Thyme

This dish combines aroma and flavor in a unique fashion: Bowls of steaming rosemary vapor accompany the luxurious main course. The piney fragrance of fresh rosemary adds another dimension to the taste experience.

A superb pairing from cooking teacher and recipe developer Rochelle Palermo Torres.

We recommend using a sturdy food mill (available at cookware stores) to help produce a thick stew base from simmered vegetables and fish. Alternatively, you can use a large heavy-duty mesh sieve to strain the seafood broth. Then push through enough fish and vegetables to make 13 cups of stew base. Serve cioppino with sourdough toasts.

Fresh cranberries make a tangy, slightly tannic, and very refreshing sorbet. Infused with the fruity aroma of orange, lemon, or English thyme, the sorbet is a delightfully unique cranberry dish to serve before, during, or after Thanksgiving dinner.

Purchased puff pastry simplifies this flavorful starter. What to drink: Open a bottle of Champagne or Sancerre to pour with the cheese twists and the Corn and Lobster Chowder.

I didn't grow up eating pork, so I was pleased to find out how lean and flavorful it was when I made this roast loin of pork. I cooked it the way I cook lots of meats — roasted with carrots, potatoes, and fennel. It's important to let meat rest after it's cooked; you'll find that all meats become juicier and more tender after 15 to 20 minutes. The rub on this comes from my dear friend Anna Pump and her wonderful Loaves and Fishes Cookbook.

Serve with: Steamed new potatoes and mixed green salad with a citrus vinaigrette. Dessert: A lemon tart from the bakery.

(Salade de Lentilles Vertes aux Lardons) Smoked ham and bacon give this lentil salad a rich, robust flavor. Serve it alongside roasted meats or poultry.

We recommend using the freshest watercress possible — if not at its best, it can give the sauce a slightly bitter taste. (Try hydroponic watercress; it's generally better than conventionally grown supermarket cress.) Tanis suggests skimming all the fat from the cooking liquid and serving the broth as a first-course soup, garnished with toasted slices of French bread.

You can start preparing these one day ahead. What to drink: A svelte red Burgundy from the Côte de Nuits or a Pinot Noir from Oregon's Willamette Valley.

In a classic confit, meat cooks (and is then preserved) in its own fat. Here, lemons cook in their own juices to become the basis for an overnight marinade.

Simplicity at its most comforting, this dish also makes a wonderful breakfast side.

The bisque is very rich, so a small serving (about two-thirds cup per person) is plenty. At the restaurant, this is baked in individual crocks, with puff pastry on top.

Pitted prunes replace the more customary mushrooms in this delicious variation.

Our food editors agree that this is one of the best-tasting and most elegant shepherd's pies they've ever had. The recipe is not as complicated as it appears at first glance—the different components all come together to make a complete meal in a single dish. The potatoes are stiffer than the average mash because they will be forming the crust for the pie.

For this rustic French meal, start with mixed greens dressed with lemon vinaigrette; serve new potatoes tossed in butter and parsley with the beef; and end with plum tarts topped with whipped cream. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.