Sage

A simply spectacular main-course. Ask the butcher to grind any pork trimmings to use in the stuffing. Either hard cider or Pinot Noir would be delicious alongside.

An elegant and simple main course.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Italian risotto, traditionally served as an appetizer, makes a great vegetarian meal when served with a salad. In this recipe, butter and cream have been replaced with a flavorful mushroom broth. Porcini mushrooms and Arborio rice are available at Italian markets, specialty food stores and some supermarkets.

Chestnuts are harvested in the area around Alba and figure in many savory and sweet dishes there, particularly stews like this ragout. Gathered after they have fallen, chestnuts are traditionally served with game, but they also pair well with veal-another staple of northern Italian cuisine. If fresh chestnuts are unavailable, roasted vacuum-packed chestnuts-sold in jars in the specialty foods section of many supermarkets-can be used. Supply crusty bread for soaking up the juices. Accompany with a radicchio and escarole salad, and uncork a Barolo.

Although traditional Italian polenta is simmered for nearly an hour, resulting in a very creamy consistency, for the following recipe we preferred the more rustic texture of this quickly cooked version.

The turkey's flavors of bacon and sage are repeated in this robust stuffing. Mushrooms, which have long been hunted in the heartland, add a nice touch.

Toss Italian greens like arugula and radicchio with a vinaigrette dressing and toasted walnuts for a fresh starter, and offer crunchy seeded breadsticks alongside this unusual risotto. Finish up with chocolate biscotti and espresso.

"Common crackers," good-keeping hard wheat flour crackers akin to ship's biscuits or hardtack, were found in early New England households and often made their way into poultry dressings. In this recipe, we add leeks and large quantities of the kinds of herbs cultivated in Colonial kitchen gardens.

Bacon was a staple meat for the pioneers. (They stored it in bags surrounded by bran for insulation.) As a result, the cured meat has found its way into a variety of heartland dishes. This all-American bird embellished with sage and bacon is a good example. Watch how to prepare and carve your bird with our streaming video demonstration.

Favorite Danish ingredients get dressed up in pretty packages for the holidays. Complete the side dish offerings with some oven-roasted potatoes topped with butter and lightly sprinkled with caraway.

Lane Crowther, Bon Appétit contributing editor, "Stuffing has always set the tone for our Thanksgiving dinners. We choose the stuffing—it might be Tex-Mex, or another regional American, or something else—then create the menu around it. A few years ago, the feast had an Italian accent, and a vegetable stuffing led the way."

Everyone wants the juiciest turkey possible for Thanksgiving, and we find that brined or kosher turkeys are best for this. If you'd like to try brining, stir together 8 quarts water with 2 cups kosher salt in a 5-gallon bucket lined with a large heavy-duty plastic garbage bag, then soak raw turkey, covered and chilled, 10 hours. (Kosher turkeys, which are salted during the koshering process, are just as succulent and flavorful as brined ones.) If you are making this entire menu in a single oven, bake the stuffing and sweet potatoes and reheat the potato parsnip purée while the turkey stands after roasting.

In this recipe, the delicious taste of risotto is blended with the crispiness and convenience of griddlecakes. They can be reheated in a very hot oven at the last minute.

Serve these festive birds with roasted broccoli (as easy as steamed) and a wild rice pilaf with sliced green onions. Finish with caramel ice cream topped with chocolate sauce and chopped walnuts.