Dried Currant

Toss with the vinaigrette while rice is warm, so it absorbs the flavors.

This recipe was created by chef Traci Des Jardins of San Francisco's Jardinière. It's part of a special menu she created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program. There are two types of persimmons widely available during the Thanksgiving holiday—fuyu and hachiya. Chef Des Jardins prefers the fuyu in savory preparations because its texture is much firmer and the flavor less sweet. When picking fuyu persimmons, look for firm, brightly colored fruit. Start making relish at least 24 hours and up to 3 days in advance to allow the flavors to fully develop.

Why resort to takeout? This spicy coconut sauce, brimming with stewed tomatoes, is a wonderful way to make weeknight chicken tempting again.

Don't be nervous about making meatless mincemeat if you've never tried it before—it's a knockout combination of dried fruits and spices that adds wonderfully deep flavor to baked goods. Here, chunks of sweet pear and a handful of tart fruit create a pie that's fantastic with vanilla ice cream.

Unlike many store-bought granolas, this luxurious blend of oats, green pumpkin seeds, and exotic dried fruit is preservative-free and not overly sweet. Sprinkle it on yogurt, pancakes, or waffles—or simply enjoy eating it out of hand.

The cake takes its name from the wife of Jack Turner's former headmaster, but the recipe is reportedly an ancient Scottish one. Aluminum foil stands in for the traditional newspaper.

This fresh side is a delicious alternative to cranberry sauce.

Green wheat was originally the Middle East's answer to a dwindling winter wheat supply; immature wheat was set ablaze to roast it and ready it for eating.

Chef Sal Passalacqua of Dimaio Cucina in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, writes: "My father's family is from Sicily and I spent my teenage years there, so that's where a lot of my culinary influences come from. At first glance, Sicilian cooking seems very simple, but that simplicity depends on using the freshest ingredients and often the combination of sweet and tart flavors. The anchovy pasta is a perfect example." This dish is a variation on the traditional Sicilian pasta made with sardines. Anchovies have replaced the sardines, but the flavors are still very authentic.

If you buy fresh game hens, ask the butcher to cut them in half for you. To halve frozen thawed game hens, first cut out the back bones using poultry shears, then cut hens in half.

Couscous, the basis of many North African dishes, is shaped like a grain but is actually a pasta made of semolina wheat. In fact couscous was incorporated into Italian cuisine when Arabs occupied Sicily six centuries ago. And so to flavor the following couscous we've used classic ingredients common to Sicily rather than North Africa-olives, peppers, capers, currants, and pine nuts.

Just right for an elegant meal.

"I literally didn't know how to boil an egg until I was in my 20s — when I tried to impress a guy by making dinner for him," writes Sally Siegel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "I didn't have much success with the dinner or the guy, but I regrouped and put together a repertoire of fairly elegant dishes I felt confident making. Over the years, my cooking style has become more casual; I make dishes that are not too demanding, but still special for company."