Lime

Dear SOS: My coworker raves about the chicken tequila fettuccine from California Pizza Kitchen. Her birthday is coming up in February, and we would like to make the dish for a girls' night in to celebrate. Do you have the recipe? Janelle Webb Bakersfield -- Dear Janelle: Happy birthday to your friend, and have fun celebrating! California Pizza Kitchen was happy to share its recipe, which we've adapted here. -- Noelle Carter -- California Pizza Kitchen's chicken tequila fettuccine Total time: 1 hour, 15 minutes Servings: 4 to 6 Note: Adapted from California Pizza Kitchen.

Who says pancakes are just for breakfast? These savory pancakes from Yotam Ottolenghi get their flavor from a colorful blend of spinach, green onions, cumin and serrano chile. Round out the harmony with a pat of lime butter spiced with cilantro, garlic and chile flakes, and you can call it a meal any time of the day. The whole dish comes together in less than an hour. For more quick-fix dinner ideas, check out our video recipe gallery . Food editor Russ Parsons and Test Kitchen manager Noelle Carter show you how to fix several dishes in an hour or less.

Cocktails at Kate Mantilini: Kate Mantilini, celebrating its 25th year, announced a new cocktail program. The Beverly Hills restaurant -- founded by Harry Lewis, who also started the Hamburger Hamlet chain in 1950 -- has tapped Devon Espinosa to create a golden-age-of-Hollywood cocktail menu. All cocktails are $12 and include: Key Largo , made with Sailor Jerry's spiced rum, coconut, lime and falernum; Cardinali with Bombay dry gin, Dolin Blanc and Campari; Don Draper, an old-fashioned of Buffalo Trace bourbon, Carpano Antica vermouth, Jelnick Fernet and Allspice Dram; Table 24 -- Dewar's White Label, St-Germain, lemon, ginger, honey and blackberries; Passion for Hamlet with Russian Standard vodka, passionfruit, lemon and house-made grenadine; Cucumber Ricky with El Jimador tequila, lime, cucumbers and soda; Chartreuse Swizzle with green Chartreuse, lime, pineapple and falernum; and Winter Julep -- Apple Jack, spiced syrup, mulled apple cider and mint.

When I was in Washington, D.C., recently, I got turned around and took the wrong bus. When I got off, I realized I must be very close to Jaleo , the first restaurant of Spanish chef José Andrés (The Bazaar). It had just been redone and I wanted to check it out. All quiet on a Saturday afternoon. We took two seats at the bar and ordered a glass of Albariño and the cocktail a new friend had enthusiastically recommended: Hometown Hero. I loved the cocktail's tart sweetness, the almost smoky taste of the mezcal and the bitter herbs of Cocchi Americano vermouth with a high note of cinnamon.

I've always thought of Cognac as a drink that should be sipped. And it is. The smooth honey-colored liquor hits your tongue and warms your throat as it goes down, eliciting an "ah" sigh that deserves a leisurely pause of enjoyment. So when I found myself sucking down Cognac cocktails faster than the waiter could bring them Monday night I alarmed myself -- but when Cognac connoisseur and eighth-generation Hennessy family member Maurice Hennessy toasts you with a pink Cognac cocktail, you drink it. Hennessy visited the Crustacean restaurant in Beverly Hills on Monday for a Cognac tasting.

Tonight's dinner recipe is a Culinary SOS request from Amanda in Encino: "We spent the weekend in Los Cabos and had an incredible scallop ceviche dish at the Tequila & Ceviche Bar at Las Ventanas. It was so fresh, I think it came straight from the Gulf of California. The chef said they marinate the scallops in lime juice to "cook" them. It looked beautiful, tasted even better and seemed pretty simple to make. Could it be that easy? Would they be willing to share the recipe? It would be a great way to impress my friends this summer.

Yesterday I had some friends coming over for dinner. I had a tree full of Mexican limes. In the usual way of things, I'd make a no-fail dessert: key lime pie, cool and refreshing in this weather. But that morning, poking around my computer, I came across a recipe I'd saved from pastry chef and Paris-based raconteur David Lebovitz's blog " Living the Sweet Life in Paris ": lime meringue tart. I decided to try that instead, something to take me out of my comfort zone. Basically, it's a lime curd filling made with butter, eggs, lime juice, lime zest and sugar with a billowy meringue topping.

Recently, reader Tina Nelissen contacted us with a Culinary SOS request for Key lime pie: "Bob Heilman's Beachcomber  restaurant in Clearwater Beach, Fla., has the most exquisite Key lime pie I have ever eaten. It isn't heavy - it is light but not airy like a mousse. The crust was not soggy on the bottom - almost like it was just made. Do you think they'd share the recipe?" In this Eat Beat, Test Kitchen manager Noelle Carter demonstrates how to make Heilman's take on this classic dessert.

Total time: 1 hour, plus 1 hour cooling time for the artichokes Servings: 4 Note: Adapted from Alain Passard's "The Art of Cooking with Vegetables" 4 medium artichokes with tightly packed leaves 12 large fresh (not dried) bay leaves 6 to 8 tablespoons olive oil Juice of 1 lime Fleur de sel or salt of your choice 1. Trim back the stocks of the artichokes, snip the outer edges of the leaves and trim the top. Cut the bay leaves in half lengthwise.