Steak

When buying green beans, look for the skinniest ones—they have the best texture. Offer plenty of crusty bread, and open a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon to go with this hearty main-course salad.

Serve this intensely flavored curry — made with Thai red curry paste and coconut milk from the supermarket's Asian foods section — over steamed jasmine rice. A side salad of bean sprouts drizzled with Asian salad dressing would be a cooling accompaniment; follow it with mango slices.

Take-out sushi is the ideal starter for this meal, and purchased sesame noodles sprinkled with chopped peanuts go perfectly with the main course. Serving mini-scoops of refreshing fruit sorbets — like lemon, peach and boysenberry — with fortune cookies would be a really cool finish.

The secrets of a great cheese steak are the quality of the ingredients and the thinness of the raw beef. The beef is best cut into paper-thin slices on an electric slicer. If an electric slicer is out of the question (many home kitchen stores sell these small machines inexpensively), try our method below to achieve similar results.

Active time: 35 min Start to finish: 1 hr

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

(Bistecca ai Ferri con Rucola e Parmigiano) Bistecca ai ferri (beefsteak grilled over the fire) is sometimes called bistecca alla fiorentina; it is the signature dish of Florence, but the people of Cortona, in eastern Tuscany, also claim it as theirs. No matter where it's from, grilled steak is perhaps the most classic and luxurious Tuscan beef dish. Any succulent, thick-cut steak will do, although Tuscan chefs prefer porterhouse or T-bone, especially from their local Chianina cows. The meat is coated in oil and garlic, then grilled and served on a bed of arugula with lemon wedges and shaved Parmesan. Use only genuine Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese; a vegetable peeler makes it easy to shave thin, curling strips.

This is a terrific make-ahead appetizer. The steak must be coated with the spice rub and chilled overnight before grilling, then the empanadas can be assembled completely one day before baking.

Called Upper Peninsula Pasties, the original crusts, made with barley flour and little fat, were tough enough to survive a day in the copper mines. Boston-based pastry chef Greg Case has devised this more tender version. Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 2 1/4 hr

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

There's something for everyone in this traditional specialty. Don't forget to soak the bamboo skewers before using them.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Called pho in Vietnam, this unusual soup is a wonderful party centerpiece dish for an informal gathering. Start out by supplying everyone with a large soup bowl and a ladle. Place the soup tureen in the middle of the table. Have each guest take a generous helping of noodles first, then some meat and broth. Each serving is topped off with shredded lettuce, sliced green onion and a squeeze of lemon juice.

The combination of herbs, the rice noodles, and the garlicky lime sauce mark this pasta salad as Vietnamese.

This Vietnamese classic is usually made with top or bottom round beef, which is sliced and then marinated and grilled. We've adapted the recipe to use skirt or flank steak and made it easier by grilling the meat before slicing it.