Apple

A delicious winter salad that would also be great alongside pork chops.

This breakfast dish is served at Canyon Ranch Hotel & Spa in Miami Beach.

This seasonal salad is a great mix of colors and flavors.

Cooking the bread pudding in a loaf pan gives it a modern, bakery-style look. For a more decadent dessert, serve with vanilla ice cream.

These individual desserts feature layers of tender spiced chiffon muffins; a mix of caramelized apples, pears, and cranberries; and a rich custard laced with apple brandy. To show off the pretty layers, assemble the trifles in clear bowls or dessert glasses. Enjoy the extra muffin for breakfast the next day.

Guests won't leaf these alone! A yogurt dressing and plenty of produce keep the tangy mouthfuls light.

Spicy, sharp turnip greens, braised gently with a smoked ham hock, are a time-honored accompaniment on southern tables at any time of the year. This version, with the ivory turnips, golden apple, and pink ham nestled among the dark greens, is especially pretty.

Store-bought sauerkraut undergoes an amazing transformation when gently simmered with apples and white wine. The cabbage's crispness gives way to a seductive silkiness, while the fruit and a spoonful or two of brown sugar offset its acidity.

Swapping rye for the usual white bread adds something intriguing to stuffing. There's still that wonderful contrast between the crisp, browned bread on the top and the soft pieces moistened with stock or broth below, but there is an undercurrent of warm, almost spicy sweetness. As with all stuffings, the better the bread you use, the better the final dish will be, so buy a good bakery loaf.

Noodle kugels, or baked puddings, abound in Ashkenazic Jewish cookery, and this particular version makes an outstanding dessert or brunch dish. You'll find that the mild sweetness of coarsely grated Gala apples perks up the hearty richness.

We had lots of apple trees of many varieties in our orchards, and the supply would last for the whole winter. Mostly I had them for a snack or in a dessert, but here's one use in a main course that's a winner. It's incredibly easy yet nutritionally complete. I rather love mixing the sweet carb with the fat and protein in delicious defiance of current diet ideology.

When we visited my grandmother in snowy Alsace, she used to serve us this delicious and filling breakfast, rich in fiber and fruity nutrients. It is still one of my favorite winter breakfasts: true baby food for adults. My grandmother usually served her oatmeal variation with freshly baked brioche or kugelhopf (a wonderful cake with raisins and almonds that is one of the great specialties of Alsace). Today, I sometimes find it a filling meal unto itself, and I skip the bread. If I want a little more protein, I have a bite of cheese or some yogurt.

If it makes sense sometimes to eat breakfast for dinner, why not breakfast for dessert? These pancakes are perfect for the fall, when apples are in season and gingerbread spices are on the mind. My apple of choice is the Golden Delicious because when cooked, it becomes honeyed and intense, but you can use any apple that holds its shape. Don't try this with McIntosh; they disintegrate into mush.

It's easy to understand why apple crumble pie (sometimes called French apple pie in diners and old cookbooks) is so immensely popular: It packs all the flavor and fragrance of a traditional apple pie underneath a carapace of nutty, buttery, cinnamony crumbs. Adding cranberries to the filling evokes a familiar fall color and provides pleasant tartness to balance the sweetness.

As if by magic, this cake creates its own beautiful picture as it bakes. Spread a buttery dough onto a shallow pan and press apple wedges into the top; as the kuchen bakes the dough rises up to frame the apples. This is delicious served warm from the oven topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

A pandowdy is a deep-dish fruit dessert with a pastry topping. while The name may come from the fact that the dessert is typically dowdy-looking, we think this one is anything but.

Old-fashioned mincemeat contained tiny bits of meat and/or beef suet, a type of fat. This modern, meatless version is a great mix of apples, dried fruits, and warming spices.

Skip the wine—this salad is perfect with a Belgian ale. Saint Andréis a soft, ripened cheese much like Brie or Camembert. Either cheese would make a good substitute.

Fresh thyme adds a savory note to sweet roasted apples and caramelized onions.