Fry

(Stir-Fried Rice Noodles)

Wong uses Fontina cheese and includes a slice of foie gras in each of these improbably luxurious grilled cheese sandwiches. At the restaurant, they are served with a Martini glass filled with swirled, chilled red and yellow tomato soups that the waiter instructs you to down in one gulp. Salud!

Sound familiar? OK, we admit it —when we're on the road we're partial to this well-known breakfast sandwich. But at home we like to prepare it this way.

Bente Birkedal-Hansen of Bethesda, Maryland, says that Azalea Restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama, does a great job with catfish, serving the whole fish with an Asian-style black bean sauce. It would make an impressive main course at a dinner party. If whole catfish are difficult to get at your local supermarket, order them from the fishmonger and have the fish cleaned.

This Yemenite-style dish incorporates a highly seasoned matzo meal coating that keeps the fish moist.

David Barber, chef at Three Square Grill in Portland, Oregon, writes: "Even though I cook for a living, I still enjoy having friends over for dinner. My wife, Barbara, and I actually have the worst kitchen in the world. But that doesn't matter when you have what I consider the basics, like a good sharp chef's knife and a stand mixer. And because Barbara is a gardener, we've learned how to make impressive meals using fewer, but fresher, ingredients."

This can also be made with turkey cutlets.

These replace the more familiar Hanukkah latkes that are prepared with grated raw potatoes. The croquettes are made with bolbess, the Jewish mashed potato stuffing for goose. But like latkes, they are fried in oil to symbolize the miracle of the oil that is the basis for Hanukkah. In the second century b.c., a one-day supply of oil burned for eight days and nights after followers of Judah Maccabee captured the Holy Temple of Jerusalem from their Syrian oppressors. Fried foods are served at Hanukkah in commemoration.

Only 1 tablespoon of oil in the filling makes these a low-fat entrée, and using ready-made wrappers instead of crepes makes it an easy one. These freeze nicely.

(Stuffed Chilies)

The New Prospect Café, a health-oriented restaurant and catering company in Park Slope, Brooklyn, includes these curried sweet potato fritters on their Hanukkah menu. Add some fresh grated ginger to the pancakes for an Asian touch. Sweet potatoes need the flour to give the pancakes body.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

From Jane Butel's cooking school in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

A common ingredient in Irish baked goods, buttermilk is put to a deliciously different use here in an innovative dessert from Lacken House in Kilkenny, Ireland. The garnish of fried and sugared herb sprigs is a distinctive accent.

This is a specialty of Hanukah. Of several fritters that I have tried, this one is the most scrumptious, because the apples are macerated in brandy, which gives them a most wonderful flavor, and the batter is very light.

"When I was a kid, corn was often served with the turkey dinner in our house," says Jim Fobel, cookbook author. "Even though corn season was over, my mom thought that it seemed appropriate for the meal. Here, I've used corn to make little pancakes. The good news is that they can be made a day ahead and then rewarmed in the oven just before serving."