Chile

This light, spicy soup is delicious hot or chilled. The sautéed aromatics turn the broth a rich red-orange, more reminiscent of tomato than watermelon. See if your guests can guess the main ingredient. Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 1 hr (3 hr if serving chilled)

"Recently I had dinner at the Bacchus restaurant in Vancouver's Wedgewood Hotel," says Gail Sussman of Los Angeles, CA. "It seems safe to say that the Greek god himself would have appreciated the delicious rack of lamb. I'd be so grateful if you could obtain the chef's recipe."

Savor raw oysters served with three spicy, slightly sweet, and fiery salsas.

This recipe was created to accompany Grilled Chicken with Goat Cheese Stuffing, Peppers, Onions and Two Salsas. A little of this fiery sauce goes a long way. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This dish is a twist on chilaquiles, a tortilla-based hash. It's great served with salsa for breakfast.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe for chiles en macedonia combines ingredients from three states—Jalisco, Colima, and Michoacan. It came from the late Juan Diego Michel, who taught in Billy Cross's schools in Napa Valley and PuertoVallarta. The dish was a favorite of the Michel family in Jalisco, where, in his younger days, Juan Diego had his own restaurant and used the recipes from 200 years ago that had been passed down to him. To Cross, he was a Mexican-cooking mentor.

The recado is a dry rub that gives a burst of flavor to almost any meat or vegetable but is particularly wonderful on beef and corn.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Pack the precooked crab or shrimp and the tangy sauce separately for this starter.

Fried green plantains. When making tostones look for unripe plantains that are a deep shade of green: The recipe will not work with ripe plantains. Ideally, the plantains should be fried the day they are purchased, but they can be kept, wrapped well in a plastic bag and chilled, for 2 to 3 days.