Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment. In a saucepan, combine milk, butter, salt, pepper, onion powder and thyme and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until combined. Return to heat and cook, stirring vigorously, until a dough forms and pulls away from side of pan

Remove pan from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Add 4 eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Dough will come apart with each egg and then come back together as you stir; add next egg after dough comes back together. You should end up with a sticky dough. Beat in cheese.

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets. Beat remaining egg with 1 Tbsp. water and brush mixture on dough to glaze. Bake for 10 minutes, then lower temperature to 350°F and bake 20 to 25 minutes longer, until golden brown. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Combine chickpeas, red peppers, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, salt, pepper and 1 T bsp. hot water in food processor and puree until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.

Cut cucumbers into 1/2 -inch-thick slices and scoop out seeds with a small spoon or melon baller, leaving bottom intact to form a cup. Fill each cup with hummus and serve.

Make roast: Two hours before cooking, remove meat from refrigerator and set on a countertop to bring to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 475°F. Combine flour, dry mustard and onion powder and pat onto roast. Season generously with salt and pepper. Place roast in large roasting pan, bone side down. Place a piece of onion at each corner of meat. Roast meat for 15 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 375°F and roast another 15 minutes per pound, approximately 1 hour total, until a meat thermometer registers 135°F for medium rare or 145°F for medium.

Remove roast from oven to platter, tent loosely with foil and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes. Roast's internal temperature will rise about 5°F to 10°F as it rests. When ready to serve, transfer to a cutting board and carve into thick slices.

Make gravy: Remove onions and all but 3 Tbsp. of fat from roasting pan. Place pan on 2 burners over medium heat, sprinkle in flour and cook, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes. Add wine and broth and bring to a boil, stirring and scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan. Reduce heat and simmer until gravy reaches desired consistency. Season gravy with salt and pepper and add any juices that accumulated on platter while meat was resting. Strain gravy and serve with roast.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Put shortening in a large shallow baking dish and place on top rack of oven as it heats. In a large saucepan, cover potatoes with boiling water, add 1 tsp. salt and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Drain potatoes and return to pot. Cover pot and, wearing oven mitts, hold lid on firmly and shake pan up and down 2 or 3 times to roughen edges of potatoes.

Remove hot baking dish from oven and place over 2 burners on medium-high heat. Carefully transfer potatoes to dish and baste them with melted shortening. Return dish to oven and roast potatoes for 30 minutes, basting once during roasting time.

Raise oven temperature to 425°F. Using tongs, turn potatoes over and continue to cook until golden brown and crispy, about 20 to 30 minutes longer, turning them again halfway through so that all sides get crispy and brown. Remove potatoes from shortening, drain on paper towels, season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Fill a bowl with ice cubes and water. Cook carrots in boiling salted water for 6 minutes. Add cauliflower; cook 5 minutes. Drain; pour into ice bath. Drain again.

Mist a 9-by-13-inch dish with cooking spray. Mix onion, garlic, horseradish, mayo, sour cream, salt and pepper. Stir in vegetables. Put into baking dish.

Stir butter into crumbs; sprinkle over vegetables. Cover; bake for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley; serve.

Fill a large bowl with ice cubes and water. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add green beans to pot and cook until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and plunge beans into ice bath. Drain beans again and dry on paper towels.

Warm olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and sauté until softened and lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Add green beans and butter and cook until beans are heated through, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with toasted almonds and serve.

Make cake: Preheat oven to 325°F. Mist a 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray; line with parchment. Sift cocoa and flour together in a small bowl.

Beat yolks and zest until thick, 8 minutes. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until fluffy. Add sugar; beat until glossy and stiff. Fold 1/4 of whites into yolks, then fold in remaining whites. Fold in juice and flour mixture. Do not overmix. Pour batter into pan; spread. Bake until cake springs back when touched, 12 minutes.

Sift enough cocoa onto a large kitchen towel to cover it. Invert warm cake onto towel. Carefully peel off parchment. Starting at long end and using towel as a guide, roll up cake and towel. Transfer roll, seam side down, to wire rack.

Make filling: Beat cream cheese, butter, juice and zest until creamy. Gradually beat in sugar and salt. Cover; chill until firm but spreadable, 40 minutes.

Make frosting: Melt chocolate; cool to room temperature. Mix cocoa, juice and 1 Tbsp. hot water. Beat butter, sugar and salt until fluffy. Mix in chocolate, then cocoa mixture.

Assemble cake: Unroll cake; remove towel. Reserve 2 T bsp. filling. Spread remaining filling over cake. Reroll cake. Cover with towel and chill, seam side down, until filling is set, about 30 minutes.

Cut cake on a diagonal; removing a 3-inch piece from each end for branches. Spread 1 T bsp. of filling on each piece; press against long side of cake at opposite ends. Frost cake. Draw lines with a fork to resemble bark. Draw circles on branches to look like rings. Chill.

Remove cake from refrigerator 1 hour before serving. Sift confectioners' sugar over cake, if desired.

Stir together wine, sugar, vanilla bean and seeds and 3 cups water in a pan large enough to hold pears standing up. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar.

Reduce heat to low, add pears, cover with parchment and simmer until pears are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove pears to a bowl; set aside. Remove vanilla bean. Raise heat to high; boil poaching liquid until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, 35 minutes. Cover and chill pears and syrup.

Whisk yogurt and syrup together. Spoon sauce onto serving plates; place pear in center of each.

In a large saucepan, combine 2750ml bottles red wine, 1/3 cup sugar, 3 cinnamon sticks, 12 whole cloves, 1/4 tsp. each ground nutmeg and allspice, 1 orange and 1 lemon (both cut into 1/4-inch slices). Place saucepan over medium-low heat and bring wine mixture to a simmer. Simmer gently for 20 minutes. Serve warm.