Chestnut

Serve any leftovers for breakfast, or as a light supper with salad.

Ginger and Shaoxing rice wine give a deep, round intensity to chicken, turning it into something sumptuous. The salty savor of country ham and chewy, dense chestnuts help make each forkful a hit.

Think of the best sweet-potato pie you've ever eaten and then take away the crust so you can revel solely in its silky goodness. A bite of this pudding is full and round, with hits of chestnut and dried fruit.

Floating on the surface of this pale, silky soup, which tastes of the essence of parsley, is a trompe l'oeil surprise: What looks like shaved truffles is actually thinly sliced chestnuts, adding a nutty sweetness.

This recipe was created by chef Traci Des Jardins of San Francisco's Jardinière. It's part of a special menu she created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program.

This recipe was created by chef Traci Des Jardins of San Francisco's Jardinière. It's part of a special menu she created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program.

Chestnuts play deliciously against roasted grapes. Roasted chestnuts in jars can be found at some supermarkets, at specialty foods stores, and online at markys.com or mastercaviar.com.

Improv: Instead of water chestnuts, try sugar snap peas or toasted walnuts.

This ice cream doesn't hit you over the head with the flavor of chestnuts. Mellow and creamy, it's great on its own — though when we're not having it with the Tarte Tatin, we like to serve it with a delicate butter cookie.

These flavorful pancakes make a great breakfast (drizzled with maple syrup) or appetizer (topped with chives).

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Feast: Food to Celebrate Life, by Nigella Lawson. There is no doubt about it, anything with chestnuts in it, even if they come vacuum-packed or canned and are perennially available, is so right for this time of year. This hums the tune, but in a subtler key. The chestnuts are present, in the form of a gritty, grainy sweetened purée: some to add to the cookie base; some to fold through the plain cheesecake filling before baking; and yet more — well, it is Christmas — to drip in a thick syrup over the cake when served. And yet, you know, the chestnuttiness is not blaring: there is something undeniably festive about this, but not in a full-on, party hat kind of a way. As with all cheesecakes, you need to bake this the day before you want to serve it.

Cooking a pot of rice is much easier than tearing up and toasting bread for stuffing. Assembling the side dish a day ahead saves time, too.

A sumptuous chocolate-caramel ganache alternates with layers of cake sweetened with chestnut cream.

Even if you love dark meat, you won't be disappointed with this easy alternative to serving a whole turkey. Roasting the turkey breast at high heat for a short time locks in tons of meaty juice, and the filling combines stuffing and cranberry sauce in one dish. Pan juices, whisked together with apple cider, top it all off.

A smooth chestnut purée and plenty of butter make these mashed potatoes a must-have at the holiday table.

For convenience, make the cornbread one day before preparing the stuffing.