Stew

Suitable accompaniments to this risotto-like dish are crusty bread, an avocado and orange salad with a cilantro vinaigrette and, to top it off, coconut pie.

This fragrant stew is great over couscous.

The port cities of Normandy-Caen among them-offer almost endless choices for fall menu planning. For this satisfying stew, the natural bounty of Normandy's waters, the rich cream of its pasturelands and its distinctive apple-based brandy called Calvados are combined with savory root vegetables from the local harvest. Start out with your favorite pâté and some cornichons, and serve a crusty baguette with the stew. Pour a white Burgundy or hard cider.

The word mash means mung bean in Farsi and Farsi-related languages like Azeri and Tajik, as well as in Turkic languages such as Uzbek and Uighur. The word kichiri is like the Hindi word kitchri, a name for rice dishes made by cooking rice together with other ingredients. (The British took the idea and the name and turned it into "kedgeree.") We like this satisfying meal-in-one stew we learned in Tajikistan. Potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes give variety of taste and texture to the main event, a spiced combination of mung beans (yellow dal) and long-grain rice. Mashkichiri is quick and easy to prepare once the mung beans have soaked, and all too easy to eat in large quantities when accompanied by plenty of yogurt. Serve it as a simple meal in one, or serve with kebabs and a side dish of something crunchy, like sliced cucumbers or radishes, or Persian pickled radish. The winter version of this dish would have no tomatoes, and would use more carrots and onions instead. Winters in Central Asia are harsh, and there are few fresh vegetables to be had. Root vegetables, which can be stored and used when other vegetables are available, aren't an important part of the winter diet.

This Italian-style stew — called cioppino — makes a hearty supper. Serve it with a green salad, garlic bread and a crisp white wine.

This dish is named after the copper Portuguese cooking vessel, the cataplana, in which it is traditionally cooked.

Parsnips, carrots, leeks and baby potatoes complement the chicken in this appealing one-dish supper. It's fun to begin the meal with a good old-fashioned relish tray--we like carrot and celery sticks, radishes and sweet pickles--and to end with a fresh fruit pie. Uncork a distinctive Sauvignon Blanc.

Turn your leftover turkey into a warming, crowd-pleasing chili for dinner tonight.

Oxtail stew is a popular dish in Jamaica. Here's a recipe from Geva's in San Francisco that adds lima beans and a touch of heat from jalapeño chilies for a terrific rendition.

Pass warm biscuits, or stick with tradition and mound some cooked white rice in the center of each bowl of soup. For a nice go-with, toss shredded lettuce with artichoke hearts, sliced mushrooms and creamy buttermilk dressing. Stay with the southern theme by ending with pecan pie.

Using packaged chili seasoning--the kind with separate pouches for the seasoning and the hot pepper--allows adjustment of the "heat" in this southwestern-style dish.