Fry

Salsa de Chile Serrano Frito Serrano chiles give this Mexican sauce its bite and light green color. Use it on warm tortillas or grilled meats.

This recipe is a great use for cold leftover rice. Order extra rice with Chinese takeout or make a double batch of your own one night — you can keep it, chilled, up to 1 week. Active time: 35 min Start to finish: 35 min

French toast is always better if your bread is a little dry — a day or two old, or leave the slices out overnight. Serve these crusty slices with bacon and warmed maple syrup, jam, or marmalade, or sprinkle them with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.

Two kinds of cornmeal are essential here: The fine cornmeal keeps the coating together, and the polenta makes it crisp.

The idea for this salad came from Carlos Conrique, who worked at Billy Cross's cooking school in Morelia, a beautiful 16th-century Mexican town. Today, Conrique is a chef at the Blue Door, in Miami's Delano Hotel, where his dishes are still influenced by his childhood in Guadalajara.

These can be topped with caviar or smoked salmon for a special-occasion appetizer, but they are also good with fried eggs or as a side dish for grilled fish.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min

Also called bimuelos, these are a typical Sephardic Hanukkah dessert. The oil in which they are deep-fried commemorates the time during the second century B. C. when a vial of oil, enough for only one day, is said to have burned in the Temple for eight days after the Jews' victory over their Syrian oppressors.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Cracker-like pancakes are a nice snack.

Easy sides would be a salad of mixed lettuces with balsamic vinaigrette, a whole wheat baguette and roasted baby potatoes. Finish with apple tarts.

Hangtown Fry This omelet hails from Hangtown, a town northeast of Sacramento that was named for the notorious hangings once held there (it's now called Placerville). The dish seems to have come into existence during the Gold Rush, as the high-priced breakfast of a lucky miner, and later became a specialty at San Francisco's Tadich Grill. It is traditionally served with bacon.

Why Madame? Because it has an egg, of course.