Brunch

These muffins are inspired by a favorite dessert: sticky toffee pudding. But they are revamped for breakfast and renamed with hope that as you present your beloved with a plate of these, you'll be invited to open your Filofax and check on next Friday night.

In order to be kosher when served with meat, the risotto in these cakes is dairy-free. It gets its creaminess exclusively from the starchy rice, so it's important to cook it slowly, stirring continuously, to release as much starch as possible. If you don't need to avoid dairy, you could replace half the vegetable oil with melted unsalted butter and stir in 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese with the mushrooms and thyme for extra flavor.

Pistou—France's pesto—gives these simply poached eggs tons of flavor.

Speck, lightly smoked pork that is cured and air-dried, adds a richness to this dish. Look for Speck at Italian markets, specialty foods stores, or online at igourmet.com.

This simple dish has a quiche-like filling and baguette slices for a crust.

Meet the latke's larger, Swiss cousin: the Rösti. This recipe makes two giant potato cakes; if you want to serve them at the same time, you’ll need to use two skillets (heavy ones produce the crispest results).

Here's the perfect ending to the feast: a light, bright dessert of oranges, dates, and cinnamon.

This recipe doubles easily: Shape the extra hash browns into smaller cakes. Bake as directed, checking for doneness a bit sooner than indicated, and cool on the sheet. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm in the oven, then top with crème fraîche and smoked salmon or caviar for appetizers in the evening.

This adaptation of a classic Mexican beer-based cocktail was created by Eben Freeman, bartender of Tailor Restaurant in New York City. For authenticity, Freeman suggests using Pico Piquin pepper sauce, Valentina salsa picante, and Modelo Especial lager. However, he notes that each region in Mexico employs different products, so other brands can be substituted.

Just right for breakfast on the go, these muffins are subtly spiced, fluffy, and speckled with plenty of golden raisins.

This substantial early-fall dish was inspired by one served at Au Vieux Chêne, in Paris. Roasting some of the mushrooms and sautéing the rest until just warmed through creates different flavors and textures. Cumin seeds—popular with today's Parisian chefs—deepen the earthiness.

Bartender Naren Young developed these cocktails at Bobo Restaurant in New York to showcase the flavors of cachaca, a Brazilian spirit made from distilled sugarcane juice.

Literally "ranch-style eggs," huevos rancheros is a Mexican dish that consists of fried eggs in a red chile sauce served with tortillas. Here, the tortillas hold the baked eggs and beans. Serve them as soon as they come out of the oven so that the yolks don’t overcook.

Not a fin in sight here—just a light, sweet finish to a healthy meal.

Only use fresh corn in season for this recipe. As soon as corn is harvested, the sugar in the kernel begins to convert to starch and the corn begins to lose its sweetness. To store corn, leave on the husks and store it loosely wrapped in damp paper towels inside a paper bag. Refrigerate and use it within twenty-four hours. My friend, chef Marvin Woods, introduced me to the technique of grating the onion on a box grater instead of finely chopping it. When the onion is grated, it almost melts into the grits, adding a layer of onion flavor without any noticeable onion texture (always present with chopped onion, regardless of how fine the pieces). It also adds a bit more moisture to the grits than chopped onion does.

More festive than your usual bagel and lox, this jar layers arugula and green beans with smoked salmon and lemony egg salad.

The Seaman and Steel families are addicted to this homemade granola with dried blueberries and sweet dates. Serve it with a splash of milk or a spoonful of yogurt or ice cream, sprinkled on pancakes, or in a smoothie.

In this Spanish-style frittata, the potatoes and zucchini are characteristically creamy and filling. The dish is also a host's friend, since it tastes just right at room temperature.

Using his artist's eye, food editor and stylist Paul Grimes transformed the usual free-form summer tomato salad into a showstopping terrine with structure and elegance. A homemade vegetable broth is the base for the delicate aspic in which the curves of tomato, arranged by color, are suspended.