the salad just before serving.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Greek Herbed-Spinach Latkes with Feta-Yogurt Sauce. This do-ahead sauce would also be good drizzled over a salad of fresh mixed greens.

In a fresh interpretation of the classic Italian dessert, we've replaced the traditional chocolate and coffee with berries and fruit liqueur. For a garnish, we like the looks of fresh berries, but we used frozen berries in the filling to keep it moist. They're also more uniform in flavor--and less expensive.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.