Turkey

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.

Moussaka may be assembled 1 day in advance and refrigerated; bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until the center is hot.

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.

To reduce the fat, we eliminated the cheese and toasted the corn tortillas in the oven rather than frying them in oil.

If you’re wondering what to do with leftover holiday turkey, use it in this one-pot dish for the perfect post-holiday meal.

When you’ve had enough sandwiches made of leftover turkey, try this colorful stir-fry.

Fresh lemon, fresh parsley, and lots of dried herbs tucked between the skin and the meat infuse this turkey with sensational flavors. If there is leftover turkey, you can use it in Turkey Stew (page 167).

These flavorful patties are a leaner version of the breakfast staple. Serve them with Pancakes (page 290) or Blueberry Muffins (page 285).

With this recipe, you season and bake a turkey tenderloin, then make a sauce—all in one dish. It’s a great entrée to serve when you’re in a hurry and even greater when you’re the one cleaning up.

Preparation of this entrée is very fast paced, so have your side dishes ready before you begin cooking it. Mixed salad greens topped with Cider Vinaigrette (page 96) and Rice and Vegetable Pilaf (page 252) make good accompaniments.

Here’s a good way to use up some of that leftover holiday turkey!

This dish got me hooked on the La Caja China box roaster, which was introduced to me by Tom Romano, who along with his wife, Linda Gilbert, owns Broadway Catering in Sonoma, California. They use the La Caja a lot at home and for catered events. The guests are always awestruck with this mysterious box roaster and its fabulous results. The sauce is Tom’s nod to the flavors of the Caribbean, where the La Caja is from.

No matter how much you like to cook, everyone gets stuck in a rut. When you find yourself making the same old things, it’s time to cook out of your comfort zone. For us, this means a trip to any international market where one step inside we remember how much there still is to learn. The good news is that walking the aisles of the unfamiliar unlocks the secrets to many of the ingredients in our favorite restaurant dishes. The greens in the produce section alone will keep us busy for a year. We can’t shop when we’re hungry, so first we eat. Thankfully, the Vietnamese noodle bowls right next door energize and inspire our international shopping trips. Vietnamese noodle bowls are filled with contradictions in complete agreement—hot and cold, crunchy and soft, sweet and sour, rich and light. The bowls of warm thin noodles, cool leafy lettuce, bean sprouts, and herbs topped with any meat or seafood you like are perfect for leftover cheater meat. The sweet/salty/spicy dressing may appear way too complex for home cooking. It’s not. The international market has everything you need. Cooking out of your comfort zone will help you dissect the components and flavors of unfamiliar foods. Even if cooking Vietnamese at home sounds daunting, give this a try with leftover cheater meat just for the fun of better understanding how opposites get along.