Beverages

You can serve this dish hot, cold, or at room temperature. Cook the fish in batches if your oven is small. Dried beans work best, but you can substitute 6 cups of drained, rinsed canned beans; begin with step 3.

The USDA recommends cooking duck breasts until they register 170°F. For a moister breast, we cooked ours to 125°F; after it rests, the duck will be cooked to medium-rare. Chicken is also delicious in this recipe: Substitute four 12-ounce boneless skin-on chicken breast halves for the duck. In step 3, don’t score the breasts. To cook, heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat; cook until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Flip the chicken, and transfer to the oven. Cook until the chicken reaches 175°F, about 25 minutes. For the sauce, substitute dry white wine for the red wine.

To save time, you can complete the first three steps and chop onion and celery the day before. If you use shelled chestnuts, chop, then proceed with step 2.

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.

Hard cider has been fermented, so it contains alcohol. It is a traditional ingredient in Normandy, France, but you can substitute dry white wine.

Serve this stewlike chicken dish over couscous or mashed potatoes, or with a crusty baguette to soak up the flavorful broth. We used Cerignola olives from southern Italy; they are large and firm enough to hold up to slow cooking methods like braising.

This sauce was created by chef Pierre Schaedelin.

Roasting the garlic in its skin mellows and sweetens its flavor; to remove the cloves, squeeze them with your fingers or press on the cloves with a butter knife.

Red onions, cut at an angle, form a V-shaped roasting rack for the chicken.

One to two hours before baking, remove the ham from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.

This recipe is inspired by ones that use flanken, a cut of beef from the chuck end of short ribs. In Jewish custom, the meat is boiled and served with horseradish. Our version uses braised boneless ribs and pairs them with earthy vegetables.

Serve with Polenta (page 377).