Stuffing

It will take about 45 minutes to peel the pearl onions for this recipe. If you're strapped for time, you can substitute 1 1/2 pounds of thawed frozen pearl onions, which won't need to be blanched.

This dressing is best cooked in a dish of its own, which also allows the top layer of bread to brown to an appealing crisp.

Here's something good for vegetarians, too. Just use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and bake in a dish.

Serve this stuffing alongside your Christmas turkey, ham, goose or duck. Add an extra dose of chestnuts to your meal by offering the Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts and Bacon.

Michael McLaughlin, cookbook author, says, "Not all Thanksgiving traditions originated decades ago. This recent addition to my holiday menu lineup was inspired by my move to Santa Fe. With locally grown green chilies readily available and pine nuts growing on piñon trees right outside my back door, a southwestern-style stuffing incorporating both ingredients seemed a natural. The tequila-soaked raisins are a sweet surprise." Make the corn bread a day ahead.

Sicilian cooking is hot right now, so we've taken some of its classic, assertive ingredients and put them into a hearty stuffing. It's something new for the turkey. See how to chop peppers .

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 2 hr

This easy dressing makes a great side dish for roast chicken or fried pork chops.

Cajun flavors—andouille sausage, corn bread, red bell pepper and cayenne pepper—combine in an excellent side dish that brings color and spice to the Thanksgiving table.

Oyster stuffing is more traditionally associated with the New England states, but this one teams the shellfish (also common to Pacific waters) with a classic ingredient from Northern California—sourdough bread. It's an outstanding rendition of an old-fashioned stuffing.

Jeanne Thiel Kelley, Bon Appétit contributing editor, says, "My dad makes a great stuffing that has sweet Italian sausage in it. I used to love going with him to get the sausage from Pumas Italian market in Los Angeles. I would pick out a new cookie and come home with a shape of pasta I had never seen before. These days, I don't always get to celebrate Thanksgiving with my parents, so rather than make a wanna-be version of Dad's stuffing, I developed this one, which is pretty darn good."

We've combined two holiday heavy hitters — chestnut stuffing and sausage stuffing — into one delicious dish. We call for bacon in addition to fresh pork to bring in a bit of smokiness.

This recipe originally accompanied Roast Turkey with Bourbon Glaze . Here are two southern favorites in one colorful stuffing. Prepare the corn bread one day ahead so that it can dry out overnight. (This lends a nice texture to the stuffing.)

This "stuffing" has a soft, custard-like texture and should not be baked inside a bird.