Apple

Nothing evokes the fall season like a plate of pork chops and apples, but we upped the ante with spicy horseradish, which adds new verve to this timeless dish.

We took a regular apple-pie recipe and sweetened the filling with Mexican piloncillo, an unrefined brown sugar. What a difference a sugar makes. This one has a lot of character and adds syrupy molasses notes to a blend of sweet and tart apples.

After a rich main course, you'll love the clean flavors of this minimally dressed salad. Watercress and fris´e are tamed by slivers of celery root and green apple, which also makes for a seamless segue into the next course—Camembert with apple butter from a local market.

Bright apple flavor, plus a surprising tanginess. This sweet puree is a nice change of pace from the usual mashed potatoes.

All-butter puff pastry is available at some specialty foods stores.

This dessert is a pecan pie-apple pie hybrid.

To make this fresh salad, you'll need the following on hand: olive oil, apple cider vinegar, walnuts, a Gala apple, tart cherries, minced shallots, honey, and frisée.

This quickly braised lamb brings a bit of French country straight into your kitchen.

Jacques Maximin claims he never served these tartes fines aux pommes at Chantecler restaurant at the famed Hôtel Négresco. Jacques Torres, Maximin’s pastry chef for eight years, insists they were consistently on the menu. All that matters to us, though, is that the classic combination of warm apple and flaky pastry becomes new again in these light, simple tarts.

The combination of three varieties of apples gives this applesauce sweet-tart flavor and great texture.

Pomegranate juice adds tartness to this famous French dessert.

Surely you've had one too many supersweet sangrias whose fruit chunks overpower the (usually mediocre) wine. This version couldn't be more of a contrast, with a refreshing mintiness and subtly aromatic fruit that still allow the crispness of the white wine to come through.

Ruggiero couldn't figure out what made the salad dressing at New York's Natori so irresistible and was shocked when she finally got the secret ingredient out of the sushi chef: grated apple. Nor would you ever guess it from a bite of this dressing, since it's not at all sweet or fruity, just perfectly balanced and lip-smackingly delicious. Its slight pulp extends the unctuous richness of avocado and complements the clean assertiveness of watercress.

There are many variations of haroseth, a mixture of fruit, nuts, and honey. This version is light and fresh, with a nice crunch. Haroseth is one of the six elements of the seder plate, and is left on the table for the rest of the meal. It is traditionally served with matzo.

Like a classic tarte Tatin, this cobbler begins with apples being caramelized in a rich mix of butter and sugar, but we've upped the ante by adding apple brandy and raisins. Tender biscuit rounds take the place of traditional pastry to create a true home-style dessert. (And a drizzle of cream never hurts.)

These are best served warm.

Think of the best sweet-potato pie you've ever eaten and then take away the crust so you can revel solely in its silky goodness. A bite of this pudding is full and round, with hits of chestnut and dried fruit.

Purchased biscuit dough makes these dessert dumplings a snap to make.

Is there a child in this world that doesn't love applesauce? This pink-hued, cinnamon-spiked version is just the right topping for the latkes.