Orange

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 30 min

Variant: Eddie Brown

This lovely finale is from Dwayne Fortier of La Reserve in Houston. Begin preparing it well before serving, as the mousse needs to freeze for at least six hours.

If blood oranges are unavailable, simply use the sweetest oranges you can find.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Toasted Coconut Dacquoise with Orange Pineapple Ice Cream .

Here's a tropical take on one of the most popular warm-weather drinks. This rendition is served on the rocks.

One for the nut-lover. A refreshing apple compote is topped with an almond (or hazelnut) sponge. Simple and delicious, it's an ideal Passover dessert.

Malouines At the restaurant, these cookies are about the size of a dime. We found them much easier to work with, however, if we made them a little bigger.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Residents of Maghreb use semolina to make tiny pasta pellets called kesksu in Arabic. Unlike pasta made with other types of wheat flour, pasta made from semolina does not become mushy during cooking. The old-fashioned way of making these pellets is to mix semolina flour with water, roll the dough into tiny balls, sift it over a medium-meshed wire sieve to remove any excess flour, then steam the final product over boiling water or a stew. Instant couscous, available at most supermarkets, is prepared by adding boiling water. Although not as fluffy as the classic type, it is more than acceptable for seffa and easy to prepare. Israelis make a larger form of couscous, which is lightly toasted; do not substitute for the regular type. In the Maghreb, couscous is both everyday fare—served in most households, both rich and poor, several times a week—and a food for special occasions. It is most commonly used as the base for flavorful meat, poultry, fish, or vegetable stews. For special occasions, however, it is sweetened and topped with dried fruits and nuts. Seffa is also made by mounding couscous on a platter and sprinkling sugar on top instead of stirring it. Seffa with dried fruits is a traditional Moroccan Hanukkah dish. For Rosh Hashannah, it is sprinkled with pomegranate seeds or small grapes. On Tu b'Shevat and other special occasions, it is garnished with datils rellenos (stuffed dates) and dried fruit. Moroccans prefer desserts rich and sugar, and their seffa is generally sweeter than Tunisian versions.