Nut

The killer combination of coconut, almonds, and milk chocolate makes for a delectable candy bar. One of the most iconic of American candies, the Almond Joy, is famous for its creamy coconut filling topped with almonds and covered in milk chocolate. Its sibling, the Mounds bar, has the same coconut center but no almonds. Although the recipes for these two candies are top secret, it's possible to make wonderfully coconutty chocolate candies in your own home. History: The Almond Joy was invented in 1946 by the Peter Paul Candy Manufacturing Company in Connecticut. The Mounds bar was the original version of the candy, premiering in 1921. Peter Paul used the unusual strategy of creating two very similar candies and advertising them as competing versions, encouraging consumers to pick a favorite. This tactic worked: Almond Joy and Mounds became two of the best-selling candies in the 1920s. Serving Suggestions: Trick-or-treaters will be delighted to find these candies in the Halloween candy bag. Wrap them in foil or place them in candy cups. Candy-Making Notes: You can eliminate the almonds and cover the coconut centers with dark chocolate. Better yet, make both versions and give your guests a pleasant dilemna of which to choose.

Minestra di porri e castagne Piemonte

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

Often thought of as savory ingredients, pine nuts and rosemary make an exciting, unexpected pairing in sweets. This play on a classic Tuscan dessert makes a nice ending to a fall or wintertime meal, be it simple or fancy. The fragrant, lightly sweetened whipped cream and the caramel tones of the filling seem to magically warm up a chilly day. You can candy a sprig of rosemary for a pretty garnish, if you like, or leave it fresh.

In the early 1990s we hired a chef who loved to bake, and he came up with this pie. It became an instant classic. The fruit is only lightly sweetened, and its tartness combined with the sugar-crumb topping is a perfect pairing. Served warm with vanilla ice cream, it's heavenly. If you use frozen berries, increase them by 1/2 cup each and defrost slightly before tossing with the other ingredients.

A bittersweet chocolate ganache is spread in the bottom of the crust and is also piped on top of the nutty caramel filling.

Shape some tuiles into cups, then use the remaining batter to make cookies to serve alongside.

The buttery, nutty cookies are dusted with powdered sugar while they're still warm from the oven.

Treviso is a red, spear-shaped variety of radicchio. Combining it with prewashed baby greens makes a bowlful of holiday colors. Keep the cheese cold until grating so that it forms firm strips.

Editor's note: Serve this salad with Marcus Samuelsson's Maple-Glazed Tuna .

What could be more American than candy corn? Try maple pecan popcorn treats, for starters. They're made with three ingredients—maple syrup, pecans, and popcorn—that originated in the New World.

We found the greens for this salad by foraging in the woods and fields. You can forage farmers’ markets for tender young dandelion greens, purslane, wild fennel, and pea shoots to make a tasty salad. Even your refrigerator or kitchen garden might yield some goodies, like chives, tender young Italian parsley, thinly sliced red cabbage, or the yellow leaves from celery hearts.

Food editor Andrea Albin, who developed this menu, says that her mom, Veronica, who lives in Houston, should get all the glory here. Raw celery and toasted almonds lace cooked cranberries with terrific crunch.

When earthy greens are tossed with a walnut- and garlic-scented oil and lots of crunchy nuts, they taste delightfully new.

A handful of golden pecans and walnuts is just the nibble you need to whet your appetite before a grand holiday meal. These take very little time to prepare and can be made well ahead of the big day. Savvy southerners, by the way, put an order in early for plump, buttery new-crop pecans. Get plenty, so you'll have enough for the pecan pie .

A jumble of fruit and nuts cascading over tender frangipane creates quite a picture, and there is flavor to match. Although frangipane sounds fancy, it's a breeze to whiz up in a food processor—simply grind the almonds and sugar, then add the flour, butter, and eggs. The oven's heat concentrates the grapes' sweetness and perfume, and dusting the hot tart with confectioners sugar bestows a subtle shine.

A rich filling is studded with walnuts and imbued with citrusy notes of orange, then packaged between a crust and a lattice top, both made from the cookie-like pastry dough known as pasta frolla in Italy.

Have you ever visited the marketplace of Jerusalem and noticed small wooden imprinted molds with handles? To be sure, the merchant is hard put to explain their significance. They are ma'amoul molds. Ma'amoul means "filled" in Arabic, and these molds make filled cookies eaten by Jews and Arabs throughout the Middle East, especially in Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt. A piece of short-pastry dough the size of a walnut is pressed into the crevices of the ma'amoul mold. A tablespoon of date or nut filling is inserted, and you close the pastry with your fingers. Holding the handle of the wooden mold, you slam it on the table, letting the enclosed dough fall out. On the top of the cookie is a lovely design. After baking and rolling in confectioners' sugar, the design stands out even more. Of course, the ma'amoul mold is not necessary to the preparation of these sweets, though it certainly adds to their beauty. The tines of a fork, tweezers with a serrated edge, or a tool of your own devising will do quite well. The following ma'amoul recipe came from Aleppo to the Syrian Jewish community on Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn. These cookies are served at Purim. A similar cookie, called karabij here (nataife in Syria), topped with marshmallow fluff, is also served at Purim. Arasibajweh—rolled cookies from the same dough and stuffed with dates—are served at the New Year or Hanukkah.