Thanksgiving

This is the perfect entrée for a holiday dinner for two. Complete the meal with sautéed green beans and wild mushrooms and a wild-rice pilaf with chopped fresh parsley and hazelnuts. For dessert? Chocolate mousse topped with rum-spiked whipped cream and chopped crystallized ginger.

The tang of the cranberry juice is balanced by the smoothness of the amaretto and vodka.

This quick stock, which uses the turkey's neck, heart, and gizzard to enrich purchased turkey or chicken stock, makes enough for the stuffing, mole sauce, and turkey and gravy.

Here we've taken pecan pie above and beyond its usual corn-syrupy incarnation. A layer of bittersweet chocolate adds richness to the dessert while simultaneously balancing its sweetness. And an abundance of pecans makes for a supremely satisfying filling.

Here's an idea: Save a few of the toasted pumpkin seeds to use as a garnish. That little bit of extra crunch will complement the sweet, succulent squash beautifully.

Caramel and tart Granny Smiths that turn almost saucy breathe new style into upside-down cake; toasted walnuts, ground with sugar and mixed into the batter, lend moistness, and their flavor is teased out with spices and a nip of almond extract.

A thin layer of plum jam beneath the custard is visually gorgeous—it's a magenta pinstripe just under the pumpkin orange—and provides a surprisingly delicious twist, since the tart plums bring out the best in all the other traditional flavors of pumpkin pie.

Laced with grappa, this lovely molded jelly works well with the robustness of all the other dishes on this menu (and cranberries and grappa bring out the best in each other).

Since roasting brings out the best in most vegetables, food editor Melissa Roberts decided to throw the potatoes into the oven along with the garlic and parsnips, their companions in this dish. The result is an earthy mash, with chunks of caramelized parsnip and savory-sweet garlic.

A hit of coarse-grain mustard and a topping of toasted parmesan crumbs transform creamed onions from a sleepy staple into an exciting side that can hold its own.

Cider plus cider vinegar brings a sophisticated layered sweetness and a slight edge to perennial candied carrots.

Ruby Port makes for a cranberry sauce that's all grown-up—and its robust flavors, paired with a bit of tangy citrus, complement all the other foods on the plate.

In the world of stuffing, this one is relatively light, though no less satisfying than a more traditional mix. And it tastes like a gift from the forest, with hearty cremini mushrooms, fresh sage, and the crunch of toasted hazelnuts.

If you're eager for your turkey to have a luscious, crisp skin, you'll love this glaze, which takes it to a whole new level—maple syrup caramelizes on the surface, creating a superthin, almost glasslike, slightly sticky coating all over. And because the syrup is steeped with black peppercorns before glazing, it adds a nuanced floral quality along with a hint of heat.

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.

Cranberries are a rarity, even to this day, in Italy, so this crostata represents an achievement that's uniquely Italian-American. Though many crostatas employ jam, this one gets its zest from fresh cranberries cooked down and paired with an almond-scented crust—and the proportion of filling to crust is our idea of perfection.

This gently sweet ricotta tart provides a creamy base to a rich compote of dried fruit, which includes figs, sour cherries, and apricots (we much prefer the tangy California kind over Turkish). It's much lighter than a cheesecake, but it hits all the right spots. The Miraglia family likes the tart chilled, but we also loved it at room temperature.

You've encountered a million potato-bacon-cheese combos in your lifetime, but in retrospect they all seem to be rehearsals for this one, a classic of Miraglia Eriquez's Calabrian grandmother Mary Pacella, who immigrated to Brooklyn in 1934. Crispness abounds, from the bacon to the slight crust on the roasted potatoes, yielding to creamy, very potatoey interiors.

Kumquats and cranberries turn out to be a perfect match, since their flavors are similar in intensity: The former contributes a pleasant citrusy bitterness to the latter's signature tartness.