American

For indirect cooking on a charcoal grill, rake hot coals onto opposite sides before grilling; place a foil pan in the center to catch drippings. Set the turkey on the grates over the pan; grill, covered but with the vents partially opened.

To bake individual pies, use 6 10-ounce ramekins, and reduce cooking time to 20 to 30 minutes.

It may seem like a bit of trouble to brine the turkey, but it is well worth it: This is the best turkey we’ve ever tasted. If you don’t have a stockpot large enough to hold the turkey, you can use a new plastic tub instead. It is helpful to have an extra refrigerator to brine the turkey, as it takes up a lot of space.

Add the giblets and neck to the pan with the turkey 1 1/2 hours after the oven temperature is reduced to 350°F in step 5 (recipe above).

We brined our turkey for 24 hours, so leave plenty of time for this recipe. If you don’t brine yours, skip steps 1 and 2. The USDA recommends cooking the turkey until the thickest part of the thigh registers 180°F. For a moister bird, we cooked ours to 165°F; it continues to cook outside the oven as it rests.

You can bake the chicken wings a day ahead and store them, covered, in the refrigerator; bring them to room temperature before grilling.

The potatoes must be parboiled so they will be done at the same time as the chicken.

This recipe makes enough sauce for 8 chickens. Refrigerate leftover sauce for up to 2 weeks.

This sauce was created by chef Pierre Schaedelin.

To fry the sage leaves for garnish, place them in hot oil until they start to curl, about 3 seconds; remove with a slotted spoon.

Roasting the garlic in its skin mellows and sweetens its flavor; to remove the cloves, squeeze them with your fingers or press on the cloves with a butter knife.

You can cook the ribs a day ahead and store them, wrapped in plastic, in the refrigerator; bring them to room temperature before grilling.

One to two hours before baking, remove the ham from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.

Filet mignon can be prepared this way as well: Sear two 8-ounce steaks over direct heat for 3 minutes per side; grill over indirect heat until medium-rare, 5 to 6 minutes more per side.

Serve this dish with a platter of mixed garden tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with coarse salt.